13 November 2015

Corrupt Hong Kong billionaire spends £50MILLION on two diamonds for his seven-year-old daughter… and names them after her

  • Hong Kong billionaire Joseph Lau purchased both the diamonds at auction
  • He spent £50million over two days at the Christie's and Sotheby's sales
  • Both diamonds were then renamed after his daughter, 7, and gifted to her
  • The pink diamond, graded the elite 'vivid fancy' was bought for £18million
  • One day later, he smashed records by purchasing a rare blue diamond
  • The massive £32million rock became the most expensive jewel ever sold
If diamonds are a girl's best friend then Josephine Lau is a very popular young lady.  
Her Hong Kong businessman father has just splashed out £50million on two recording-breaking diamonds - and gifted both of them to his little princess.
Joseph Lau's office confirmed this week that the real estate investor - worth an estimated £6.5billion - went on the extraordinary spending spree over two days at back-to-back jewellery auctions in Geneva.
It also confirmed that the two eye-popping diamonds were both presents for his seven-year-old daughter and that he renamed them 'The Sweet Josephine' and 'The Blue Moon of Josephine' in her honor. 
But perhaps even more fortunate for Josephine is that her father remains a free man after being convicted of corruption in a Macau court last year and sentenced to more than five years - a punishment he has swerved by avoiding travel to the former Portuguese colony.

Ranked by Forbes as the 114th richest man in the world, Joseph Lau is famous for his big spending and has splashed out to the tune of £50million on lucky seven-year-old daughter Josephine (both pictured in 2012)
Ranked by Forbes as the 114th richest man in the world, Joseph Lau is famous for his big spending and has splashed out to the tune of £50million on lucky seven-year-old daughter Josephine (both pictured in 2012)

Diamonds are Josephine's best friends: Daddy and daughter smile for the camera three years ago. No doubt Josephine will be smiling even more now that she's got the best bling in the playground
Diamonds are Josephine's best friends: Daddy and daughter smile for the camera three years ago. No doubt Josephine will be smiling even more now that she's got the best bling in the playground

Joseph Lau
Joseph Lau
Joseph Lau (pictured), a billionaire Hong Kong real estate investor, spent £50million on the two record-breaking diamonds this week at back-to-back auctions in Geneva

Josephine (pictured) appears to be a big fan of child singing sensation Connie Talbot (pictured cutting the cake). Connie, from the West Midlands, rose to fame in 2007 when she reached the final of the first series of Britain's Got Talent show. The pair are seen here during Connie's World Asia Tour in 2014
Connie Talbot wraps an arm around Josephine during the singer's 2014 Asia tour
Josephine (pictured left and right) appears to be a big fan of child singing sensation Connie Talbot. Connie, from the West Midlands, rose to fame in 2007 when she reached the final of the first series of Britain's Got Talent show. The pair are seen here during Connie's World Asia Tour in 2014

The large blue diamond (pictured) became the most expensive piece of jewellery ever sold after Lau bought it for £32million and promptly renamed it 'The Blue Moon of Josephine' after his seven-year-old daughter
The large blue diamond (pictured) became the most expensive piece of jewellery ever sold after Lau bought it for £32million and promptly renamed it 'The Blue Moon of Josephine' after his seven-year-old daughter

The previous day, Lau had purchased this rare pink diamond for £18million. It too was a gift to his daughter which he renamed 'The Sweet Josephine' in her honor
The previous day, Lau had purchased this rare pink diamond for £18million. It too was a gift to his daughter which he renamed 'The Sweet Josephine' in her honor

Josephine is his daughter with girlfriend and former aid Chan Hoi-wan, according to local media. 
Ranked by Forbes as the world's 114th richest man, Lau, 64, also has two children with long-time partner Yvonne Lui.
And it's not the first time Josephine has been on the receiving end of her father's generosity. At a Sotheby's Geneva auction In 2009, Lau bought another blue diamond, paying a then-record £13million for the 7.03 carat which he promptly named 'Star of Josephine'.
He bought the first diamond, a rare pink stone weighing 16.08-carats and graded vivid fancy pink, for a record price of £18m after a bidding war at a Christie's auction.
It was the largest and most expensive diamond classed in the elite 'fancy vivid' category to ever go to auction.
The following day his team then crossed town to rival auctioneers Sotheby's with their sights on the 12.03-carat 'Blue Moon' diamond - possibly the largest known blue fancy vivid diamond ever found.
Discovered in South Africa last year, Lau smashed world records for the gemstone by paying £32million after a tense 30-bid auction lasting eight minutes.
Described by experts as 'internally flawless', it is the most expensive diamond of any colour and most expensive jewel ever sold.
The Blue Moon - so-called in reference to its rarity, playing off the expression 'once in a blue moon' - topped the previous record of $46.2 million set five years ago by the Graff Pink, Sotheby's said.
The diamond also set a new record of more than $4 million per carat, capping the daylong high-end jewelry sale that reaped roughly $140 million. 

Joseph Lau is pictured here in 2014 leaving a restaurant with girlfriend and mother of Josephine,  Chan Hoi-wan. Lau is a property developer who was convicted in 2014 at a Macau court on corruption charges and sentenced to more than five years. He has remained free by avoiding travel to the former Portuguese colony
Joseph Lau is pictured here in 2014 leaving a restaurant with girlfriend and mother of Josephine,  Chan Hoi-wan. Lau is a property developer who was convicted in 2014 at a Macau court on corruption charges and sentenced to more than five years. He has remained free by avoiding travel to the former Portuguese colony

Number One Fan: Josephine's dreams come true during Connie Talbot's 2014 tour as she sang with and posed alongside her idol
Part of Connie Talbot's tour was hosted at the Windsor shopping mall in Hong Kong, owned by Josephine's father Joseph
Number One Fan: Josephine's dreams come true during Connie Talbot's 2014 tour as she sang with and posed alongside her idol. Part of the young British singing sensation's tour was hosted at the Windsor shopping mall in Hong Kong, owned by Josephine's father Joseph

The 12.03 carat gemstone, dubbed The Blue Moon Diamond, was bought after a tense eight-minute showdown in Geneva, with a total of 30 bids
The 12.03 carat gemstone, dubbed The Blue Moon Diamond, was bought after a tense eight-minute showdown in Geneva, with a total of 30 bids

It was given the highest possible grading, Fancy Vivid Blue, after being declared internally flawless by the Gemological Institute of America 
It was given the highest possible grading, Fancy Vivid Blue, after being declared internally flawless by the Gemological Institute of America 

The 64-year old is a self-made millionaire who built up an astonishing property empire as the owner of Chinese Estates. 
Ranked as the 6th richest person in Hong Kong, he is famous for his lavish spending.
He is among one of the first people to own a Boeing 787 Dreamliner for private use, is said to have a red wine collection of comprising 10,000 bottles and regularly pays eye-watering amounts of money for rare pieces of art.

Lau and his girlfriend Chan Hoi-wan are pictured here leaving a restaurant in Hong Kong last year
Lau and his girlfriend Chan Hoi-wan are pictured here leaving a restaurant in Hong Kong last year

Lau bought the first diamond, a rare pink stone (pictured) weighing 16.08-carats and graded vivid fancy pink, for a record price of £18m after a bidding war at a Christie's auction
Lau bought the first diamond, a rare pink stone (pictured) weighing 16.08-carats and graded vivid fancy pink, for a record price of £18m after a bidding war at a Christie's auction

The diamond is believed to be the most expensive pink diamond of the elite 'vivid fancy' category ever sold
The diamond is believed to be the most expensive pink diamond of the elite 'vivid fancy' category ever sold

David Bennett, the auctioneer, said: 'Tonight we set a new world record, a new auction record for any diamond, any jewel, any gemstone, with the sale of the Blue Moon Diamond.
'For me, the blue moon was always the blue diamond of my career. I have never seen a more beautiful stone. The shape, the color, the purity - it's a magical stone.'
The polished blue gem was cut from a 29.6-carat diamond discovered last year in South Africa's Cullinan mine, which also yielded the 530-carat Star of Africa blue diamond that is part of the British crown jewels, and the Smithsonian Institution's 'Blue Heart' discovered in 1908.
Then a 29.62-carat rough diamond, it was bought by New York-based Cora International which spent six months cutting and polishing the Blue Moon. 
Sotheby's says experts took five months for an 'intense study' of the original Blue Moon diamond, and a master cutter took another three months to craft, cut and polish the stone.
The auction house said in a video that the Cullinan mine was the 'only reliable source in the world for blue diamonds,' and only a tiny percentage of those found in it contain even a trace of blue.

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