A rare 9.54-carat blue diamond ring that once belonged to child actress Shirley Temple has failed to sell at a New York auction this Tuesday. The predicted sale price of the ring was between $25 and $35 million. “The Sotheby’s auction for the Fancy Deep Blue Diamond ring, purchased by Temple’s father for $7,210 in 1940 around the time of the actress’ 12th birthday, opened bidding at $19 million and closed at $22 million, which was below the ring’s reserve price.” Sotheby’s released a statement indicating their intention to find a buyer for the ring. The curly-haired child actress had won legions of fans during the 1930’s. She passed away in 2014 at the age of 85 having once served as a U.S. ambassador.
See Shirley Temple’s rare blue diamond ring fails to sell at auction, Reuters, April 19, 2016.
Special thanks to Jim Hillhouse for bringing this article to my attention.
