A 1.93 ct. natural vivid blue, heart-shaped diamond will lead an auction by Tzoffey’s 1818 to be held during the inaugural U.S./International Diamond Week at the Israel Diamond Exchange Mar. 17–20.

Tzoffey’s owner Avner Sofiov is hopeful that the diamond will surpass the $1 million per carat price based on world records set by two blue diamonds auctioned by Sotheby’s in 2012.

A 3.54 ct. marquis fancy blue diamond ring from Tiffany & Co. sold for $687,712 per carat in April, followed by a 10.48 ct. fancy deep blue briolette diamond that fetched $1.036 million a carat—a world record per-carat price for a deep blue stone.

“The quality of this 1.93 heart shape is higher than the stones sold by Sotheby’s, so I am very curious how much this stone will fetch!” Sofiov said in a statement.

Bids are to be submitted in closed envelopes. The exact time of the auction will be announced shortly.

JCK