Christie's Jewels Sale Nets Almost $7M

Christie's Jewels: The London Sale realized $6.6 million and was 79 percent sold by lot. The top lot was a 14.85-carat, rectangular-cut D, VS1 diamond ring by Bulgari, which sold for almost $1.1 million, or $73,800 per carat. A 7.07-carat, E, VS2 diamond ring by Cartier sold for $487,326 and a pair of heart-shaped, diamond ear studs by Boucheron sold for $331,266.

Christie's Jewels Sale Fetches $60M in Hong Kong

Christie's Hong Kong Sale realized $60.4 million and was 89 percent sold by lot. The top lot of the sale was a magnificent, single-strand jadeite bead necklace, which was sold to a private Asian buyer for $7.3 million. Other top lots included a 49.61-carat Kashmir sapphire and a diamond bracelet, circa 1960, by Cartier, which sold for $7 million, setting a global auction record for a bracelet. Another 17.45-carat Kashmir sapphire sold for $1.7 million.
A heart-shaped, fancy vivid blue, 5.01-carat, VS2, diamond garnered $935,000 per carat and was sold to a private Asian buyer for $4.7 million, while a pair of fancy, deep blue, heart-shaped diamonds weighing 2.48 carats and 2.03 carats, suspending a pair of 10.12-carat and 9.64-carat, pear-shaped diamonds, sold for $4.4 million.

Rapaport Weekly Broadcast

Sotheby's Magnificent Jewels sale, which was held on April 20 in New York, generated $34,662,338, sold 84 percent by lot and featured a number of rare diamonds. which you can view in this video.

Highlights from the sale include a fancy vivid yellow necklace of 100.17 total carat weight that sold for $3,554,500; a beautiful, 7.67-carat, fancy intense pinkish orange diamond ring that sold for $3,106,500, a panther-themed wristwatch, an 8.66-carat ruby and more.

Preview the centerpieces from Christie's Jewels: The New York Sale held on April 22 -- the Catherine the Great emerald brooch and the Emperor Maximilian diamond ring -- and be sure to check diamonds.net on April 23 for the results of this auction.

Sotheby's Geneva to Auction 52.82-Ct.

Diamond Sotheby’s Geneva will hold its spring 2010 sale of Magnificent Jewels and Noble Jewels at the Beau-Rivage Hotel on May 11, 2010. At the heart of this sale will be an emerald-cut diamond weighing 52.82 carats, as well as a pear-shaped, fancy vivid blue diamond weighing 5.02 carats, both of which are set as rings.

The extremely rare 52.82-carat diamond was determined to be a type IIa, D, flawless with excellent polish and symmetry by the Gemological Institute of America (GIA). Sotheby's estimated that the ring would fetch over $7 million.

The 5.02-carat blue diamond is set in the form of a toi et moi ring (pictured), which was designed and created by Alexandre Reza. The blue stone is mounted alongside an exceptional 5.42-carat diamond with the same shape. Its estimated sale price ranges from $4 million to $7 million.

Source: Rapaport TradeWire Apr. 16, 2010

Christie's 39-carat 'Star' shoots off at $5.4M

The pear-shaped, D color "Evening Star" diamond weighs in at 39 carats and is from India's ancient Golconda mines. An anonymous buyer paid $5.4 million for the stone at Christie's on Thursday.

New York--A 39-carat, D color diamond from India's famed Golconda mines called the "Evening Star" fetched $5.4 million at Christie's, the latest in a line of remarkable diamonds to dazzle at auction. According to a press release from the auction house, an anonymous buyer snapped up the stone, paying $138,000 per carat for the diamond dubbed the "Evening Star" because its previous owner liked to wear it out at night.

It was part of Christie's "Magnificent Jewels from a Distinguished Private Collector" sale, held Thursday in New York.The sale of the "Evening Star" comes on the heels of the record-setting $10.8 million sale of "The Vivid Pink" diamond Dec. 1 in Hong Kong and the $7.7 million sale of the 32.01-carat D-flawless Annenberg Diamond in October."The diamond market continues to show remarkable strength despite the volatility of the financial world," Rahul Kadakia, head of jewelry at Christie's New York, said in the release. "Just two weeks after a very strong sale of jewels at Christie's Hong Kong--where a 5-carat pink diamond went for $10.8 million--the exceptional Evening Star Golconda diamond of 39 carats sold at Christie's New York for $5.4 million.

It was a fitting grand finale to a year that saw over $100 million in jewels change hands under our gavels in the U.S." The combined total for Christie's "New York Jewels" and the "Magnificent Jewels" sales was $25.18 million, with 85 percent of the goods sold by lot and 97 percent sold by value, according to the release.Other notable lots include a modified rectangular-cut fancy intense blue VS1 diamond of 7.02 carats, which went for $3.89 million to an anonymous buyer, and a 36.78-carat, D color internally flawless diamond, purchased by a member of the U.S. trade for $3.39 million.

In addition, a pair of D-VVS pear-shaped diamonds of 10.21 and 10.51 carats garnered nearly $2.1 million, while a modified cushion-cut fancy intense yellow diamond of 40.92 carats was auctioned off for $1.11 million.

Source: National Jeweler

Bubblegum-colored diamond pops records

December 02, 2009

The $10.78 million sale of "The Vivid Pink," a 5-carat cushion-cut fancy vivid-pink diamond, broke two records in the auction world: price paid for a pink diamond and per-carat price paid for any diamond at auction.


Hong Kong--A dazzling, 5-carat pink diamond dubbed "The Vivid Pink"--the largest pink diamond ever offered at auction--sold for $10.78 million at Christie's Hong Kong on Tuesday, setting a new world-record price for a pink diamond sold at auction.A private Asian buyer snapped up the cushion-cut, potentially flawless, Type IIa fancy vivid stone, paying $2.1 million per carat, a new per-carat record price for a diamond sold at auction, according to a news release from Christie's.

"The Vivid Pink was the glittering star of Christie's Hong Kong, where record prices were achieved across all categories throughout the week," Vickie Sek, director of the Jewellery and Jadeite Department at Christie's Asia, said in the release. "$2.1 million per carat is by far the highest price per carat achieved for any diamond worldwide and, at $10.8 million, The Vivid Pink is the most expensive jewel sold at auction in 2009.

The saleroom showed immense depth at all levels, with sensational results realized all through the day. Eight out of the ten most expensive jewels were acquired by discerning Asian private collectors, confirming once again Hong Kong's position as a major market for the finest gemstones."Overall, Christie's fall 2009 Magnificent Jewels sale in Hong Kong garnered $48 million, with 89 percent sold by lot and 92 percent sold by value.According to the release, other sales included a 16.09-carat circular-cut diamond with D color and flawless clarity, purchased by a private Asian buyer for $2.9 million.

A cushion-shaped Kashmir sapphire of 16.65 carats sold for $2.4 million, or $144,000 per carat, setting a new world-record price per carat for a sapphire sold at auction.A European private buyer paid $1.6 million for an 11-carat pear-shaped diamond pendant.A private Asian buyer paid $1.53 million for a 9.03-carat fancy vivid-yellow diamond with an oval shape and VVS1 clarity, while a 3.02-carat fancy intense-blue diamond with a rectangular cut and VSI clarity, garnered $1.16 million.

Source: National Jeweler

'Bonhams to auction five-pound 'Princess' pearl'

Jewelry Auctions
'Bonhams to auction five-pound 'Princess' pearl';

Bonhams to auction five-pound 'Princess' pearl

November 25, 2009

The "Palawan Princess," a five-pound, 11,339-carat blister pearl found off the coast of the Philippines, valued at between $300,000 and $400,000 will be for sale at Bonhams and Butterfields' Dec. 6 auction.


Los Angeles--Bonhams and Butterfields will auction off what is believed to be the world's second-largest documented pearl, a five-pound gem found off the coast of the Philippines that has been dubbed the "Palawan Princess."The natural non-nacreous pearl was found in saltwater near the Philippines' Palawan island and "bears an uncanny resemblance to a human brain," the auction house said.

Both rare and immense, the gem is thought to be surpassed in size only by the 14-pound "Pearl of Allah," an approximately 14-pound, 31,893.5-carat pearl that, like the Palawan Princess, was the product of the giant clam shell Tridacna gigas and was also found off the coastal waters of the Philippines.The approximately 11,339-carat Palawan Princess is a blister pearl measuring six inches in diameter and accompanied by the lower half of its original giant clam shell, which shows the point of attachment where the pearl formed.

The pearl, which will be on the auction block at Bonhams and Butterfields' Dec. 6 holiday auction of Natural History in Los Angeles, is valued at $300,000 and $400,000. "This is an once-in-a-lifetime look at one of nature's most unique treasures," said Mitch Jacubovic, director of EGL USA, one of the labs that was asked to examine the pearl, in a media release. "A pearl this size is not only one of the largest ones we've ever seen, it is among the largest pearls ever seen anywhere