Christie's to Auction Kulthum Estate Jewelry

Christie's will auction a few of Umm Kulthum's personal jewels on April 28, 2009, at the Jumeirah Emirates Towers Hotel in Dubai. The sale will also include rare colored gemstones and exquisite natural pearls, alongside watches by Patek Philippe, Breguet, Cartier and Rolex. Kulthum, the great Arab singer, was known as "Kawab El Sharq," The Shining Star of the Middle East.

Source: Rapaport Tradewire
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Sotheby's NY Magnificent Jewels Sale Features Important Diamonds

Sotheby’s New York spring sale of Magnificent Jewels will be held on April 23, 2009. The top lot is a fancy blue diamond ring set with a cut-cornered rectangular modified brilliant-cut stone weighing 8.24 carats, which is expected to bring in excess of $2.5 million. A fancy vivid yellow diamond ring, signed Jacob & Co., is set with a 15.61-carat center stone and 2.55 carats of flanking half-moon white diamonds; it has a presale estimate of $925,000 to $1 million. A pair of fancy vivid yellow diamond earrings featuring matched emerald-cut stones weighing 7.47 and 7.32 carats has a presale estimate of $800,000 to $1 million. Also on offer at the Sotheby's sale are a cushion-shaped diamond ring of 15.4 carats, F color, VS1 clarity, with a presale estimate of $1 million to $1.5 million, and a diamond ring set with an emerald-cut 13.98-carat, G color, VS2 clarity diamond with a presale estimate of $450,000 to $500,000.

Source: Rapaport TradeWire 4/10/2009
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Sotheby’s Hong Kong Jewels Sale Garners $16M

Strong demand for larger diamonds of 5 to 15 carats helped Sotheby’s generate $16 million in sales at its magnificent jewels and jadeite auction in Hong Kong. The auction was sold 67.6 percent by lot. The top lot was a pair of very fine, marquise-shaped D color flawless diamond earrings, weighing a total of 16.58 carats, which sold for $1.7 million. The second lot was a pear-shaped, 13.53-carat D color flawless loose diamond, which sold for $1.5 million. The headlining lot and a number of high-value jadeite lots, however, failed to sell.

Source: Rapaport TradeWire 4/10/2009
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Sotheby’s Geneva Sale Features a Rare 7ct Blue Diamond from Cullinan

Sotheby’s Geneva Sale Features a Rare 7ct Blue Diamond from CullinanSotheby’s will auction a rare fancy vivid blue, IF diamond from the Cullinan Mine at its upcoming Geneva Magnificent Jewels sale in May. The 7.03-carat diamond was cut from a 26.58-carat rough stone mined by Petra Diamonds at Cullinan in South Africa. Sotheby's presale estimate for the diamond is between $5.8 million and $8.5 million.

Rapaport Tradewire 4/3/09

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Dubai Pearl Exchange Tender Nets Sales of $1M

Dubai Pearl Exchange Tender Nets Sales of $1M The Dubai Pearl Exchange held its first pearl tender in February, and reported that the sale generated more than $1 million. The invitation-only event attracted 40 companies. Highlights of the sale included an exceptionally rare drop-pair of Paspaley Pearls' natural pearls, which were purchased by Swiss Pearls of Switzerland, and a set of cherry-colored Robert Wan Tahitian pearls, strand and earrings, bought by Shafiian Gem.

Rapaport TradeWire 3/27/2009
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Historic Diamond Sells for $24.3 Million in Auction

The Wittelsbach Diamond was fetched last month for a record price at auction in London by famous diamond retailer Laurence Graff.
In spite of a global economic slump, the 35.6 carat, 17th century diamond sold on Dec. 10 for $24.3 million at King Street, Christie's reported. This is the most any jewel has ever fetched at auction. The record was previously held by a 100 - carat diamond sold in 1995 in Geneva. This record-breaking price tag equates to an average per-carat price of $683,667.
Spain's King Philip IV bought the Wittelsbach diamond in 1664 and included it in dowry for his teenage daughter. Her husband, Leopold I of Austria, passed the gem along through the generations. It earned its official name almost 80 years later in 1722, when Leopold's granddaughter wed Charles of Bavaria- a memeber of the Wittelsbach bloodline. The Wittelsbach Diamond was offered for auction in 1931, but didn't sell.
The Wittelsbach Diamond's color and clarity have been linked to the Hope Diamond. Graff bid against several Russian professionals for the cushion-shaped gem, notably Aleks Paul of Essex Global Trading in New York. The price was almost double the diamond's pre-sale estimate.

Source: Diamond District News, January 2009

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Christie's NY Auction

---Christie's NY Sale Garners $16M, 84% Sold by LotChristie’s latest New York jewelry auction generated $16.62 million insales, with 84 percent of the items sold by lot and 83 percent byvalue. The highlight of the sale was a pair of pear-shaped D-colorflawless Forevermark 17.01- and 17.79-carat stones, which sold for$3.55 million, or $102,000 per carat, to an unnamed private buyer.

www.dillonpearl.com
source: Rapaport Trade Wire
12/19/08