RAPAPORT... What makes a diamond worthy of being named to a top-ten list? It’s not necessarily the size — two of the ten described here each weigh under a carat. It isn’t necessarily a famous name. Most of these remain unnamed. It isn’t even a matter of provenance. But each has a special quality that makes it worthy of attention. These are landmark diamonds, stones that raised the bar and captured the diamond world’s attention when they were sold at auction at Sotheby’s and Christie’s. Befitting current fascination with fancies, six of the ten are fancy color diamonds. Here they are, starting with the tiniest — two colored diamonds that were headline makers.
90- POINT ROUND FANCY VIVID GREEN DIAMOND
SOLDAT: Sotheby’s New York, October 21, 1999
PRICE PAID: $662,500; $736,000 per carat
This little round diamond was the first of the greens to come to market. Graded as “fancy vivid green,” it pushed the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) into previously untraveled territory since the green of a natural diamond comes from radiation, the same method used to add color artificially to diamonds. According to Lisa Hubbard, international executive director of jewelry for Sotheby’s, “It was extraordinary to get the grading; they managed to work out that it was natural.” The .90-carat stone was purchased by, and remains with, a private American collector.
95-POINT ROUND FANCY PURPLISH-RED DIAMONDSOLD AT: Christie’s New York, April 28, 1987
PRICE PAID: $880,000; $926,000 per carat
This mighty little stone still holds the world record price per carat for a red diamond sold at auction. The stone was such a rarity at the time, says Rahul Kadakia, Christie’s head of Jewelry Americas and senior vice president, that the consigner, a private American, “thought it was a garnet.” But such thoughts were banished by the dealers, who contested for it, hotly. The late Bill Goldberg was one of the underbidders, but it was Teddy Horovitz who snagged the stone. Rumor has it that he bought it for the Sultan of Brunei, the richest man in the world at that time. One can hardly picture Bill Gates, who currently holds that title, craving a fancy color diamond.
5.54-CARAT ROUND FANCY VIVID ORANGE DIAMONDSOLD AT: Sotheby’s New York, October 30, 1997
PRICE PAID: $1,322,500; $238,718 per carat
Was it a coincidence or just good karma that an orange diamond, the first seen at auction, was offered the day before Halloween? Whatever the reason, it was purchased by Harry Winston Inc. and immediately dubbed “the Pumpkin Diamond.” The stone was in Winston’s hands long enough to be on display at the Smithsonian and to be worn, beautifully, by Halle Berry when she won the Oscar for Best Actress in 2002. Ron Winston — who calls it “a remarkable diamond” — outbid all the competition simply because “I wanted it. I wanted to own it.” It was sold by Winston in 2005 to a U.S. buyer, although it may have been sold again since that sale. As much as he loved it, Winston says, “I long ago decided that I had to choose between being a collector and being in a business.” The business won out, but he did enjoy owning the Pumpkin Diamond for eight years.
7.37-CARAT EMERALD-CUT FANCYINTENSE PURPLISH-PINK DIAMOND, VVS2 AND IMPROVABLESOLD AT: Sotheby’s Geneva, November 16, 1995
PRICE PAID: $6,092,410; $826,410 per carat
By 1995, purplish-pink diamonds were turning up fairly often, thanks to the Argyle mine in Australia, but this stone had a much earlier provenance. It was set in a mounting by Cartier, circa 1925, and came from an “Indian Princely Collection.” The stone was sold to Sam Abram of American Siba and it is believed he is still in possession of the stone, although he would neither confirm nor deny that.
20.17-CARAT EMERALD-CUT FANCY BLUE DIAMOND, VS2SOLD AT: Sotheby’s New York, October 18, 1994
PRICE PAID: $9,903,500; $490,951 per carat
Like the small, round green diamond, this blue was one of the first of its kind when it came to the GIA. “The GIA really didn’t do ‘vivid’ back in 1994,” explains Hubbard, or this stone likely would have earned that rating, instead of simply “fancy blue.” Even so, it garnered a hefty price, paid once again by Sam Abram, who Hubbard says is known as “king of the blues” — blue diamonds, that is. As with the 7.37-carat purplish-pink, Abram would neither confirm nor deny his current ownership of this stone.
25.02-CARAT PEAR-SHAPED FANCY PINK,
INTERNALLY FLAWLESS DIAMOND
SOLD AT: Christie’s New York, October 19, 2005
PRICE PAID: $6,008,000; $240,000 per carat
This large, exquisite pink diamond is the most recently sold stone on the list. Purchased by Amer Radwan, a dealer based in Dubai with customers throughout the Middle East, the stone was immediately dubbed “The Rose of Dubai.” The privately owned stone attracted a lot of interest when it was put up for sale. It had been half of a pair of earrings; the other half was a 25-carat blue diamond, not offered for sale.
This was one of those stones that, says Christie’s Kadakia, “You get sad when you sell it. You fall in love with it and then sometimes, it comes back.” In this case, the stone had been sold some 20 years earlier by Laurence Graff.“He remembered the stone,” says Kadakia. That’s not surprising. Diamond dealers remember virtually everything they sell, but who wouldn’t remember a stone of this size, quality and color?
41.94-CARAT CUSHION-SHAPED, I, VS1
EMPEROR MAXIMILIAN DIAMOND
SOLD AT: Christie’s New York, April 20, 1982
PRICE PAID: $726,000; $17,310 per carat
This famous named diamond has a lot going for it, in spite of its low color grade. It has a very strong blue fluorescence and a provenance dating back to 1860, when it was purchased by Emperor of Mexico Ferdinand Maximilian. It was supposedly on his neck when he was executed in 1867. The stone was returned to his widow and then disappeared until 1919, when it was purchased by a Chicago gem dealer, Ferdinand Hotz. He displayed it at the 1934 Chicago World’s Fair. After Hotz’s death, it was acquired by a “titled” private collector. It next appeared in 1982, when it was sold by Graff. Rumor has it that it may have been sold to that well-known collector, Imelda Marcos.
52.59-CARAT RECTANGULAR-CUT D
INTERNALLY FLAWLESS DIAMONDSOLD AT: Christie’s New York, April 20, 1988
PRICE PAID: $7,480,000; $142,000 per carat
Described by Kadakia as a very, very long stone, this elegant diamond’s outstanding virtue is the limpid quality of a truly flawless rectangular-cut stone. The extraordinary price paid for the stone is a measure of that quality. Kadakia says it looked like a stone twice its size. “This is about as high as it gets for a stone of this size, or even larger. It was purchased by a Middle East customer during a period of extreme optimism in the diamond market,” Kadakia remarks. “The market had reached the level where people were happy to spend what they felt was a fair amount of money for a special gem.”
78.54-CARAT CUSHION-SHAPED D, SI1
ARCHDUKE JOSEPH DIAMOND
SOLD AT: Christie’s Geneva, November 18, 1993
PRICE PAID: $6,488,000; $82,610 per carat
This named diamond came to auction through a banker for a private client. The sale had a “dangerous” feather, according to Al Molina, of Molina Fine Jewelers in Phoenix, Arizona, accounting for its modest price. That flaw scarcely detracted from its “limpidity,” a quality imputed to its origin as a type IIa diamond. It sold at auction to a trio of American buyers, who “rolled the dice,” as he says, and put it back on the wheel. The gamble paid off. Recut to 76.45 carats and with a new grade of IF, the stone was sold to a royal Indonesian family. Riots there in 1999 prompted the family to sell the stone, through a lawyer, to Molina. Although he loves the diamond — he says “I fall in love with everything I buy” — it is up for sale. Recently, he raised the asking price from $25 to $30 million and he’s quite happy to wait for a buyer. While he waits, he enjoys the glow of being identified with a truly historic and exquisite diamond.
100.10-CARAT PEAR-SHAPED D
INTERNALLY FLAWLESS DIAMONDSOLD AT: Sotheby’s Geneva, May 17, 1995
PRICE PAID: $16.5 million; $165,322 per carat
Even in an age of “been there, done that,” a 100-carat stone still commands attention. This enormous diamond was sold to a well-known Middle East diamond merchant, Ahmed Hassan Fitaihi, for a world-record price for a piece of jewelry sold at auction. He named it “The Star of the Season” and the stone is thought to be still in his possession, according to Hubbard. “He attached his name to it,” she says, “and used it for publicity.” Fitaihi was once one of the prime conveyors of goods to the Sultan of Brunei and along with competitor Mouawad was one of the main buyers of jewelry and gems at auction.
Article from the Rapaport Magazine - December 2006. To subscribe click here.