RAPAPORT... Auction house Skinner Inc. reported selling $2.15 million in diamond and gemstone jewelry at its recent September 15 sale. The highest presale estimate for the entire auction was only $1.3 million. Skinner auctioned a collection from famed ballroom dancer Verna E. Winegar and another from an actress of television soap opera "All My Children." The top sale of the day went to a fancy twin-stone diamond ring, set with an intense blue pear-shaped diamond weighing 1.26 carats and a brownish pink diamond weighing 1.20 carats, which sold for $225,150. The presales estimate was $80,000 to $120,000.

Other top lots exceeded presales estimates, as well, including a 3.65-carat, vivid yellow diamond solitaire ring, which sold for $68,730.00; a Cartier coral and diamond flower brooch, which fetched $74,062; and a citrine and diamond Cartier cuff bracelet that sold for $94,800. A  platinum, ruby and diamond ring with a presales estimate of  $1,000 to $1,500 realized a sales price of $53,325.

Gloria Lieberman, director of fine jewelry for Skinner, said, "While we expected a great sale based on the caliber of material we were offering, we were still pleasantly surprised at the outcome given the tough economic times. It just goes to show that regardless of market conditions, there will always be a desire for the rare, the unusual, the quirky, the signed. This is what this sale was all about."

LH