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RAPAPORT... Sotheby's Geneva sale of Magnificent Jewels on Wednesday garnered $81,092,327 (CHF 76.7 million) selling 88.5 percent by lot and 94 percent by value.
The top lot was a rare, 10.48-carat, flawless, fancy deep blue briolette diamond, which sold to Laurence Graff for $10,860,146 (CHF 10.3 million), or $1.04 million per carat, well above its high-end presale estimate of CHF 4.2 million. Sotheby’s noted the price set a new record at auction for a deep blue diamond and for a briolette diamond. This remarkable stone (pictured) was ''unsullied by secondary colors'' and in terms of polish and symmetry, was awarded the highest possible grade by the Gemological Institute of America (GIA), according to Sotheby's.
“This was truly one of the finest offerings of colored stones in 20 years. The quality of sapphires, rubies and emeralds was simply outstanding and this was reflected in the prices realized,” said David Bennett, the chairman of Sotheby’s jewelry department in Europe and the Middle East. “Exceptional diamonds and jewels, such as the record breaking fancy deep blue diamond and the pair of noble ruby earrings, attracted intense bidding from several continents.”
The second top lot was a pair of cushion-shaped, 11.46-carat and 11.64-carat, Burmese rubies pendent ear clips, which sold to a private Asian buyer for $3.52 million (CHF 3.33 million), or $152,396 per carat. The ear clips were assembled in 1921 and given as a gift to HSH Princess Max Egon zu Hohenlohe-Langenburg, by her parents Trinidad von Scholtz Hermennsdorff, Duchess of Parcent, and Ambassador Manuel de Yturbe of Mexico, on the occasion of her wedding.
A conch pearl, enamel and diamond bracelet by Cartier sold to a European private buyer for $3.46 million and a 39-carat, step-cut Burmese sapphire and diamond ring sold for $2.9 million, or $75,088 per carat.
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