Christie’s: The results
The highlight of the Christie’s Magnificent Jewels sale on
November 14 was the Art of de Grisogono, Creation 1 — a stunning, highly
publicized emerald and diamond necklace set with a rectangular-cut diamond
weighing 163.41 carats. It set a world record for a D-color, flawless diamond
sold at auction, fetching $33.7 million.
The de Grisogono necklace attracted a frenzy of bidding at
the Four Seasons Hotel des Bergues before the hammer went down on a telephone
bidder who wished to remain unidentified.
“I was a bit nervous before the auction. It’s a fantastic
result,” Fawaz Gruosi, founder and creative director of de Grisogono, told
reporters after the sale.
The salesroom was packed with industry figures from around
the world, including jeweler Glenn Spiro, who recently exhibited at the
Biennale Paris, and dealer Oded Mansori. The auction featured 225 lots and
achieved strong prices throughout the day, bringing the November total for
Christie’s Geneva jewelry sales to $144.9 million, said Rahul Kadakia, the New York-based
Christie’s auctioneer who led the sale. The Art of de Grisogono met
expectations for such an outstanding piece of jewelry, he added.
“The de Grisogono necklace was almost a once-in-a-lifetime
opportunity. We were very proud and happy to offer it for sale and to make a
great price for de Grisogono,” Kadakia told
Rapaport Magazine. “It is a very
healthy result. At around $200,000 per carat, it is in line with where the
market should be for a stone of this quality and size.”
Other highlights of the sale included Le Grand Mazarin, a
19.07-carat, light pink diamond of royal French provenance, which was the
auction’s final lot and sold for $14.5 million. Le Grand Mazarin has been in
the collections of four kings, four queens, two emperors and two empresses.
This was its first time going up for public auction since the sale of the
French Crown Jewels in 1887, Christie’s said.
Another Christie’s sale on November 13 saw a pendant
necklace by René Lalique sell for $978,480, setting a new world record both for
an Art Nouveau jewel sold at auction, and for a piece of jewelry by Lalique.
After the November 14 auction, the glitterati of the
diamond world mingled over drinks and canapes at the Four Seasons, and some
went on to a lakeside de Grisogono after-party to celebrate the sale of
necklace.
Sotheby’s: The results
Sotheby’s had a mixed bag of results at its November 15
auction after the top lot — the 37.30-carat Raj Pink, the world’s largest known
fancy intense pink diamond — failed to sell. Bidding for the ring at the
Mandarin Oriental reached only about $14 million (CHF 14 million), falling
short of the piece’s low estimate of $20 million (CHF 19.6 million).
Two other highlight items went unsold as well: the
Donnersmarck diamonds — two magnificent and historic fancy intense yellow
stones — and a Moussaieff ring with a fancy vivid blue diamond weighing 7.41
carats. However, the Moussaieff ring sold straight after the auction, a
Sotheby’s source said. Details of that sale are unknown.
In addition, the auction saw a world record for a fancy
light pink diamond when a 33.63-carat stone in a Harry Winston ring from around
1970 sold for $12.8 million.
A tough international economic and political climate may
have been a contributing factor in the failure of some standout lots to sell,
but the pre-sale estimates were “very fair,” according to David Bennett,
worldwide chairman of Sotheby’s international jewelry division. “There is fear
and political uncertainty. There is a wait-and-see attitude,” Bennett told
Rapaport Magazine after the sale, in a reference to anti-corruption crackdowns
in Saudi Arabia and China.
Quality sells
The strong demand at the Christie’s sale may have impacted
the buying momentum at Sotheby’s a day later, according to jewelers and dealers
who attended both. A common denominator throughout was that high-quality items
did well, sometimes topping pre-sale estimates — an indication that the market
for exceptional diamonds remains robust.
The Geneva results for both Christie’s and Sotheby’s were
positive, considering the international economic and political challenges, said
Marijan Dundek, author of the widely distributed book
Diamonds, who attended
the auctions. “The demand for exceptional gems is still there, and the sale of
The Art of de Grisogono at Christie’s is a good example.”
Photos: Christie’s Images Ltd.
2017/ Sotheby’s
Article from the Rapaport Magazine - December 2017. To subscribe click here.