Flawless Diamond Breaks Record at Christie’s

RAPAPORT… A necklace featuring a 163.41-carat diamond fetched $33.7 million at Christie’s Geneva sale on Tuesday, setting a record price for a D-color,
flawless stone sold at auction, Christie’s said.

The rectangular-cut diamond, set in an
emerald-and-diamond necklace, went for $206,266 per carat in front of more than
4,600 visitors at the Four Seasons Hotel des Bergues in Geneva,
Christie’s reported Wednesday. The diamond, which was the largest of its color and clarity ever presented at an auction, sold to an anonymous telephone bidder.

Swiss-based jeweler de Grisogono designed and manufactured
the necklace, having bought the 404.20-carat rough from the Lulo mine in Angola
for $16 million. The project was carried out in partnership with Dubai-based
diamond manufacturer Nemesis International.

De Grisogono unveiled the jewel, named The Art of de
Grisogono, Creation 1, in September. A rare feature of the piece
is that the user can wear the center stone either in its necklace form or as a
bracelet.

While Christie’s did not publish an estimated selling
price for the necklace, Fawaz Gruosi, de Grisogono’s founder and creative
director, told Rapaport News last month he expected the jewel to fetch $30
million to $40 milllion.

At the same auction, Christie’s also garnered $13.2
million — or $1.5 million per carat — for a rectangular-cut, 8.67-carat, fancy
intense blue, VVS1-clarity diamond. An old-mine brilliant-cut,
19.07-carat, light pink, VS2-clarity diamond with French royal provenance,
named Le Grand Mazarin, went for $14.5 million, or $758,437 per carat.

Total proceeds from the Magnificent Jewels auction came to $106.1
million, with Christie’s selling 88% of total lots by value, and 75% by number of
lots, it said. A separate auction of Art Nouveau and Art Deco pieces on Monday yielded a combined $12.4 million.

Sotheby’s Magnificent Jewels and Noble Jewels auction is taking place in Geneva on Wednesday, with the 37.30-carat Raj Pink diamond leading the sale, estimated at $20.1 million to $30.1 million.