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RAPAPORT... Jewelry history was made at Sotheby's magnificent jewels auction in Geneva on May 11, which achieved the highest total to date for any jewelry auction at $160,914,902. The sale was 94 percent sold by lot and broke a total of six new world auction records. The top lot of the evening was The Sunrise Ruby (pictured), a cushion-shaped Burmese ruby of 25.59 carats, which sold to an anonymous buyer for $30,335,698, or $1,185,451 per carat. It set three records: a world auction record for any ruby, a world auction record per carat for a ruby and a world auction record for a jewel by Cartier.  The second top lot of the sale was The Historic Pink Diamond, an 8.72-carat, VS2, cushion brilliant-cut, fancy vivid pink type IIa diamond. It sold to a bidder in the room for $15,903,422, or $1,823,787 per carat. Intense bidding from the international trade and private buyers resulted in record prices for exceptional colored gemstones, natural pearls, signed and period jewels, too. Four jewels by Cartier achieved the top 10 list of highest-selling lots, totaling an outstanding $47,166,909. White and colored diamonds also registered stable prices, with four diamond-only lots making it into the top 10 list. Continuing the strong demand for natural pearls, an extremely rare natural double-strand pearl and diamond necklace sold to international trades for $7,003,519, registering a new world auction record for a two-row natural pearl necklace.
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