In two days in early May, Sotheby’s and Christie’s, respectively, sold $53.9 million and $33.9 million worth of gems and jewels in Geneva. Both sales were nearly 90 percent sold by lot, and both managed to sell multimillion-dollar jewels to clients who were happy to fight for the chance to spend their cash.
Sotheby’sSotheby’s 422-lot sale was 87.9 percent sold by lot, and, with three lots selling for more than $6 million each, a whopping 96.6 percent sold by value. Topping the list was another one of those rare blue diamonds, this one a 7.64-carat, fancy intense blue, VVS2 cushion-cut that fetched $8,034,503*, soaring above the high estimate. The stone set a world auction record for price per carat for a fancy intense blue. It was the first of two stunning blues in the sale. The second, a 5.02-carat, pear-shaped, fancy vivid blue diamond — set in a ring by Alexandre Reza with a matching pear-shaped white diamond weighing 5.42 carats — was sold to a private client for $6,321,531.
David Bennett, chairman of Sotheby’s International jewelry department for Europe and the Middle East, attributes the high prices for the blues to good preparation: “We have spent a lot of time explaining how rare they are and that they come, essentially, from one mine. Both were exceptional stones.” They came to the market, in part, because of the prices realized at recent sales. “People are being tempted to sell,” Bennett noted. “The cushion shape, I suspect, is at least 30 years old and was at the top end of intense.” That leads to the possibility that the stone might be repolished to yield a grade of vivid.
The third lot in the over-$6 million trio was an emerald-cut, D-flawless, 52.82-carat diamond. It was sold to a member of the U.S. trade for $7,933,740. Bennett called it “the prettiest stone I have seen.” The stunning price was a reflection, he added, of the rarity of unearthing a rough large enough to produce such a polished diamond.
Sotheby’s sale was a cornucopia of superb gemstones and signed jewels, including a section entitled Noble Jewels. This remarkable 68-lot group included jewels with both notable makers’ names as well as royal provenance. Among the top lots in this section of the sale was a diamond necklace by Chaumet, circa 1915, featuring a 27.62-carat round diamond. Numerous other large diamonds, millegrain-set in articulated links, made up the necklace, which was sold for $757,972 to the American trade. The lot was estimated to bring just $282,000 to $470,000. A diamond rivière by F. Chiappe, dated 1909, was sold to a private client for $2,089,484, which was just over the high estimate.
Bidding was intense on most of the lots, with fully three-quarters selling for more than the high estimate. The sale attracted worldwide attention, according to Bennett. “There were no less than 34 countries on the buyers’ list,” he said, a tribute in equal parts to the sourcing and marketing of the jewelry, as well as the worldwide appetite for tangible goods.
Christie’sThe day after Sotheby’s sale, it was Christie’s turn. Although the house had a much smaller sale, it was equally successful: 194 of the 220 lots offered sold, or 89 percent sold by lot and 94 percent sold by value.
Christie’s sale was top-heavy with white diamonds and buyers were eager to pay for the gems. According to Jean-Marc Lunel, head of the jewelry department at Christie’s Geneva, “The atmosphere was great. The room was packed with privates and dealers from four continents. People stayed from the first lot to the last one,” with nearly 400 people eager to bid and buy.
Leading off the list was a rectangular-cut, D-flawless stone weighing 40.21 carats. The buyer, who chose to remain anonymous, paid $5,129,100. The presale estimate was $4.5 million to $5.5 million. An Asian private placed the winning bid for a diamond rivière comprising 20 graduated round stones, the largest 31.71 carats, with a total weight of 155.17 carats. The necklace sold for $4,725,900, double the high estimate. A round 16.92-carat, D-color, IF diamond, set in a ring by Harry Winston, was sold to Chatila of Geneva for $2,760,300, well over the high estimate. A European private client picked up a 10.06-carat, pear-shaped DIF diamond for $1,082,700.
Two fancy color diamonds made their way onto the top ten list at Christie’s sale. A fancy vivid yellow, IF, heart-shaped diamond weighing 15.09 carats, suspended from an 18-karat yellow gold link chain, was sold to an Asian private for $747,900, well over the high estimate. A charming necklace by Cartier, set with an oval-shaped fancy light pink diamond weighing 2.80 carats, suspending a large, drop-shaped pearl, all set within bell-shaped links, was sold for $715,500, more than double the high estimate, to a member of the Swiss trade.
Lunel remarked on the strength of the market all season, from Hong Kong to New York and now Geneva, and pointed out the “astronomic prices” paid for pieces in the Cartier section of the sale. He noted that such jewels are very difficult to source. “It is very difficult to get them and bring them to auction. They are very desirable: unique, rare and wearable. Usually they are passed down from mother to daughter, and are still in the family. For most of the pieces that were sold [in this sale], you will not be able to find anything similar for two or three years.”
The tutti-frutti bracelet offered at Christie’s certainly brought out the bidders. The Art Deco gem-set piece by Cartier, 1928, was sold to Hancocks & Co of London for $920,700, five times the high estimate. Hancocks is known for vintage and period jewels. The signed piece combined carved ruby and sapphire leaves with emerald and onyx beads, interspersed with diamonds and mounted in platinum.
Jewels from the private-owner collection, which was 99 percent sold, were bid for fiercely, especially by women. “I think it’s about passion,” Lunel remarked. These jewels, he said, “hold their value.”
At the other end of the time spectrum, Christie’s scored with a brand-new piece, created for the sale. The “White Light” diamond brooch, designed by Shaun Leane, and set with numerous DIF, pear-shaped diamonds supplied by Steinmetz, was created as part of the De Beers Forevermark collection. The brooch, also enhanced with opalescent enamel, was sold to a member of the New York trade for $996,300, a whisper under the low estimate.
The strength of both sales was in the combination of important diamonds and extremely fine, signed period jewels, as well as, in Sotheby’s case, the added aura of royal provenance.
* All prices include buyer’s premium.
Article from the Rapaport Magazine - June 2010. To subscribe click here.