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Auctions
Color Crowns Geneva
Sapphires and rubies take center stage at the Geneva auction.
By Francesco Rosa
Magnificent jewels recorded yet another historic sale week in November in Geneva, where a spectacular sapphire and a rare ruby were the top lots at Christie’s and Sotheby’s, respectively. “Kashmir prices and Burmese ruby prices are still low,” stated colored gemstone dealer Kevin Assil of Assil New York at the close of Sotheby’s auction. “They are much rarer, in my opinion, than pink or blue diamonds, or D flawless diamonds. How many top-quality Kashmir sapphires can you find of 20, 27, 30 carats? How many 8-carat Burma rubies that are clean?”
Reflecting on the results the day after the sales, veterans in the auction business were hard-pressed to remember the last time — if ever — that the top-selling lot at both sales was a colored gemstone. Pearls also made an impressive showing, with two notable pearl necklaces placing in the top ten at both Christie’s and Sotheby’s.
The days leading up to the sales witnessed incredibly busy viewing sessions at both auction houses, in particular the seated dealer areas. “It was like the finest restaurant in town, literally packed!” commented Rahul Kadakia, international head of Christie’s jewelry department.
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| The Blue Belle of Asia, a 392.52-carat cushion-shaped sapphire necklace, sold for $17,305,996 at Christie’s. |
With a presale estimate of $80 million to $100 million, Christie’s opened the games November 11, in an auction totaling $150,216,738. The 388-lot sale was 89 percent sold by lot and 94 percent sold by value, with 346 lots purchased. By comparison, Christie’s May 2014 Geneva auction totaled $154,193,622.
An anonymous private collector, seated in the room, placed the winning bid for the top lot of the evening, The Blue Belle of Asia. The cushion-shaped Ceylon sapphire of 392.52 carats was mounted on a diamond necklace. After intense bidding, it sold for $17,305,996*, or $44,063 per carat, breaking the world auction record for any sapphire.
The second-top lot was a pair of diamond and colored diamond ear pendants, set with a pear-shaped 6.95-carat SI2 fancy vivid blue diamond and a pear-shaped 6.79-carat VS2 fancy vivid pink diamond. The pair was purchased by jeweler Laurence Graff for $15,820,731.
Other notable lots were an Art Deco natural pearl and diamond necklace, which sold to the Middle Eastern trade for $5,195,369, and a gold, diamond and green garnet “Parrot Tulip” bangle by JAR, which mesmerized the audience when it sold for $3,595,853, more than 17 times the low estimate.
“The market is showing greater appetite for the irreplaceable,” stated Kadakia. “We saw this with The Orange diamond in November 2013 and with The Blue Belle this week. And just when we thought natural pearls couldn’t go any higher, we saw how collectors reacted to the great pearls that were on offer. The JAR cuff bracelet did what a Warhol does in a contemporary art sale and we should almost now refer to Joel not as a contemporary jewelry designer but a contemporary artist.”
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The Graff Ruby, an 8.62-carat cushion-shaped Burmese ruby
ring, sold for $8,600,410 at Sotheby’s.
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The following day, Sotheby’s sale garnered $95,272,767, against a presale estimate of $62 million. The sale was 90.2 percent sold by lot and 92.1 percent sold by value. In total, 403 lots found a buyer, out of 447 lots on offer. This past May in Geneva, Sotheby’s sale achieved $141,492,079.
The top lot of the evening was the much-admired Graff Ruby, an 8.62-carat, cushion-shaped Burmese ruby from the collection of Greek financier Dimitri Mavrommatis. It sold for the second time in less than nine years to Graff, setting both a new world auction record price for a ruby, at $8,600,410, as well as a new world auction record price per carat for a ruby, at $997,727 per carat. Graff first purchased the gem at a Christie’s auction in St. Moritz in February 2006 for $3,637,380. Industry experts agreed unanimously that it displayed a cut and a spread of “pigeon blood” color in an extremely clean and almost glowing crystal, among the finest ever seen.
Reinforcing the appeal of rare colored stones, a step-cut Kashmir sapphire and diamond ring of 27.54 carats, also from the Mavrommatis collection, sold to an Asian private for $5,984,474. It set a new world auction record price for a Kashmir sapphire.
The second-top lot of the evening was a pair of oval diamond earrings of 20.05 carats and 20.06 carats, both D color, flawless, excellent polish and symmetry and type IIa. The pair sold for $7,147,112, or $178,188 per carat, to an Asian private. Graff was the successful bidder for a fancy intense blue diamond ring of 3.16 carats, which sold for $3,194,141, or $1,010,804 per carat.
Sotheby’s also offered a magnificent, historical natural pearl and diamond necklace from the collection of Queen Josephine of Sweden and Norway, which was purchased by an anonymous buyer for $3,426,669.
“The sale was extremely successful, with a very high sell-through rate, leaving all the major lots sold. We also had a wonderful price for the royal natural pearl necklace,” summed up David Bennett, chairman of Sotheby’s Switzerland and of the jewelry department for Europe and the Middle East. “The Graff Ruby was of the finest quality. In all the years I have been in the auction business, I have never seen a better ruby. It was the absolute perfect color, pigeon blood, and the clarity and the brightness of the crystal was without comparison...there simply is no other ruby I have ever seen like it.”
* All prices include buyer’s premium.Article from the Rapaport Magazine - December 2014. To subscribe click here.
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