Exceptional white and colored diamonds, as well as signed antique jewels, outperformed at Sotheby’s and Christie’s Magnificent Jewels auctions in Geneva. The mid-May events gained an influx of buyers thanks to the inaugural GemGenève trade fair, which took place just before the sales.
Sotheby’s: Royal blue, record-setting pinks
The top lot at the Sotheby’s sale on May 15 was the 6.16-carat Farnese Blue, which had remained under wraps for 300 years. It went for $6.7 million to an anonymous buyer, well above estimates. Elisabeth Farnese, queen of Spain, received the stone as a wedding present in 1715, and it passed down through four of the most important royal families in Europe. The Sotheby’s sale — which brought in $85.6 million in total — marked the first time the pear-shaped blue diamond was appearing on the market.
White diamonds were successful as well. Two such stones, each in excess of 50 carats, sold above their estimated values: A round, 51.71-carat diamond garnered $9.25 million, beating its high estimate of $9.1 million, while an oval-cut, 50.39-carat stone sold for $8.1 million, compared with an estimate of $7.7 million.
“The sale was very exciting. The two white diamonds were pure perfection and rare to find,” said Daniela Mascetti, Sotheby’s deputy chairman for jewelry in Europe. “The two stones over 50 carats are both D-flawless, type IIa.”
Branded antique pieces by houses such as Van Cleef & Arpels, Cartier and Bulgari shone at the sale, Mascetti said.
“Signed pieces went crazy. There were so many fantastic pieces, such as the $410,000 hammer price for Van Cleef & Arpels,” she enthused, referring to a 1950s diamond- and gem-set “Zip” demi-parure by the French maison. That price was nearly six times its high estimate of $70,000.
“It is testimony that good-quality jewels that are well-made will do very well at auction,” said Mascetti, who is also a respected jewelry author.
The sale achieved several records, including one for a fancy light purplish-pink diamond. The 9.70-carat stone sold for $2.6 million, breaking the per-carat record as well for a diamond of that color at $267,290, the auction house said.
Another record-breaker was a 2.63-carat, fancy vivid purplish-pink diamond, which became the highest-selling diamond in that color category when it went for $2.4 million, or $917,443 per carat. And a rare pink sapphire and diamond pendant weighing 95.45 carats earned a record pink-sapphire price of $2.3 million, or $24,023 per carat.
Traffic to the sale received a boost from gem and jewelry fair GemGenève, which wrapped up a few days before the auctions. Both Sotheby’s and Christie’s supported GemGenève, as their senior executives recognized the show’s potential to drive high-end buyers to the sales.
“We will be very happy for [GemGenève] to host the exhibition again,” said Mascetti. “It will benefit our sales.”
Christie’s: Strong showing from the show
The mood was buoyant as the Christie’s sale wrapped up the Geneva spring jewelry auction season on May 16, raking in a total of $81.6 million. Rare diamonds and jewels achieved remarkable prices, in some cases several times their pre-sale estimates.
Just as in the Sotheby’s auction, diamonds did well, both colored and colorless. Leading the sale was a 50.47-carat Harry Winston diamond ring with D color and VVS1 clarity, which netted $6.5 million.
Other top lots included an 8.52-carat, fancy intense purplish-pink diamond ring that went for $6.3 million, and a rectangular, fancy vivid yellow diamond that weighed 20.49 carats and sold for $5.5 million to an Asian private buyer. A late 19th-century emerald and diamond necklace by Tiffany & Co., which originally sold at Christie’s New York over 20 years ago, realized $1.6 million.
“We’re pleased with the entire auction,” said Rahul Kadakia, the auctioneer who presided over the sale of the top lots. “We have seen very active buyers among private collectors."
Outside the Christie’s venue at the Four Seasons Hotel des Bergues, luxury cars lined up, including top-of-the-line Ferraris, Mercedes and Porsches. The chic restaurants nearby were full, underscoring the wealth of buyers attending the sale. Some of the world’s top diamond dealers participated, among them Oded Mansori, who specializes in rare stones in excess of 10 carats.
The auction wrapped up soon before midnight after 12 hours of often frenzied bidding. There was only one brief break in the early evening, during which Christie’s served drinks and canapes to the throng of buyers in the salesroom.
In particular, Kadakia said white diamonds were seeing a resurgence in bidding activity. “Diamond trade buyers do not find easy access to large white diamonds. Large D-flawless diamonds are very rare stones.”
Rarity and craftsmanship are the factors underpinning the market for exceptionally beautiful diamonds and other gemstones, according to dealers. One ring with a rare 9.04-carat paraiba tourmaline garnered $320,000, around three times its pre-sale estimate.
“This stone was particularly rare because it was not enhanced,” Kadakia pointed out.
Like Mascetti, he attributed the sale’s success in part to GemGenève. “GemGenève brought in more traffic and new faces,” he said. Indeed, the auction house noted that 20% of the sale’s total registrants were new.
Other visitors expressed the sentiment that the new show would enhance Geneva’s reputation in the industry. Helen Molesworth, managing director of the Gübelin Academy in Lucerne, attended both the fair and the auctions.
“GemGenève was a positive step forward in terms of bringing more buyers to Geneva and in boosting the city’s status in the international trade of high-end gems and jewelry,” she said.
Bright spots
A Moussaieff diamond necklace and Rockefeller pearls lifted a mediocre Christie’s Hong Kong sale.
There was one clear winner at Christie’s Magnificent Jewels sale in Hong Kong: a fancy colored diamond necklace by London jeweler Moussaieff that sold for more than $20.3 million, or $2.55 million per carat.
It was one of the few highlights in an otherwise lackluster auction at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. Only 186 of the 290 lots sold — a paltry 64%. The May 29 sale achieved approximately $72 million and attracted 111 buyers from 18 countries across five continents, Christie’s reported. The top 12 lots each sold for more than $1 million, including commissions and fees.
The Moussaieff necklace, which fell within estimates, boasts three diamonds. The largest — a pear-shaped, 8.01-carat, fancy vivid blue, internally flawless stone — hangs from a circular-cut, fancy intense pink diamond surmount weighing 1.60 carats, with a 0.35-carat colorless diamond between the two. A collet-set, gold-mounted diamond double chain completes the piece.
The remaining top 10 lots were evenly spread among colored gems, colored diamonds, pearls and — this being a Hong Kong auction — jadeite. Colorless diamonds were few and far between, but signed jewels (albeit those with exceptional gems) performed well, and a Rockefeller natural pearl necklace shattered auction estimates.
The number-two lot was a bracelet with colored diamonds, colorless ones and seed pearls, which sold for more than $4.4 million, well above its $3.2 million high estimate. Hong Kong jewelry artist Edmond Chin created the piece exclusively for Geneva high jeweler Boghossian. The articulated seed pearl band sports variously shaped, multicolored diamond flower heads and buds interspersed with circular-cut diamond leaves. Single-cut diamonds mounted in gold embellish the back.
Next on the list was a necklace of 69 jadeite beads, spaced by a pair of jadeite hoops and an oval-shaped diamond. It sold for $4.3 million, within estimates. A pair of earrings with rare pear-shaped Brazilian paraiba tourmalines, respectively weighing 7.46 and 6.81 carats, ranked high as well. Sitting in pear- and oval-shaped diamond drop-shaped frames, they fetched more than $2.7 million.
The biggest surprise among the leading lots was a necklace of 63 graduated natural pearls with a marquise-cut diamond clasp, mounted in gold. Formerly belonging to John D. Rockefeller Jr., it last sold at Christie’s Geneva in 1998 for $500,000. This time, the jewel fetched more than $2 million, smashing its high estimate of $750,000.
Three Burmese ruby and diamond jewels earned high enough prices to make it into the top 10. The first was a diamond-line necklace with 58 cushion-shaped rubies, which sold for $2.1 million, below estimates. The other two were both pairs of earrings. One set featured suspended cushion-shaped rubies weighing approximately 5.06 and 5.03 carats, as well as cushion-shaped diamonds of 2.20 and 2.15 carats, in platinum and gold; these sold within estimates at over $1.8 million. The other pair, which sold for more than $1.5 million, had suspended pear-shaped diamonds of 5.95 and 5.83 carats, and cushion-shaped rubies weighing approximately 2.62 and 2.42 carats.
The lone sapphire among the top 10 was an octagonal, 19.28-carat stone set in a ring and accented by single-cut diamonds. The piece garnered more than $1.7 million.
Correction: A misprint in the June issue of Rapaport Magazine
(Page 51) said lot 205 of Christie’s Magnificent Jewels sale in New York weighed 2.19 carats, when in fact it weighed 12.19 carats
Image: Sotheby's; Christie's Images Ltd. (2018); ShutterstockArticle from the Rapaport Magazine - July 2018. To subscribe click here.