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RAPAPORT... An exceptional sapphire and diamond ring set a new world auction record for a Kashmir sapphire at Christie's Geneva sale of magnificent jewels on May 13. The 35.09-carat cushion-shaped Kashmir sapphire sold to a private Asian buyer bidding on the phone for a record $7,357,999, or $209,689 per carat. The exceptional gem was the third top-selling lot at the auction, which totaled $97,515,535. The top lot of the evening was a 5.18-carat, VS2, rectangular-cut, fancy vivid pink diamond and diamond ring that sold to an anonymous buyer who placed the winning phone bid, establishing a price of $10,709,442, or $2,067,459 per carat. The second top lot of the sale was a 55.52-carat, D, flawless, pear-shaped type IIa diamond that sold to an Asian private for $9,033,721, or $162,711 per carat. Two natural pearl lots and a Burmese ruby ring made the top 10 list of highest-selling lots, continuing "the inexorable rise in demand for colored gemstones and pearls," according to Rahul Kadakia, the international head of Christie's jewelry department.
In a selective but internationally active market, white diamonds of high quality achieved stable prices, with four white diamond lots making the top 10 list. Christie's reported that 138 buyers from 24 countries participated in the sale.
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