RAPAPORT... Bonhams sold a 2.97-carat diamond ring for $2.2 million (GBP
1.5 million), including
the premium, at
its fine jewelry auction in London on December 5, setting two world records and a third for the sale of a ruby ring.
The step-cut diamond, set in a ring designed by jeweler Andrew
Grima, fetched the highest-ever auction price per carat for a fancy
greyish-blue diamond and also set a record for a Grima creation. The price beat
the pre-sale estimate of $752,000 to $1.05 million,
the auctioneer said in a statement.
Another piece, a pair of late nineteenth-century sapphire
and diamond earrings, sold for $2.3 million, after being estimated at $752,000 to
$1.2 million. The earrings belonged to a European princess and feature two
cushion-cut Kashmir sapphires, one of 7.92
carats the other 7.96 carats, with borders containing 7.1
carats of
old brilliant-cut diamonds.
“These lots attracted interest from around the globe because
of their exceptional quality and rarity,” said Jean Ghika, Bonhams’ director of
jewelry for
the UK and Europe. “The prices achieved reflect the buoyancy of the market for
colored gemstones of the highest quality."
Also at the auction, a Belle Époque ruby and diamond pendant
from around 1915 with a 3.83-carat unheated Burmese ruby sold for $194,319 to a telephone
bidder, and a 10.28-carat Madagascan ruby single-stone ring sold for $357,687 – another
world record for price per carat.
The sale achieved $10.3 million, with 88 per cent of lots sold by value.
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