RAPAPORT... In a season of very rich offerings, Christie’s Hong Kong auction, titled simply “Jewels: The Hong Kong Sale,” proved to be the icing on the cake. The firm’s May 28 sale wrapped up a remarkable jewelry auction season with the highest total ever for this house, the highest total for all the jewelry sales this spring and new records in several diamond categories.
Topping the list in the $60 million sale was a shield-shaped F, VVS1 diamond weighing 101.27 carats. This exquisite diamond, set in a tiara, was sold for $6,211,249*, $61,500 per carat, and was the largest diamond ever sold at auction in Asia. It had more than weight going for it, however. The stone was fashioned from an enormous rough weighing 460 carats, found in South Africa’s fabled Premier Mine. The price was a shade over the presale low estimate, showing once again the remarkable skills of Vickie Sek, director of jewelry and jadeite for Christie’s Asia, at gauging her market.
“The market is strong,” Sek commented after the sale. “Our buyers — predominantly Asian as well as from the Middle East and Russia — are becoming more and more demanding. They only want gemstones that are rare and of top quality.”
COLORED DIAMONDSBoth qualities were evident in a square-shaped fancy green diamond of 10.36 carats. It sold for $3,485,281, an astonishing $336,500 per carat, setting a world auction record for a green diamond. The stone was set beautifully in a ring with pink pear shapes and brilliant cuts, and mounted in 18-karat rose and white gold. It takes a very special client to appreciate such a stone and Sek had just such a customer. “The green diamond went to an Asian private collector who is very sophisticated, looking to enhance her collection of colored diamonds,” Sek said. “When you have yellow, pink, blue and red diamonds, you naturally want a green diamond after that, and money is no object.”
A stunning, cushion-shaped fancy intense yellow VS1 diamond weighing 67.09 carats was sold for $2,337,505, $34,800 per carat. The stone was set with the utmost simplicity, allowing its spectacular color, cut and clarity to shimmer. It was suspended from a black silk cord, which was held in place by three tiny bands set with round diamonds.
ELECTRICITY IN THE AIR
Competition at the auction was fierce on many lots, and the atmosphere was described as “electric.” At times, Sek noted, there were so many people bidding at the same time, “the auctioneer wasn’t even sure which one to take.” Such was the case for a round, D color, potentially flawless diamond weighing 16.04 carats, which brought a world record price per carat for a colorless diamond at auction. The stone sold for $3,341,809, well over the high estimate. Like nine of the top ten lots — the exception being the top-selling $6 million tiara — this diamond was bought by an Asian
private. As Sek added, “Our strength is, again, in diamonds. The highest-quality diamonds are fetching great, great prices.”
Coming in right on its heels was another round D flawless diamond weighing 12.15 carats. This stone’s appeal benefited from the Asian taste for the most perfect of stones and it sold for $2,409,241, $198,000 per carat. Like the 16.04-carat gem, this diamond was described as “icy white,” the epitome of colorless diamonds.
Fine diamond jewelry also captured the attention of Asian private buyers. Leading the charge was a remarkable diamond pendant necklace set all around with D color, internally flawless marquise-cut and pear-shaped diamonds. The center pear-shaped diamond drop weighed exactly 8.88 carats, the most auspicious number for Cantonese buyers. The Cantonese phonetic equivalent for the number eight equates to luck, fortune and wealth. This diamond was newly cut for the necklace. The diamonds totaled 58.15 carats of perfection; the necklace was sold for $2,552,713, just under the high estimate.
Collecting diamonds to create a necklace of stunning symmetry seems to be a new spectator sport in the auction world. This sale featured another one of these amazing compilations: 63 marquise-cut diamonds, set within brilliant-cut diamond surrounds, were combined in two strands, all of it suspending one pear shape weighing 6.05 carats. Although the pear shape was only G color, VVS2, it found a buyer who outbid everyone and paid $348,509, well over the high estimate of $300,000.
The Asian clientele still want their jadeite jewelry and, in this sale, a single strand of 73 jadeite beads, ranging in size from 8.64 to 10.85 millimeters, was sold for $2,480,977.
Matching color and translucency in jadeite is as difficult as matching transparent colored gemstones. This superb bead necklace also featured two marquise-cut diamonds, one in the clasp and the other in a clip that holds the necklace in place.
Period jewelry — or at least emeralds with provenance — also made a strong showing in Asia. The top lot in this sale, shown on the catalog cover, set a world record price per carat for an emerald at auction. The emeralds, weighing 9.12 and 8.84 carats, were formerly the property of the Grand Duchess Vladimir of Russia and have a long and fabled history, having been worn, sold, and reset over and over again for about 150 years. By the time they arrived at this sale, they were set in a modern pair of ear pendants along with natural pearls and diamonds. The lot sold for $2,409,241.
Emerald green must resonate with the Chinese love for the green of jadeite. A cushion-shaped Colombian emerald weighing 14.31 carats and set in a ring was sold for $1,189,729, $83,000 per carat. This exceptionally transparent and deeply saturated stone was the essence of emerald material, with a Gübelin laboratory certificate stating that there were “no indications of clarity enhancement.”
Two of three charming and unusual brooches by Gimel, a Kobe, Japan–based designer, failed to sell. Each featured fancy colored diamonds and demantoid garnets exquisitely fashioned into flowers or a leaf. The diamonds were delicately graduated in color to form the petals of a lotus. The one brooch that sold was pavé-set with pink, yellow and white diamonds, and featured a briolette-diamond drop. It brought $50,394.
Although this sale was only 75 percent sold by lot, it was remarkably successful in satisfying the exacting tastes of the Asian clientele, introducing ever more important diamonds as well as various periods of jewelry and colored gemstones. The record-breaking total of the sale showed that the auction house was well ahead of the general business world, going where the money was and spending time, effort and a lot of money to nurture, educate and assure this new clientele that this merchandise deserved their attention— and their funds.
*All prices include buyer’s premium.
Article from the Rapaport Magazine - July 2008. To subscribe click here.