Apr 19th, 2013

$134 million week for Sotheby’s & Christie’s

 

Big week in New York for Sotheby’s and Christie’s.

 

Sotheby’s New York sale of magnificent jewels garnered $53,490,938 and was 82.4% sold by lot.

The top lot was a 74.79 carat, D, VVS1 potentially internally flawless, type IIa, pear-shaped diamond that sold for $14.165 million. The diamond was acquired in 2001 for $4.3 million. Other highlights included a 21.46 carat, D, internally flawless, type IIa emerald-cut diamond ring sold for $3.189 million, while a 22.48 carat emerald and diamond brooch fetched $2.909 million.

Lisa Hubbard, the chairman of North & South America for Sotheby’s international jewelry division, said, “The truly exceptional 74.79 carat stone was a thrill to auction, and exemplifies the strength of the market for white diamonds over the last decade – it was acquired by the present owner in 2001 for $4.3 million, and today sold for a record $14.2 million. We were thrilled to see pieces from the Gould family join the ranks of magnificent private collections that we have had the privilege to offer at Sotheby’s. This is what collectors come to auction to see and experience: wonderful period pieces that are fresh to the market, and set with jewels of outstanding quality. In addition, signed pieces and iconic styles were led by an incredibly rare example of Cartier’s ‘Tutti-Frutti’ bracelets, which closed the sale with an incredible $1.4 million result.”
Christie’s New York magnificent jewelry sale garnered $81,358,700 on April 16, with The Princie Diamond ‎setting a record for a diamond sold by the auction house in the U.S. The auction sold 91 ‎percent by lot and 82 percent by value.‎

The Princie Diamond, a cushion-cut, 35.65 carat, fancy intense pink Golconda diamond sold for ‎‎$39.32 million, or $1.135 million per carat to an anonymous buyer. Christie’s stated that the sale ‎also marked a new record for a Golconda diamond sold at auction. ‎

‎“A major event took place in the global auction industry with the record-breaking sale of The ‎Princie Diamond at Christie’s New York,” said Rahul Kadakia, head of jewelry at Christie’s ‎Americas and Switzerland. “Aside from Christie’s sale of the legendary Collection of Elizabeth ‎Taylor, this was the most successful jewelry auction ever held in the United States and ‎Christie’s was proud to have orchestrated the sale of such a historic gemstone.”‎

The second top lot was a rectangular-cut, 30.32 carat, D, VVS1 diamond that sold for $4.4 ‎million, or $146,300 per carat, to a private buyer. A marquise-cut, 23.3 carat, D, VVS2 diamond ‎ring by Harry Winston was bought by Graff for $3.3 million, or $140,000 per carat and ‎a diamond necklace by William Goldberg sold for $1.9 million to Essex Global Trading. The fifth ‎top lot was an oval-cut, 11.08 carat, ruby and diamond ring, which sold for $1.7 million.‎
Source:
RAPAPORT