New York – One of the greatest private collections of jewelry ever to be seen at auction was sold at Sotheby’s, bringing a strong total of $9,249,025, over $1.2 million above the high estimate for the sale. The total represents the second highest total realized for a single-owner collection of jewelry at auction in America, surpassed only by the Jewels of Luz Mila Patifio, Countess du Boisrouvray (Sotheby’s 1989) which totaled $31.2 million.
John Block, Executive Vice President, Executive Vice President, Sotheby’s Jewelry and Precious Objects Division and auctioneer, commented, “This unique private collection, featuring the highest quality antique and contemporary jewelry, brought an international group of collectors into the salesroom, including many who had never bid at auction before. I am delighted with the overall strength of this sale which brought the second highest total for a single-owner sale of jewelry in American auction history.”
Highlights included a rare deep blue diamond ring, 6.7 carats (est. $2/2.5 million) which sold to international jewelry dealer Graff Diamonds for $3,522,500, and was named “The Magnificent Graff Blue Heart” immediately after the sale. The price for the blue diamond, $525,746 per carat, represents the second highest paid per carat for a blue diamond at auction.
Antique jewelry with great provenance was highly sought after, particularly an historic and important diamond necklace, circa 1900 (est. $150 / 200,000) made of diamonds originally mounted in the great “comb a pampilles” of the French Frown Jewels, worn by Empress Eugenie on the occasion of the Prince Imperial’s christening sold for $244,500 to a private Asian collector; and an extremely fine and rare emerald and diamond necklace and earrings, circa 1830 (est. $200 / 225,000) which fetched $244,000.
Gemstones of superb quality also fared very well, notably an important ruby and diamond necklace (est. $350 / 400,000) which nearly doubled its low estimate when it sold for $574,500; and a superb emerald and diamond ring (est. $350 / 400,000) which brought $508,500.
| Christie’s GENEVA—The legendary Ahmadabad diamond is the highlight of Christie’s sale of Magnificent Jewels on November 15at the Richmond Hotel, Geneva. Recorded in the collections of among the most powerful rulers of the East in the 17th and 18th Centuries, the fabulous 78.86 carat D color diamond was once believed to be the largest and most beautiful diamond ever seen in Europe and Asia. It is expected to realize $6 million. Bearing all the qualities of a diamond mined at the famous Golcondo mines in India, the diamond’s considerable size and pear-shaped cut place it among the rarest and most beautiful stones of today. The Ahmadabad diamond was meticulously described and illustrated in the travel diaries of the 17th Century French explorer Jean-Baptiste Tavernier, Baron of Aubonne, who was impressed by the “largest and most beautiful diamond ever seen in Europe and Asia”. Tavernier acquired the exquisite stone in Ahmadabad, capital of the Gujarat province of India and an important center of the silk and cotton trades, on one of his numerous expeditions to Asia between 1631 and 1668. Legend has it that the stone was sold by Tavernier to the last Mogul Emperor Aurangzeb (1659-1707). It was not seen for a further 150 years until it appeared in the collection of the beautiful Begum Hazrat Mahal, wife of Wajid Ali Shah, King of Oudh from 1847 to 1856, who led the Indian Mutiny against the British in 1957. |
Sotheby’s
LONDON—Sotheby’s was justifiably happy with the success of its “Fine Jewels and Jewels for the collector in London on October 12. The grand total of the auction was $2,104,904.
“There were some good prices for antique diamond jewelry and strong bidding on high-quality diamonds,” said Alexandra Rhodes, the auctioneer and specialist in charge for the sale.
Jewels from the estate of Lady Beaverbrook Fetched a total of $81,946 with only one of the 14 lots offered failing to find a buyer. The highest price paid in the collection was $16,353 for a pair of diamond pendant earrings dating from around 1930. Lady Beaverbrook’s highly important diamond ring is expected to fetch $237 / 316,000 when it is sold by Sotheby’s in Geneva on November 16.