Rubini, a Fabergé tiara and a 118 carat fancy diamond: here are the stars of Christie’s Magnificent Jewels auction ♦ ︎
More and more: the Magnificent Jewels auction organized by Christie’s in Geneva totaled sales of 77.2 million dollars (68 million euros). Also because the super auction also included watches and collector wines, as well as thrilling jewels. The number of visitors to the Four Season, where the auction was scheduled, also gives an idea of the event: 3,000 went on a pilgrimage to see the 271 jewels, 249 watches, and wine bottles. Other statistical data: bidders from 51 countries on six continents, 87% of the lots found a buyer.
The king of the day was a ring with a Burmese ruby in the shape of a pillow, by Harry Winston. A jewel that has tripled its pre-sale estimate and has been sold for 7.2 million dollars (6.3 million euros), “maximum price achieved in all homes in Geneva this spring”. Does anyone think it is an allusion at Sotheby’s?
The Magnificent Jewels auction took place in a very dynamic room for six hours with strong bidding across the globe. Natural pearls and jewels with noble provenance such as the 75.61 carat emerald from Grand Duchess Vladimir of Russia found much acclaim and sold for far above their pre-sale estimates. Also, of note was the 118 cts fancy yellow diamond that was purchased by SIBA Corp. in honour of Sam Abram, a prominent figure in the Jewellery world, who very sadly passed away last week.
Rahul Kadakia, Christie’s Head of Jewelery International
Natural pearls continue to deliver strong prices. A necklace with 110 natural pearls was sold for 5.7 million dollars, doubling the pre-sale estimate. The period jewels are also well received. The Fabergé tiara made in 1904 as a wedding gift by Frederick Francis IV, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (1882-1945) to his wife Princess Alexandra of Hanover and Cumberland (1882-1963), composed of nine graduated pear-shaped aquamarines it was sold for 1 million dollars against a pre-sale estimate of 340,000. And the necklace owned by the Duchess Vladimir of Russia with a pear-shaped Colombian emerald was allocated to 4.3 million dollars. Also noteworthy is the price of the ring with the Jonker V diamond at 3 million dollars, which however remained within the range of the estimate. Federico Graglia
