From Switzerland to the rest of the world: CEO Daryl Wickstrom has announced that David Bennett is the new worldwide president of Sotheby’s Jewelry. “Sotheby’s jewelry auctions have seen continuous growth in recent years, culminating in 2014, the year in which Sotheby’s international Jewelry department achieved an auction total of 600 million dollars,” commented the manager. “Our clientele is constantly expanding: buyers from more than 74 countries have participated in our auctions in New York, Geneva, Hong Kong and London, a quarter of which were at their first auction experience at Sotheby’s. With the international team of experts we will continue to strengthen the Jewelry market, serving both new and historic collectors and all the players in a market with increasingly global characteristics.”
The change at the helm of the jewelry division follows that of Sotheby’s chairman, William Ruprecht, who surprisingly stepped down in the fall. The manager will now oversee the jewelry divisions led by Lisa Hubbard, chairman of North & South America, Quek Chin Yeow, chairman of Asia, and Patti Wong, chairman of Diamonds Sotheby.
Bennett, who is also co-author, with Daniela Mascetti, of Understanding Jewellery (1989) and Celebrating Jewellery (2012), volumes dedicated to the history of jewelry, has so far handled auctions in Geneva and the Europe area, excluding Great Britain. In recent years he has led many record sales, including that of the Graff Pink, which set the current record for a diamond. Another jewel was sold in November 2010 for $46.2 million. Bennett has been instrumental in many of Sotheby’s most celebrated jewellery sales, including the sale of the Duchess of Windsor Jewels (1987), the Thurn and Taxis Collection (1992), the Collection of Ava Gardner, Sultan H.H. Begum Mohamed Shah Aga Khan, Maria Callas, Gina Lollobrigida and, most recently, Dimitri Mavrommatis. And under David Bennett’s guidance, Sotheby’s Geneva has offered for sale the legendary Beau Sancy Diamond, the diamond once owned by Henry IV of France, as well as the magnificent emerald and diamond tiara, from the Collection of Princess Katharina Henckel von Donnersmarck. What other records are you planning?
