A golden year for Sotheby’s

Sotheby’s records record after record: in 2014 totaled $ 602 million (approximately 533 million euro) from jewelry auctions. An enormous amount, achieved thanks to extraordinary pieces from equally exceptional collections owned by Mrs.Paul Mellon, Barbara Hutton, Dimitri Mavrommatis, Estee Lauder and Evelyn H. Lauder, Helen Hay Whitney, Flora Sassoon, up to that of the former Empress French Joséphine de Beauharnais and Grand Duchess Vladimir of Russia. Names that have triggered the buyers. So much so that of the 3,900 lots, 77 have exceeded the million dollars, while 69% of those sold surpassed the estimates. For example, the rare Fancy Vivid Blue Diamond from the famous collection of Mrs. Mellon, renamed the Zoe Diamond from the name of the buyer, has been sold for $ 32.6 million, that is € 29 million, or 3 million and $ 348,000 per carat, a price never seen for any diamond. From this second record to another one: the highest value, 16.3 million dollars (11.9 million euro) assigned to a yellow diamond, ie Graff Vivid Yellow. Predictable result, when dealing with extremely rare diamonds? Not only: according to the London auction house, prices are driven by the scarcity of quality stones and by the growing demand of buyers from China and Southeast Asia. That seems to be avidly interested in everything: natural pearls, jade, sapphires, rubies and emeralds are the target of a new generation of collectors and investors. And not surprisingly, the overall sell-through rate in 2014 was 81 percent. Another record.