No new home for this beauty: Fancy Deep Blue Diamond

Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Sotheby’s November auction of fine jewels, which in 2007 set price records, failed to raise bids to a level where it could sell the three highest priced items Wednesday night in Geneva. David Bennett, chairman of jewelry for Europe and the Middle East at the auction house said “Tonight’s sale was assembled in the wake of our near-all-time record Geneva jewels sale [May 2008] and most of the property was consigned and valued prior to the turmoil in the financial markets.

“As we saw in this evening’s sale, the diamond market is currently in a period of transition and it will probably not be clear where it is headed until the end of the year.”

On the brighter side, several of the smaller items sold for well over their estimates and the top seller was a Fancy Pink diamond weighing 8.02 carats that sold for CHF 1.59 million. In total the sale at Sotheby’s was close to CHF18 million.

Lesotho diamond ring, also unsold

Bennett pointed out that the failure of some pieces to sell was not a reflection on the quality of the jewels themselves, but rather a result of market uncertainty. “As in all markets in transition, potential buyers were reluctant to commit to purchase, which resulted in the three top diamond lots remaining unsold. We nevertheless did see bidding activity for a number of lots. There was competition on the Magnificent Natural Pearls, the Golconda Diamond Ring by JAR, as well as a bid on the Blue Diamond. Tonight’s total is comparable to the level of economic activity in our May 2005 sale.” Bennett noted that natural pearls sold well.

The top 10 jewelry items sold for between CHF254,000 and CHF1.59m, with six of the 10 buyers private and one anonymous. The others were industry purchases. Of the 371 lots on offer, 146 were not sold at the auction.

Ed. note: click on images to view larger.

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