Two big auction houses realize Monday sales of more than $40 million, more to come
Tiara on sale at Sotheby's in Geneva 15 May
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – The Swiss franc is a pale safe haven in these days of troubled economies, compared to the bright, shining market in fine jewels, if Geneva auctions are any indication.
Monday was a big day, with Sotheby’s succeeding in the afternoon in a “white glove” (all lots sold) sale of 60 pieces of jewelry by designer Suzanne Belperron for CHF3.4 milliion ($3.2m), triple the pre-sale estimate.
The top item was a 1935 rock crystal and diamond ring that went for half a million dollars.
Christie’s in the evening held Lily Safra’s Jewels for Hope charity sale, which made CHF35m ($37.9m), almost double the pre-sale estimate.
The biggest ticket item was a ruby and diamond ring, the Hope Ruby, a cushion-shaped Burmese ruby ring of 32.08 cts, by Chaumet. Amer Radwan of Dubai’s Radwan Diamond and Jewelry Trading, paid CHF6.2 million for the gem, setting a world record for the per carat price for a ruby.
Christie’s holds its regular spring jewelry sale Wednesday 16 May and Sotheby’s continues its two-day sale Tuesday, with a lineup of historically significant jewels that include the Beau Sancy diamond, (estimate, CHF1.85-3.6m / $2-4m), the Murat Tiara (CHF1.4-2.3m) and a diamond brooch set with a 7.33 carat Fancy deep yellow diamond that was offered to the Corsini family by Charles Edward Stuart (1720-1788), Bonnie Prince Charlie (CHF 280,000-480,000).
Sun-drop yellow diamond discovered in 2010 goes for CHF11.28m at its first-ever sale in Geneva
James Bond and his amazing Rolex watch adapted in 1973 for "Live and Let Die" (source: Christie's Images Ltd, ©2011)
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Going, going, gone! For CHF11.28 million, the world’s “largest known pear-shaped fancy vivid yellow diamond”, a rarity for colour at its size and a newcomer on the market, went to an individual who wishes to remain anonymous, says Sotheby’s. The diamond was the hottest item in the auction house’s semi-annual Geneva fine jewels sale Tuesday night 15 November.
It kept great company this week, with jewels (not, of course, just baubles) that could tell tales and watches to match every fantasy. Wednesday night Christie’s holds its fine jewels sales, expected to fetch CHF49 million in total.
A watch sale by the auction house Monday night sold more than CHF26m in timepieces, including a 1968 Patek Philippe pink platinum watch that went for CHF2m, twice its estimated sale price.
Roger Moore's James Bond Rolex (click on image to view larger): Oyster Perpetual, 660ft=200m, Submariner, manufactured in 1972 and then converted. Movement removed to allow customization, black dial, luminous baton and dot numerals, luminous mercedes-style hands, tonneau-shaped case with calibrated rotating black bezel with saw-tooth edge, modified screw back, the inside case back signed Roger Moore 007, screw down crown, stainless steel Rolex Oyster expandable bracelet with deployant clasp stamped 7-72, a small hole in the end links used to attach an invisible wire to unzip Miss Caruso's dress, case and dial signed (source: Christie's Images Ltd, ©2011)
Journalists oohed and aahed over the Taylor collection, struggling to capture the sparkling jewels with cameras
Geneva’s “palaces”, or five-star hotels, hosted visits by James Bond’s electrifying watch (not literally, one of the few things it doesn’t do), which was also sold Monday night. fpr CHF219,000, as well as a collection of astonishing jewels from the star-studded world of Hollywood’s last “real star”, Liz Taylor. The Taylor collection then moved on to Paris and soon heads for New York where Christie’s will hold a four-day special auction in December, linked to a number of Elizabeth Taylor events.
The Wednesday night Christie’s sale features one of the largest selections of BVlgari jewels ever seen at auction, it says, as well as 40 jewels that Welsh actor Richard Burton gave to Susan Hunt Burton, his third of four wives, from 1976-82; Burton, was famously earlier married twice to Taylor.
Burton, who moved to Celigny in 1957 is buried in the village, not far from Geneva.
For Russian friends in Geneva, a parure as rich in historical and emotional value as beauty, was the highlight of the week’s shows, but it failed to find a buyer Tuesday night at Sotheby’s despite strong interest.
The jewels in the diamond necklace with earrings and brooch, whose asking price was not published, are reputed to have been part of the ransom offered by Catherine I of Russia, wife of Peter the Great, to Ahmed III, the 23rd Ottoman Sultan after the Pruth River battles in 1711. The battles were a key point in the war upon Russia by the Sultan, undertaken with the encouragement of Sweden’s ruler Charles XII. Russian forces were surrounded and in desperate straits when Catherine, who had accompanied her husband to the Pruth River for the final battle, gathered her jewels in secret and sent them with a last plea for peace from her husband to the sultan. A treaty was thus negotiated and, popular history has it, Catherine saved her husband and the empire.
The jewels went on to have a rich history, ending up in Egypt and eventually, in 1963, on the market. Christie’s notes that they are probably the most “important suite of antique coloured diamond jewels to appear at auction in the past 50 years”.
La Peregrina by Cartier, with 16th century drop-shaped pearl pendant, detachable from necklace designed by Taylor herself; a gift from Richard Burton, 1972
Fine jewels have value because of their intrinsic beauty and/or their rarity, but also often because of their history, as in the case of Empress Catherine’s peace offering. But glamour counts for much and Geneva has seen plenty of it, or at least the acoutrements of it, in the past week.
The Taylor jewels in particular, were accompanied by non-stop film footage of the star wearing her glamorous pieces, who went from National Velvet to Cleopatra, but who also lived her private life very much as a star. She was one of the early entertainment world celebrities to set up house in the Swiss ski resort of Gstaad, where she was a familiar sight, wearing her extraordinary and often over-sized jewels on a daily basis.
“She was the last of the great Hollywood stars”, said Christie’s Jonathan Rendell, deputy chairman of its Americas division, when presenting the collection to the press. She understood, he said, that “when she stepped outside her door she was no longer Elizabeth Taylor the private person, but the Hollywood star.”
Christie’s will not say how much of the money from the sale will go to support Taylor’s humanitarian work, but Rendell did make clear that she selected the pieces before her death and asked that Christie’s handle the sale. She died 23 March 2011, age 79.
GenevaLunch will be adding a photo album of Elizabeth Taylor’s jewels, from the Geneva exhibition, Wednesday afternoon.
The diamond and emerald tiara fetched the highest price ever at auction for a tiara, in Geneva
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Geneva residents and visitors have had a week of closeups of true glitter which has drawn to a close Wednesday evening 18 May. Christies Fine Jewels sale closes the city’s spring season of auctions.
Several records set for jewelry
Tuesday night at Sotheby’s saw what may have been the crowning glory of the week, when a breathtaking emerald and diamond tiara was sold for CHF11.28 million, the highest price ever paid at auction for a tiara.
The jewels sold during the twice-yearly major sales by the world’s two main auction houses are available for the public to view, once they pass through security checks, at city centre hotels Beau Rivage and Four Seasons Hotel des Bergues.
Visitors from Geneva and abroad check out the jewels before the sale
Cristiano de Lorenzo from Christie’s London office told GenevaLunch that the week of power viewing and sales is organized intentionally to make it easier for buyers from outside Geneva to do their auction-buying in one go in the city.
Tuesday noon, the day before the fine jewels sale for Christies, saw its fine jewels display room busy. One woman whispered to her girlfriend that she fancied a diamond bracelet while a couple who were clearly planning to bid at the Wednesday evening sale talked about the practicalities of wearing a Harry Winston piece with contemporary fashion.
He said, no problem. She wasn’t convinced and they had a heated discussion. She was in her early 30s, fashionably dressed, business-like, and it appeared her taste would win out.
Record price for tiara
Tuesday evening six bidders fought it out for the tiara at Sotheby’s; the name of the new owner was not made public.
The tiara, probably made about 1900, had been estimated earlier at CHF4.6m-9.2m.
Sotheby’s total sales of CHF79 million in fine jewels included the winning bid by international jewelers Leviev for a “superb fancy intense pink diamond, weighing 10.99 carats, for CHF9.60m, the third highest price for a pink diamond and the ninth highest price for a diamond at auction”.
$10 million: Christies set a record for heart-shaped diamond sale in Geneva
Hot on their heels was Christies, which sold CHF78 million in jewels Wednesday evening 19 May, with three records set: for a heart-shaped diamond, for any sapphire and for any Indian jewel. The top lot was a 56 ct heart-shaped diamond that sold for more than $10 million, becoming the most expensive heart-shaped diamond ever sold at auction.
And record for a red Burgundy wine
Wedged between the two jewelry sales was a fine wine sale at Christies. Crowds were smaller and bottles are not on display, so it’s a sale mainly visited by professional buyers.
Sales were generally flat at the all-day session with more than 700 lots of wine sold at top speeds, but there were some surprises: a 1945 Romanee-Conti Burgundy (75cl) estimated at CHF50,000-70,000 went for a surprising CHF123,889, the highest price ever at auction for a red Burgundy, after lively bidding online and in the room.
Top Sotheby's watch 15 May was a nearly 50-yer-old Patek Philippe
CHF1.15 million for the most expensive Rolex ever sold at auction, by Christies (source: Christies Ltd)
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – This is a week where spending your spare millions will be very easy in Geneva, the week when auctions are offering rare watches, an extraordinary emerald tiara and a bottle of Château Lafite-Rothschild, vintage 1887, Pauillac, 1er cru classé that would make grandfather sit up in his grave and ask for a glass.
Christies and Sotheby’s are outdoing themselves during the usual mid-May Geneva sales week. Sotheby’s, not too long before the British royal wedding when minds were on crowns and other state jewels, sent around a photo of the rare tiara that will be offered for sale Tuesday evening 17 May.
Most expensive auction Rolex goes for CHF1.04 million
But the week of rarefied goods began with Sotheby’s and Christies’s Important Watches sales
When the gavel went down Sunday evening 15 May on the final item at Sotheby’s, the firm could claim CHF7.75 million in sales, with a Patek Philippe watch alone going for CHF722,500. The 1960 watch, sold in 1962, belonged to a “distinguished gentleman” and is described as: “an extremely rare 18K yellow gold perpetual calendar, chronograph wristwatch with registers moon-phases and tachometer scale.”
The second most costly watch was just over CHF300,000, a 2007 Greubel Forsay watch.
They were overshadowed by the sale nearby at the Christies auction of a Rolex watch that set a new world record price for any Rolex wristwatch ever sold at auction, a “legendary, ultra-rare, split-seconds chronograph reference 4113″, sold for CHF1.035 million ($1.16m).
Christmas countdown, gift suggestions: number 40
GenevaLunch begins its countdown to the winter holiday season, with 40 gift options for buyers rich and poor, in the Lake Geneva region
Suggested sales price: starting at CHF27 million
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - The excitement is building inside the long room with its tidy rows of chairs and a bank of TV cameras, at Beau-Rivage, the elegant old hotel on Lake Geneva where Sotheby’s holds it Geneva auctions. Those bidding are well-dressed and discreet, and the security guards try to blend in. Outside, the air is chilly but it’s not yet really fur weather, although that will not stop women from slipping them on once the auction is over.
This is the night when one of the most “important”, not to mention expensive, diamonds to be sold in over 30 years goes up for auction. The Fancy Intense Pink Emerald-cut Diamond weighing 24.78 carats is described by Sotheby’s, which is not noted for understatement about its gems, as among the “rarest and most beautiful gemstones ever offered at auction”.
It comes from the Cullinan mines owned by Petra in South Africa and was last on the market 60 years ago. David Bennett, auctioneer and longtime precious gems expert, says this beauty, nearly perfect in its natural state before cutting, is one of nature’s deepest secrets.
The auction room and phone-in bidders, Sotheby's, Geneva
Pre-auction estimated price: CHF27-38 million (from $27.4m). To put this in perspective, Sotheby’s has, in the past two years, had a number of record-setting diamond sales, including one in May 2009 where a blue diamond went for CHF10.5 million.
The entire lot of gems sold for about CHF40m.
Size: 55-1/2
Details: set in shield-shaped shoulders, notable for the curved corners.
Who will not be buying this ring, we guess: Prince William (Kate should have her ring by now), Governor Schwarzenegger of California, whose budget can’t cover the bid, Michael Moore, whose pinky isn’t small enough.
Suggestion: if this is not in your Christmas gift budget but you have at least a million to spend, you might still be interested in the other Sotheby’s gems for sale Tuesday evening, but you’ll have to hurry to put in your online bids. They include jewels from the collection of Cristina Ford, some jewels formerly owned by Christina Onassis, a ruby and diamond bracelet by Petochi which was once in the collection of Countess Mona Bismarck, and a diamond cuff bangle made by Cartier in 1938 for HH Abbas Hilmi II Bey, the last Khedive of Egypt and Sudan (1874-1944).
Christie's unmounted flawless 62.3 carat diamond sold for CHF8.01 million (click on image to view larger)
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Forget the girl’s best friend, diamonds that investors love are dazzling the jewelry world this week. Christie’s big November precious gems and jewelry sale in Geneva Wednesday 18 November ended on a high note, with the sale of a 62.3 carat diamond going for CHF8.01 million at the Four Seasons Hotel des Bergues.
Overall, the sale brought in CHF32.28m, another strong sign that the market has recovered, after Sotheby’s sold CHF37 million in jewels Monday. The buyer was Aleks Paul of Essex Global Trading in New York, a dealer who also walked off with two other lots of diamonds worth more than CHF5m.
And down the street at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel the Antiquorum sale of fine watches set a record price for watches sold in 2009: CHF5.12m for the Patek Philippe Yellow Gold Calibre 89, one of only four in the world, each unique.
Calibre 89, auctioned an Antiquorum, Geneva
Cartier watch made in honour of Red Cross, Sotheby's sale
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – A watch made for an Ethiopian emperor and a 1948 pink gold watch with a perpetual calendar and moon phases are among the top pieces on the watches auction list at Sotheby’s Sunday 15 November.
The world’s most complicated timepiece, a Patek Philippe Calibre 89 watch with 33 complications, is up for auction Saturday 14 November at Antiquorum.
The two Geneva auction houses hold their big annual watch sales, which dominate the market, every November.
Several historical watches are top of the billing at Sotheby’s:
Deep blue diamond, Sotheby's November 2008 in Geneva
New York, USA and Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The art markets and in particular fine jewels auctions were being watched closely at the end of 2008 for signs that they were suffering from the global economic crisis, but a new report from Art Market Review suggests that the jewelry market in particular has been more stable than expected. The review was prepared for Sotheby’s by industry observer Art Market Monitor.
