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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.
Cai Mingchao, advisor to China’s National Treasures Fund, has declared himself the secret bidder for two Chinese statues sold for $19 million each last week by Christie’s in Paris. The statues were part of an auction of artwork owned by the late Yves St Laurent, fasion designer, and his partner Pierre Bergé. The buyer says he has no intention of paying, nor does he have the money: his bid was a patriotic act because he believes the art, stolen from China’s Imperial Palace in 1860 by British and French soldiers, should not be sold. The auction house told the New York Times that in such a situation the second highest bid does not necessarily get the item, but it would not speculate on what will happen. BBC, New York Times, Xinhua
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.
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – A mixed performance at Christie’s fine jewels auction Thursday in Geneva echoed the results at Sotheby’s the night before: on the one hand a record sale was made for a sapphire ring but on the other, half of the lots were unsold at the end of the evening.
