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.
Duchess Roxburghe's ruby and diamond earrings, sold for more than 10 times their estimated price at Sotheby's, Geneva
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The annual Sotheby‘s sale of “Magnificent Jewels” was an extraordinary event Tuesday evening 17 November in Geneva, reassuring investors that the jewelry market is alive and well, with sales close to the impressive CHF40 million of May 2009: CHF37 million, with sales spread across several lots. In May, one blue diamond alone sold for CHF10.4 million, accounting for over one-quarter of the auction value.
Several items were bought for sums dizzyingly higher than their estimates Tuesday night. Diamond rings in particular went for double their estimates, for the most part.
The November 2008 sale, at a point of great gloom over the global financial crisis, brought in CHF18 million and some of the top items were not sold because of bids that were too low for the sellers.
The top items Tuesday night included (from catalogue descriptions):
