Diamonds Fetch Large Sums at Christie’s with a Notable Exception

A fancy vivid blue diamond that sold for $3.67 million at Christie's.

It was a mixed bag of results at Christie’s New York Magnificent Jewels sale Tuesday. A 10.09 fancy vivid purplish-pink diamond, with a pre-auction estimate of $12 to $15 million, did not sell. However, five diamonds sold for more than a million dollars. Two sapphire rings also were among the top 10 items sold by price at the auction.

“While we were disappointed that the 10-ct. purple-pink diamond did not find a buyer, top-quality white, blue, pink and yellow diamonds fared very well, with a strong price of $3.67 million, or $1.1 million per carat achieved for a fancy vivid blue diamond,” said Rahul Kadakia, head of Jewelry for Christie’s Americas. “In all, five top jewels exceeded the $1 million mark, with heavy competition among both trade buyers and private collectors for colorless diamonds, large gemstones, and signed jewels.”

That square emerald-cut fancy vivid blue IF blue diamond mentioned by Kadakia (top picture) had a weight of 3.25 cts.

The big winner in terms of total dollars for the evening was a 37.16-ct. cut-cornered rectangular-cut D IF diamond, which sold for nearly $4.5 million, or $120,000 per carat.

Other diamonds that did well included:

 * A 6.61-ct. rectangular-cut fancy intense pink diamond of VS2 clarity, which sold $3.5 million, or $540,000 per carat; 

 * A 50.29-ct. modified cushion-cut fancy vivid yellow VS1 diamond ring by Carvin French, which sold for more than $2.5 million  ($51,000 per carat); and

* A 16.41-ct. pear-shaped D color VS1 diamond ring by Van Cleef & Arpels (not shown), which sold for nearly $1.1 million ($66,000 per carat).

 The two sapphires rings that earned significant attention at the auction were a 10.06-ct. Art Deco Kashmir sapphire ring of by Tiffany & Co., circa 1920 (pictured left), which sold for $746,500 ($74,000 per carat); and a 40.66-ct. A cushion-cut Burmese sapphire and diamond ring that fetched $542,500 ($13,000 per carat).

The sale took in just under $31.8 million. A total of 224 lots were sold, amounting to 80 percent of the 281 lots offered.