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AUCTION

‘Flawless’ diamond and Liz Taylor’s jewels under the hammer in Geneva

The largest ever "flawless" heart-shaped diamond to appear at auction will go under the hammer at Christie's sale of precious jewels in Geneva this month, and is expected to fetch up to $20 million.

Published: 5 May 2017 08:20 CEST
'Flawless' diamond and Liz Taylor's jewels under the hammer in Geneva
File photo: Fabrice Coffrini/AFP
The 92-carat pendant suspended from a pearl sautoir is the showcase piece at Christie's spring sale, set for May 17th at the ultra-luxe Four Seasons des Bergues hotel on the shores of Lake Geneva.
   
Despite what Christie's calls the piece's “pure quality and magnitude”, the necklace is unlikely to approach the jaw-dropping sums paid for smaller coloured diamonds in recent years.
   
In Hong Kong last month the 59.60-carat “Pink Star” fetched a record $71.2 million (65.1 million euros), a price that highlighted the galloping market for rare pink and blue diamonds.
   
Film buffs with a seat at the Christie's sale will also have the chance to bid on a set of ruby and diamond earrings and matching bracelet given to late Hollywood star Elizabeth Taylor in 1957 by her then husband, director and producer Mike Todd.
   
Christie's said the parure could sell for up to $500,000.
   
A total of 250 lots will be on offer at the auction, likely to be attended by high-end buyers from across the globe but especially Asia, a continent that has increasingly scooped up the world's most valuable stones.

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DIAMOND

Rare pink diamond to go under hammer in Geneva

An extremely rare pink diamond will be auctioned in Geneva on November 11 by Sotheby's, which says it is worth between $23 and $38 million.

Published: 8 November 2020 12:54 CET
Rare pink diamond to go under hammer in Geneva
A model poses with the “The Spirit of the Rose” diamond during a press preview on Friday. Photo: Fabrice Coffrini/AFP
Named “The Spirit of the Rose” after a famous Russian ballet, the 14.83-carat diamond mined in Russia is the biggest ever to go under the hammer in its category — “fancy vivid purple-pink”.
 
The occurrence of pink diamonds in nature is extremely rare in any size,” Gary Schuler, head of Sotheby's jewellery division, said in a statement. “Only one per cent of all pink diamonds are larger than 10-carats.”
   
Speaking to AFP, Benoit Repellin, head of fine jewellery auctions at Sotheby's Geneva, said the oval-shaped diamond was “completely pure.”
 
 
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The rough diamond was unearthed by Russia's Alrosa — one of the world's leading diamond producers — in the Republic of Sakha in the northeast of the country in July 2017.
   
Repellin said it took a painstaking year for cutting masters to turn the diamond into its polished form.
   
Sotheby's said the world auction record for a diamond and any gemstone or jewel was the “CTF Pink Star”, a 59.60-carat oval pink diamond that sold for $71.2 million in Hong Kong in 2017.
   
According to Repellin, five out of the 10 most valuable diamonds ever sold at auction were pink.
   
The sale of this gem coincides with the closure of the world's largest pink diamond mine in Australia after it exhausted its reserves of the precious stones.
   
The Argyle mine, in the remote Kimberley region of Western Australia, churned out more than 90 percent of the world's pink diamonds.
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