Now known as the “Claire G Diamond,” this 101.41-carat, D color, internally flawless pear-shaped diamond sold for about $13 million at Sotheby’s New York June 16.
New York—Sotheby’s recently put two diamonds weighing more than 100 carats up on the auction block, with mixed results.
During the auction house’s June 16 “Magnificent Jewels” sale in New York, the leading lot was the stone previously known as “The Juno Diamond,” a Type IIa, 101.41-carat, D color, internally flawless pear-shaped diamond.
Sotheby’s estimated it would sell for more than $10 million. The stone garnered approximately $13 million, or about $127,800 per carat, one of the highest prices paid for a D color, F or IF diamond over 100 carats at auction, according to Sotheby’s.
The private collector who bought the stone renamed it the “Claire G Diamond” after his wife, the auction house said.
The other big diamond Sotheby’s put up on the block was “The Earth Star,” a 111.59-carat fancy deep orange-brown diamond.
Sotheby’s offered the diamond, seen below, without reserve, estimating it would sell for between $1.5 million and $2.5 million. Its final price was much lower than that—$693,000.
The auction house said it was the second-largest cut and polished brown diamond to come to auction, and one of only three such stones weighing over 100 carats to ever go up on the block.
The stone made an appearance in the 1968 book “Famous Diamonds” by Lord Ian Balfour.
The rough version, weighing 248 carats, was discovered the year before at the Jagersfontein Mine in South Africa.
“The Earth Star,” a 111.59-carat fancy deep orange-brown diamond set in a necklace by David Webb, garnered $693,000 at auction, less than half its lowest pre-sale estimate.
The Baumgold brothers in New York cut and polished the stone into a pear shape and named it The Earth Star for its brilliance.
David Webb set it into a pendant with azurmalachite (a mixture of azurite and malachite), diamonds, and gold, emphasizing its origin beneath the Earth’s surface.
In 1983, The Earth Star sold for close to $1 million and has remained in private ownership until going to auction at Sotheby’s.
Other notable highlights of the sale include the No. 2 lot, a 4.08-carat old-mine-cut fancy intense pink diamond that went for nearly twice its pre-sale high estimate, selling for $3.8 million.
Following that at No. 3 was a ring from Kwiat centered on a 26.06-carat D color VVS1 clarity diamond, which fell within its pre-sale estimate range when it garnered $2.3 million.
A 3.46-carat old mine-cut fancy gray-violet diamond went for more than twice its pre-sale estimate when it sold for almost $2 million.
A necklace featuring a 10.31-carat modified triangular brilliant-cut Paraiba tourmaline and diamond accents also went for well above pre-sale predictions, selling for $1.2 million.
The June 16 “Magnificent Jewels” auction totaled more than $52 million. To view the full results, visit Sothebys.com.
The results, along with the sale of New York Fine Jewels sale also held last week, pushed Sotheby’s worldwide jewelry auctions to more than $230 million to date, which it said was a 14 percent increase over the same period in 2021.
