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AuctionsNov 12, 2013
'The Orange' fetches $35M at Christie’s
The largest fancy vivid orange diamond in the world at 14.82 carats, “The Orange,” set two world auction records when it sold for $35.5 million at Christie’s Magnificent Jewels auction in Geneva Tuesday.
“The Orange” diamond sold for $35.5 million, or $2.4 million per carat, at Christie’s Geneva Tuesday. The stone’s pre-sale high estimate was $20 million.
Geneva--The largest fancy vivid orange diamond in the world at 14.82 carats, “The Orange,” set two world auction records when it sold for $35.5 million at Christie’s Magnificent Jewels auction in Geneva Tuesday.
The stone set the price-per-carat world record for any diamond sold at auction and a new world record price for an orange diamond.
An anonymous bidder purchased the stone.
“Time and time again, a stone will appear on the market that is truly a miracle of nature. The 14.82-carat orange diamond is one such a stone … which will perhaps only be seen once in a lifetime,” said François Curiel, international head of Christie’s jewelry department.
“In the sale Tuesday, it soared far above all previous records for any orange diamond ever sold at auction, placing The Orange amongst great pinks and blues, which are traditionally the most appreciated colored diamonds.”
In total, Christie’s Magnificent Jewels auction totaled $125.4 million, the highest total ever for a Geneva jewelry auction. It sold 89 percent by lot and 96 percent by value, with 22 of the lots going for more than $1 million.
In addition to The Orange, the sale included jewelry from the collections of the late French socialite Hélène Rochas and Bolivian business tycoon Simón Itturi Patiño.
An emerald and diamond necklace made by Cartier in 1937, part of the Patiño collection, sold for $9.9 million to a private Asian bidder.
Other top lots in the sale included a seven-strand natural pearl and diamond necklace, which sold to a private collector for $9 million.
A cushion-shaped sapphire and multi-gemstone “Côte D’Azur” brooch by Asian designer Anna Hu sold to an anonymous bidder for $4.6 million, setting a world auction record price per carat for a Burma sapphire and a world auction record price for a contemporary designer.
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