Auctions

These 2 Fancy Color Diamonds Captured Buyers’ Hearts in HK

AuctionsJul 13, 2020

These 2 Fancy Color Diamonds Captured Buyers’ Hearts in HK

The 5.04-carat fancy vivid blue diamond led Sotheby’s jewelry auction, selling for $10.6 million Friday.

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The jewelry auction at Sotheby’s Hong Kong last week was the auction house’s first live sale in Asia since the onset of the pandemic. These fancy color heart-shaped diamonds led the way as the No. 1 and No. 3 lots sold.

Hong Kong—Buyers fell in love with two fancy color diamond hearts at auction Friday.

The stones garnered $18.7 million between them at Sotheby’s Magnificent Jewels sale in Hong Kong, the auction house’s first live sale in Asia since the onset of COVID-19.

The 5.04-carat fancy vivid blue heart modified brilliant-cut diamond, flanked by two pear-shaped diamonds and mounted in platinum, led the auction at $10.6 million, topping its highest pre-sale estimate of $9.7 million.

Its sister stone, a 4.49-carat heart modified brilliant-cut fancy vivid pink diamond, flanked by pear-shaped diamonds and mounted in 18-karat white gold, became the No. 3 lot overall when it garnered $8.1 million.

Falling between them at No. 2 was a necklace comprised of 37 jadeite beads described as having a “highly translucent brilliant emerald green color” and a clasp set with a cabochon ruby and single-cut diamonds.

It sold for $10.4 million.

RELATED CONTENT: 12-Carat Marquise Blue Diamond Sells for $16M at Christie’s
At No. 4 was another jade lot, a cylindrical jadeite bangle of “very good translucency and even emerald green color,” that sold for $2 million.

The fifth highest-grossing lot of the jewelry auction was the 4.05-carat marquise-shaped fancy intense purplish-pink diamond ring pictured below, which sold for $1.6 million, beating its pre-sale estimate.




Going for more than three times its pre-sale estimate and selling for $210,000 was an antique diamond bracelet signed by Garrard, the London-based jeweler to the British crown, given to Princess Margaret, Queen Elizabeth II’s sister, on her 21st birthday.

It was said to be a favorite of hers, as she was seen wearing it in public often.

Meanwhile, a number of colorless diamonds expected to be among the top lots went unsold.

A pair of unmounted diamond hearts, both weighing 10.51 carats each, was expected to sell for between $1.8 million and $2.1 million total but failed to find a buyer at the jewelry auction Friday, as did a 22.18-carat D flawless emerald-cut diamond and an 18-carat cushion D IF brilliant-cut diamond.

Sotheby’s Magnificent Jewels auction totaled $56.5 million.

For full jewelry auction results, visit Sothebys.com.
Brecken Branstratoris the senior editor, gemstones at National Jeweler, covering sourcing, pricing and other developments in the colored stone sector.

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