2 Records Utterly Smashed in Just 1 Auction


Sotheby’s took over the lead and continued the Magnificent Jewels party into the 12th.


Gemstones


Lawrence Graff grabbed the opportunity of 11.11 and went on a shopping spree, continuing his acquisitions from Christie’s on the 11th into the 12th about 200 meters away in Geneva where Sotheby’s was also offering its own inventory of Magnificent Jewels. He went on to buy his own previously owned Graff Ruby and broke a record at the same time, paying slightly under $1 million per carat for the 8.62 Ruby, dubbed 'pigeon blood' in color due to its deep red hue, and exceptional quality.



Back to Fancy Color diamonds


In my last commentary about the Sotheby’s auction last week, I discussed lot #460, a 3.16 carat, Fancy Intense Blue that was estimated at between $2 million and $3 million. I mentioned that based on my own research, the value of the diamond is near its high end estimate, and in fact it sold for $3,194,141, or just over $1.01 million per carat. The only previous time that a Fancy Intense Blue broke the $1 million per carat was back on May 11, 2010 where a 7.64 carat Fancy Intense Blue was sold for $1.05 million per carat. So overall for a Fancy Intense Blue, this is the second highest price per carat ever paid, but in its own 3-5 carat category it set a new world record.




So both Christie’s and Sotheby’s have something to celebrate this month. And as I said previously, November will set new records for blue diamonds.

 
Next we have a nicely set a 4.53 carat Fancy Intense Purplish Pink diamond, which sold for $1,437,727 or $317,379 per carat, slightly over it middle estimate by Sotheby’s.

 
Lot #467, a 10.30 carat, Fancy Vivid Yellow diamond ring by Graff sold for a whopping $1,375,443 or $133,538 per carat. Estimates were $900k to $1.5 million.


Another fantastic result came from Lot #416, an 18.85 carat Fancy Intense Yellow diamond ring that sold for slightly over $1 million, at 67% above its highest estimate of $600,000.

 
Lot #459, the other Fancy Intense Pink in this auction by Graff, a 1.86 carat stone, estimated by Sotheby’s between $300k and $500k, ended up selling for 41% above its high estimate of $500k. It was sold for $702,773, or $377,834 per carat. How significant is this price? It broke another sub-category record for the 1-2 carat group. The previous record was held by the October 15, 2013 record of a 1.09 carat Fancy Intense Purplish Pink sold for $114,678.


In conclusion, Geneva did close off 2014 with a bang as I estimated would occur, with an incredible 2 sub categories records broken. It serves to pave the way for our expectations for 2015. We hope that next year will be as exciting as 2014 – to be honest, I know it will.


What are your expectations for auction results for 2015?





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