On Tuesday, Christie’s auctioned off the most expensive jewel ever sold on an online auction. The 28.86 carat diamond sold for $US2,115,000 million.
One of the rarest diamonds in the world, the Type 11a diamond is formed from pure carbon.
“The spectacular 28.86 carat D colour diamond received immediate attention upon its announcement,” Christie’s Head of Jewellery Rahul Kadakia said in a statement. “The stone possesses a transparency and purity which can only be found in the world’s finest diamonds.
The sale of this exceptional stone established the record for a jewel sold in an online only auction, demonstrating greater client confidence in Christie’s digital ability and online sale platform.”
The sale was the final day of Christie’s Jewels Online sale.
Christie’s is offering the largest D-color diamond to be sold at an online auction. What may be more important is that this sale could establish a new way of selling statement diamonds and gems.
A 28.86 carat, D color, VVS1 clarity diamond is the top lot at Christie’s Jewels Online sale, June 16 – 20. Its estimate is $1 million – $2 million, making it the highest valued lot ever offered for sale online at Christie’s.
With live auctions closed in response to the coronavirus pandemic, auction houses have turned to its already robust infrastructure of online auctions and it has paid off for the two largest auction houses, Christie’s and Sotheby’s, with sell-through rates well above 90 percent and many items surpassing estimates. However, what is being sold is limited to signed and unsigned period jewels at lower values than what are normally sold at live auctions.
A rare sapphire necklace was the top seller at Christie’s Magnificent Jewels auction in Hong Kong, which garnered about $60 million in total on Tuesday.
The Peacock Necklace, which had a presale estimate of $12 million to $15 million, became the most expensive Kashmir sapphire necklace per carat in auction history, Christie’s said. The piece contains 21 cushion-cut Kashmir sapphires weighing a total of 109.08 carats. It fetched $15 million at the sale, achieving a price of $137,146 per carat.
Christie’s also garnered $1.3 million from the sale of the 24.04-carat, fancy-yellow Moon of Baroda pendant, which Marilyn Monroe wore to the premiere of her 1953 movie, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. The piece smashed its estimate of $500,000 to $750,000. An autographed photo of the actress wearing the necklace fetched $35,302, compared with its original estimate of $10,000 to $15,000.
An oval-shaped, 10.04-carat, Burmese pigeon’s blood ruby and diamond ring brought in $7.2 million in line with an expected $6.9 million to $8.7 million. A set of pear brilliant-cut, fancy-pink earrings weighing 5.21 carats and 5.01 carats sold for $4.3 million, within its presale valuation range of $3.8 million to $4.5 million .
Christie’s sold 70% of lots on offer at the auction.
Image: The Peacock Necklace. (Christie’s)
Source: Diamonds.net
The exceptional 20.47 carat D colour type IIa old mine brilliant cut, diamond has sold for USD $2.7 million.
The D flawless diamond was the top seller at Christie’s Magnificent Jewels auction in New York on Tuesday.
The Christie’s pre-sale estimate for the diamond was $2.5 million to $3.5 million.
