Sotheby's Geneva Sets a World Auction Record for a Yellow Diamond - 15 November 2011
Sotheby’s Geneva set a world auction record for yellow diamond yesterday evening when it sold the Sun-Drop Diamond for CHF 11,282,500 ($12,361,558). Weighing 110.03 carats, this exceptional stone ranks as the largest known pear-shaped fancy vivid yellow diamond in the world. The sale of Magnificent Jewels concluded with a total ofCHF 64,048,000 ($70,173,551), against the pre-sale estimate of CHF 65-93 million ($72-102 million). Throughout the day, the sale room was packed and there was very active bidding, which contributed to an extremely high sell-through rate of 82% by lot and one of Sotheby’s highest totals ever for a sale of Jewelry. The sale established a sell-through rate of 70.8% by value.
In addition to the Sun-Drop diamond, the sale included a group of diamonds and exceptional coloured gemstones. An impressive 38.88 carat cushion-shaped diamond achieved CHF 6,354,500 ($6,962,244), and a fancy vivid blue cut-cornered rectangular modified brilliant-cut diamond weighing 4.16 carats, sold for CHF 3,890,500 ($4,262,587). The offering of coloured stones included a superb 12.01 carat Muzo emerald which rose above its pre-sale estimate, selling for CHF 1,314,500 ($1,440,219), and setting a per carat record price for emeralds at auction (est. CHF 365,000-550,000/$400,000-600,000, lot 467).
The sale also comprised a wide range of fine period jewels signed by the most famous and celebrated jewelers of the 20th century, among them were Cartier and JAR.
Please find attached the top ten and a post-sale release, which includes a quote by David Bennett, Chairman of Sotheby’s Jewelry Department in Europe and the Middle East and Co-Chairman of Sotheby’s Switzerland, as well as an image of the Sun-Drop. Please let me know if you have any additional questions.
Sotheby’s next auction of Magnificent Jewels will take place in New York on 7 December 2011, featuring “The Light of Golconda”: An Exceptionally Rare Golconda Diamond Ring with an old mine, cushion-shaped diamond weighing 33.03 carats, D color, Internally Flawless, type IIa classification (est. in the region of $7 million).
