Sotheby’s Worldwide Jewellery Sales Total $460.5 Million in 2012 - Highest Total in Company History
Propelled by the success of private collections, exceptional diamonds and gemstones, and historical jewels with noble provenance, Sotheby’s marked its highest-ever total for a year of jewellery sales in 2012, achieving an outstanding $460.5 million*. Highlights of these results include:
- Sotheby’s Geneva set a new world auction record for any various-owner jewellery sale in May at $108.4 million. This result surpassed the then-record $105 million established by Sotheby’s Geneva in November 2010.
- Across its worldwide salesrooms, Sotheby’s jewellery auctions sold a very strong average of 84% by lot last year
- 72 lots sold for more than $1 million, with six of those lots selling above $5 million
- Sotheby’s saw its highest-ever total for a day of jewellery sales in the Americas, when its December auctions in New York reached $64.8 million
- Sotheby’s annual total of $114.5 million in Hong Kong marked the company’s second-biggest year of jewellery and jadeite sales in Asia
- Throughout 2012, prominent private collections fuelled strong sale results, featuring jewels owned byBrooke Astor, Estée Lauder, Evelyn H. Lauder, Mrs. Charles Wrightsman, Suzanne Belperron, Michael Wellby and more
- Sotheby’s held two rare ‘white glove’ auctions – 100% sold by lot – in 2012: Jewels from the Personal Collection of Suzanne Belperron in Geneva in May, and The Jewellery Collection of the Late Michael Wellbyin London in December
2012 AUCTION HIGHLIGHTS
EUROPE
GENEVA
Magnificent and Exceptionally Rare Fancy Deep Blue Diamond
Estimate CHF 3.28/4.2 million**
Sold for CHF 10,274,500 ($10,860,146)
Purchased by Laurence Graff, the 10.48 carat stone established a new world record price per carat for any deep blue diamond at auction ($1,036,273 per carat) and a world record price for any briolette diamond at auction.
The Property of the Royal House of Prussia
The Beau Sancy
Estimate CHF 1.85/3.65 million
Sold for CHF 9,042,500 ($9,699,618)
Sotheby’s sales of Noble Jewels achieved CHF 29.6 million ($34.7 million) in 2012. These results were led by The Beau Sancy, one of the most important royal diamonds ever to come to auction. The 34.98 carat modified pear double rose cut diamond had been the privileged witness of 400 years of European history: passed down through the Royal Families of France, England, Prussia, and the House of Orange, the celebrated stone was worn by Marie de Medici in 1610 at her coronation as Queen Consort of Henri IV.
Property of a Lady of Title
Unique and Highly Important Conch Pearl, Enamel and Diamond Bracelet, Cartier, Late-1920s
Estimate CHF 750,000/1.3 million
Sold CHF 3,274,500 ($3,461,146)
Another highlight of the jewels with aristocratic provenance was this Cartier bracelet that set a new auction record for a conch pearl jewel. Formerly in the personal collection of Queen Victoria Eugenia of Spain (1887-1969) – the grandmother of Juan Carlos, the present King – this bracelet was one of the most important jewels created by Cartier in the inter-war period.
LONDON
In London in December, the Jewellery Collection of the Late Michael Wellby was 100% sold by lot, bringing an exceptional total of £3,487,676 ($5,606,090) – more than three times the pre-sale low estimate of £838,600-1,194,100.
NEW YORK
Property from the Estate of Brooke Astor
Important Platinum, Emerald and Diamond Ring
Estimate $100/150,000
Sold for $1,202,500
Sotheby’s September auction of Property from the Estate of Brooke Astor featured a selection of jewels from Mrs. Astor’s personal collection. All 64 lots were sold, totalling an impressive $5.7 million – multiples above their $2 million high estimate – led by this modified emerald-cut emerald weighing 22.84 carats that Vincent Astor gave to her as their engagement ring.
Property from the Collection of Evelyn H. Lauder,
Sold to benefit The Breast Cancer Research Foundation
Magnificent Fancy Intense Pink Diamond and Diamond Ring, Oscar Heyman & Brothers
Estimate $4/5 million
Sold for $8,594,500
Sotheby’s December auctions concluded with a selection of jewels from the collections of Estée Lauder and Evelyn H. Lauder, sold to benefit The Breast Cancer Research Foundation founded by Evelyn Lauder in 1993. The collections together sold for a remarkable $22,248,250 – well above their overall high estimate of $18 million – with the top lot this 6.54 carat, Internally Flawless pink diamond ring.
Magnificent Jewels from the Collection of Mrs. Charles Wrightsman
Rare Natural Gray Pearl and Diamond Brooch
Estimate $400/600,000
Sold for $1,874,500
The December sales in New York also included the much-anticipated auction of jewels from the collection of philanthropist and arts patron Mrs. Charles Wrightsman, which totalled $15,541,188 – well in excess of its $9 million high estimate – and sold a very strong 95.2% by lot. Among the top lots was this brooch that set a new auction record for a natural gray pearl.
HONG KONG
Highly Important and Very Rare Fancy Vivid Blue Diamond and Diamond Ring
Estimate HK$90/110 million
Sold for HK$99,220,000 (US$12,720,000)
Centering a square emerald-cut fancy vivid blue diamond weighing 8.01 carats, this ring brought the second-highest price per carat for any fancy vivid blue diamond at auction – eclipsed only by a 6.01-carat fancy vivid blue diamond and diamond ring sold at Sotheby’s Hong Kong in October 2011 for US$1,686,505 per carat.
Superb Diamond Necklace
Estimate HK$35/50 million
Sold for HK$39,860,000 (US$5,100,000)
Designed by Nirav Modi, the necklace is composed of 36 graduated brilliant-cut diamonds ranging from 1.25 to 6.19 carats, each spaced by a smaller brilliant-cut diamond, the diamonds together weighing 88.88 carats.
Very Important and Rare Ruby and Diamond Ring, Cartier, New York, circa 1956
Estimate HK$24/32 million
Sold for HK$25,860,000 (US$3,340,000)
In addition to exceptional diamonds, the Asian market has remained strong for top-quality Burmese rubies, with this 9.08-carat pigeon’s blood Burmese ruby achieving the highest price in 2012 for a coloured gemstone at Sotheby’s in Asia.
SPRING 2013 SALE CALENDAR
Important Jewels
New York, 7 February
Magnificent Jewels & Jadeite
Hong Kong, 8 April
Fine Jewels
London, 11 April
Magnificent Jewels
New York, 17 April
Magnificent Jewels and Noble Jewels
Geneva, 14 May
* Sotheby’s previous record sum for a year of worldwide jewellery auctions was set in 2010 with $404.6 million in sales
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Sotheby’s has been uniting collectors with world-class works of art since 1744. Sotheby’s became the first international auction house when it expanded from London to New York (1955), the first to conduct sales in Hong Kong (1973) and France (2001), and the first international fine art auction house in China (2012). Today, Sotheby’s presents auctions in 10 different salesrooms, including New York,London, Hong Kong and Paris, and Sotheby’s BidNow program allows visitors to view all auctions live online and place bids in real-time from anywhere in the world. Sotheby’s offers collectors the resources of Sotheby’s Financial Services, the world’s only full-service art financing company, as well as private sale opportunities in more than 70 categories, including S|2, the gallery arm of Sotheby’s Contemporary Art department, as well as Sotheby’s Diamonds and Sotheby’s Wine. Sotheby’s has aglobal network of 90 offices in 40 countries and is the oldest company listed on the New York Stock Exchange (BID).
**Estimates do not include buyer’s premium and prices achieved include the hammer price plus buyer’s premium.
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