Sotheby's spring sale of magnificent jewels in Geneva

17 May '08

3 min read

Sale of Magnificent Jewels and Noble Jewels concluded tonight with the fourth and final session of the sale, dedicated to Jewels from the Collection of Lily Marinho. In total, sale has raised CHF 59,977,350 ($57,141,621), the second highest total achieved for a sale of Magnificent Jewels held worldwide (in US dollars), surpassed only by Sotheby's November 1993 sale of Magnificent Jewels in Geneva, which raised $68.5 million. The pre-sale estimate for sale was CHF 38,577,300–56,424,800 ($36,753,365-53,757,035).

David Bennett, Chairman, Europe and the Middle East, Sotheby's International Jewellery department, said: “We are absolutely delighted with the results of today's sale, which has performed supremely well across the board. We've had great success with important stones, with period pieces, and particularly with jewels of noble provenance.

In addition to achieving a new world record price per carat for any gemstone at auction ($1,328,444) for the Fancy Vivid Blue diamond, which sold for CHF 5,201,000 ($4,955,097), we also sold 66% of lots above their high estimate – an impressive figure.”

The two sessions of Magnificent Jewels saw some excellent prices, with coloured stones selling particularly well. A beautiful and very rare Fancy Vivid Blue diamond, set as a ring, sold for CHF 5,201,000 ($4,955,097) against a pre-sale estimate of CHF 2,800,000-3,500,000. Its per-carat price of $1,328,444 is a new world record price per carat for any gemstone atauction*.

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