The phrase “bigger is better” has always applied in Texas, and it was no different when it came to the Fine Jewelry Auction hosted by Heritage Auctions in Dallas held this past December.
The entire auction, which sold diamonds ranging anywhere from 3 carats to just over 18 carats, totaled $4.2 million, with many pieces blowing past their pre-sale estimates. Some notable sales included an 11.59-carat, pear-shaped diamond ring for $89,625, and a platinum and gold ring set with a 8.73-carat, round brilliant-cut diamond, whose $149,375 proceeds went to benefit Scottish Rite Hospital for Children in Dallas.
However the auction’s biggest seller, literally, was an 18.4 carat diamond ring that sold for $388,375. The Emerald cut diamond, which went for nearly double its $175,000 pre-sale estimate, is set onto a platinum band with two triangular cut side diamonds flanking the stunning center.
Heritage Auctions is the world’s third largest auction house with annual sales of $600 million, a bottom line that was no doubt helped along by the big diamond auction that nearly closed out the year. And with the auction being held so close to the holidays, it’s a safe bet that more than one person got the stocking stuffer of a lifetime.