The year 2010, and into 2011, has been an incredibly strong time for the sale of colored diamonds with colors like pink and canary yellow holding steady in their popularity. Other jewels, such as emeralds and sapphires have had strong showing on the auction block this year, and Christie’s auction house is banking on a continued surge in demand at their Magnificent Jewels auction held this April 12th.
“Demand for large colored diamonds from connoisseurs and investors continue to reach new heights,” Rahul Kadakia, head of jewelry at Christie’s New York, told reporters. “And we look forward to starting the spring season with this exceptional group of top-colored diamonds, curated with the specific desires of today’s collectors in mind.”
Although the auction itself has been advertised over the past couple of months, Christie’s has now announced some of their premiere lots, which include a fancy vivid purple-pink, 10 carat diamond, flanked on either side by cushion-cut diamonds and mounted in 18-karat rose gold and platinum, which has a pre-sale estimate of anywhere between $12 and $15 million.
Other highlights include a cushion cut, fancy vivid yellow diamond ring weighing about 50 carats, flanked on either side by 2-carat rectangular-cut diamonds, and mounted in platinum. The piece is expected to sell for between $2 and $3 million.
The colored gemstone popularity that has recently cropped up in mind, there will also be a suite of Colombian Emerald and diamond jewelry, including an emerald and diamond necklace, a pear-shaped emerald and diamond pendant brooch, and a pair of pear-shaped emerald and diamond ear pendants. As a whole the suite is estimated to sell for between $520,000 and $700,000.
Not to be out done, Sotheby’s, another legendary auction house, will be auctioning off the most expensive tiara ever to be sold in over 30 years at their sale of Magnificent and Noble Jewels in Geneva on May 17.
The tiara, which is believed to have been created for Princess Katharina Henckel von Donnersmack around 1900, is thought to have been part of the personal collection of Napoleon’s third wife, Empress Eugenie. Comprised of 11 Pear shaped emeralds that together weight over 500 carats, the tiara has an estimated price tag of between $5 and $10 million.