Deep bidding at Sotheby’s sale of Magnificent Jewels in New York propelled the 7th December auction total to $50 million, with 81% of lots sold. This brings Sotheby’s running-total of global jewellery sales to over $450 million – a five-year high for the company.
The highpoint of the day was when The Golden Canary sold for $12.4 million, becoming the third most valuable yellow diamond ever sold at auction. Weighing a colossal 303.10 carats, the fancy deep brownish-yellow diamond, ranks as the world’s largest known internally flawless diamond and is distinguished as the largest flawless or internally flawless diamond ever graded by the GIA.
The sale also included the 5.27-carat Colombian emerald ring salvaged from the legendary Atocha shipwreck of 1622, which soared more than 17x its pre-sale high estimate. After a bidding frenzy, the emerald finally sold for an astounding $1.2 million (est. $50/70,000).
Catharine Becket, Head of Sotheby’s Magnificent Jewels Sales in New York, said, “Today’s result is a great finale to what has been yet another phenomenal year of jewellery at Sotheby’s. We set out to curate a sale that would speak to today’s collectors and the response is a true reflection of the outstanding quality of pieces across the board, from exceptional diamonds and gemstones like The Golden Canary and the Colombian emerald from the Atocha Shipwreck of 1622 to highly sought-after signed jewels with extraordinary provenance, as we saw with the selection of Egyptian-themed jewels.”
An exquisite emerald-cut D-Colour, internally flawless diamond weighing 25.03-carats sold for $2.3 million. Meanwhile, a new auction record was set for any fancy gray diamond when an emerald-cut 10.67-carat diamond mounted by Hemmerle was purchased for $1.1 million.
The Magnificent Jewels sale also showcased an extensive selection of Egyptian-themed jewels to celebrate the 100-year anniversary of the discovery of King Tutankhamen’s tomb. Eight out of the nine lots from the curation all found buyers, achieving a combined total of $1.8 million.
The Lacloche Frères pair of Egyptian-Revival coloured stone and diamond pendant-ear clips fetched $352,800.