Diamond Engagement Rings Specialist

There have been record sales of diamond rings especially at the New York auction of Christie’s last week. Suddenly, there seems to be a renewed interest in the auction of jewellery and in this one, diamond rings were the ones that seemed to draw the most bids. In fact, two of them were sold for over £60,000. In all, the auction pulled in sales of nearly £7 million.

There were two rings that were the stars of the auction. The first was a diamond ring with an over-46 carat diamond in the centre and with two one-carat diamonds which were pear-shaped on either side. The ring was set in platinum. The second was also a diamond and platinum ring and the diamond in the centre was over 10 carats and this too was flanked by two small pear-shaped diamonds.

The other diamond rings that were sold were a colourless 10 carat diamond ring and a yellow diamond ring where the stone was an emerald cut one, surrounded by two diamonds which were trillion cut. Also sold were a pair of yellow diamond earrings where the stones were square cut and set in platinum and gold. This auction seems to have heralded in a great season for Christie’s.

The New York auction of the famous Christie’s was extremely good but one item did not fly off the auction table – a ten-carat diamond that has an unusual purple-pink colour. The estimated pre-auction price was somewhere between £7 and £9 million. The fancy diamond was the biggest attraction in this time’s auction.

However, diamonds of every other hue seem to have sold very well, whether they were white, blue, yellow or pink. The highest amount that was paid at the auction was for a 37 carat white colourless diamond. A vivid blue diamond which was over 3 carats and a vivid pink diamond which was 6.61 carats were also popular and sold quickly.

Other items worthy of mention were two sapphire rings – one over ten carats and the other over 40 carats. It is incredible how quickly sapphires are disappearing off the shelves after the royal engagement took place. These rings were a Kashmir art deco sapphire ring and a Burmese cushion cut sapphire and diamond ring. The sales seem to have been quite brisk and overall, it was a good auction. Maybe the organisers were a bit disappointed that their start diamond didn’t sell but they seem to be taking it in their stride and feeling good about the others that were sold.

We told you that the largest triangular vivid blue diamond in a ring was going to be auctioned at the Christie’s New York auction and everyone was expecting it to sell at a high price. Apparently the diamond ring has exceeded all expectations and sold at an unbelievable price! The estimated price they expected to get for it was £7.6 million and the ring was sold for a little over £10 million!

The diamond ring was a Bulgari design and the jewellery house made it in the seventies for someone who wished to remain anonymous. He bought it for his wife when she had their first child, a son and then, he paid £0.6 million for it. There are 2 huge diamonds in the ring – a triangular colourless diamond and this triangular vivid blue diamond. At 10.95 carats, that makes it the largest triangular vivid blue diamond ever. It’s very rare to get a stone that is so magnificent.

There are other auctions too and there have been a lot of diamonds that are rare and one of a kind that have made an appearance and been snapped up at high prices. At the Sotheby’s Geneva sale in May, a 7.64 carat vivid blue diamond ring sold for a very high price. The diamond was a cushion-cut one and it was set in platinum and yellow gold. The buyer chose to remain anonymous. There seem to be many collectors who are waiting for stunning diamond rings to make an appearance on the auctioning block to snap them up at whatever price.

After the New York Sale, it will be Geneva for Christie’s next auction and there are some exceptional pieces of jewellery there. The focus seems to be on classic and vintage jewellery and rare as well as signed pieces. The collection will include two diamond rings, signed by Lucien Gaillard. Most of the jewellery comes originally from the mines of Kashmir, Golconda and Muzo and any jewellery collector will know just how valuable they can be.

The collection comprises of diamonds, emeralds and sapphires and some of the outstanding ones are a 26 carat Golconda diamond which is pear shaped and made into a pendant, a nearly 20 carat Kashmir sapphire which is velvety blue and un-mounted and a square cut Muzo emerald over 9 carats which is exceptionally transparent.

The other pieces which will also be auctioned are a René Boivin necklace, two incredible diamond Sarpechs, one of which weighs over 150 carats, an antique diamond and ruby necklace, a René Lalique necklace, a diamond Cartier sautoir and more dazzling diamond pieces from René Boivin. There are also a number of diamond and pearl pieces of jewellery. The collection will travel through cities like Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong and New York before the viewing which will be for three days from November 13.

A unique and exquisite blue diamond ring designed by Bulgari is going to be auctioned in the New York auction by Christie’s the day after tomorrow. The ring is made of two diamonds and they are both triangular – one white and the other, vivid blue. It features the largest vivid blue diamond in a triangular shape. Designed in the seventies, this diamond ring is expected to sell for over £10 million and the results of this showcase jewellery sale are eagerly awaited. All the jewellery in the auction is expected to bring in well over £30 million.

The auction will also see a designer Barbie doll being auctioned. This doll was designed by jeweller Stefano Canturi and will be the most expensive Barbie doll to go under the hammer. This Barbie wears a diamond necklace with a 1-carat pink emerald cut diamond and is dressed in a black evening gown with high stilettos. There are so many women all over the world who are avid Barbie doll collectors that this one is sure to sell for a high price. Ironically, the women are mostly in their forties.

All the proceeds of the Barbie doll sale will go towards Breast Cancer Research Foundation and the designer designed this doll to coincide with the Breast Cancer Awareness month. Considering the cause, the Barbie is expected to raise a great deal of money.

The Dubai sale that is coming up next month is going to be one of a kind for Christie’s. It is going to feature a range of jewellery with unique gemstones and designs from some of the leading international jewellery houses. One of the pieces is an over 26 carat rectangular yellow diamond while another is an over 17 carat rectangular D colour diamond in a ring. It will also include, for the first time, five jewellers from the Middle East who will be showcasing their designs with these other pieces of jewellery.

The five jewellers are André Marchais, Selim Mouzannar, Sevan Bicakci, Noor Fares and Nadine Kanso. Most of the designs that will be on show from them will be modern and contemporary. The designers come from all over the region – from Beirut, Turkey, Lebanon, etc. Some of them belong to traditional jeweller families.

It’s a flawless diamond and it is all of 32 carats. The diamond has an emerald cut and it belonged to Leonore Annenberg who worked as US Chief of Protocol in the Reagan administration in the US. She was married to Walter Annenberg, the billionaire publisher who passed away seven years ago. She passed away early this year and the auction house was commissioned to sell it in New York.

The diamond is set in a ring and has smaller pear-shaped diamonds on either side of it. It’s a huge diamond – almost the size of a walnut and it was cut by the famous David Webb of Manhattan. Christie’s thought they would get between £1.8 million and £3 million for it. What they did not expect from the buyer who remains anonymous was the astounding amount of close to £5 million that they got. The last 30-carat diamond they sold went for £1.8 million.

Come October 15 and two large beautiful diamonds are going to be up for sale at Christie’s New York Sale. Called the Ponahalo Diamonds, they weigh 102.11 and 70.87 carats approximately and are among some of the finest diamonds in the world today.

The Ponahalo Diamond was found in a DeBeers mine and since it was a very special diamond, it was given a name, following a tradition of christening the ones that were the best. This one was 316.15 carats and the name meant ‘vision’ in the local dialect. This large rough diamond was cut up into four diamonds and these two that are on sale took 1 ½ years to shape.

Whatever is realised from the sale of these diamonds will go towards the Diamond Empowerment Fund.

The New York Sale also features a whole lot of jewellery that are outstanding like exquisitely designed diamond engagement rings, necklaces, brooches, etc. The estimated sale proceeds are in the region of around £18 million.

Ask Christie’s and they will tell you it’s true. A few days ago, a Christie’s auction in Hong Kong saw the largest colourless diamond in 18 years go for over US $6 million. According to Christie’s this rare gem was auctioned in Hong Kong – and it’s the largest diamond thus far to be sold in Asia – simply because they see the Asian market emerging as a strong demand for high priced diamonds. Due no doubt to the large crop of private collectors that seem to be making their presence felt in these auctions ever since the spurt in the economies of China, India and Russia, not to mention some of the smaller South East Asian economies.

The diamond sold is over 100 carats - 101.27 to be precise and it was sold at a price that was very much an estimated one. It is absolutely flawless with an F colour and is classified a VVS1 stone. To date, there have been only three large colourless diamonds that have been auctioned and they have all been sold in Switzerland. The diamond, it is said is the size of a quail’s egg though Asian collectors seem to be more in favour of the perfection of the stone rather than the size. This diamond however, wins hands down on both counts.

This auction in Hong Kong is being viewed as one of Christie’s most successful ones as they sold jewellery here worth over US $60 million. There was also a green diamond over 10 carats that fetched nearly US $ 3.5 million. A pair of emerald earrings that belonged to a Russian Grand Duchess also fetched a record price.