BLINDED BY SPARKLE

Top 5 Jewelry Auctions This Season

Researching this article has taught me that jewelry sales – besides being ludicrously distant from the realm of my own humble existence – are oddly reassuring. As shelter magazines are shuttered one by one and the annual deductible on my health insurance continues to rise, it’s nice to know there are people out there who still just go nuts when they see something sparkly.

Annenberg Diamond Auctioned by Christie's

As you might expect, global sales in the first half of 2009 were down over 50 percent at major houses like Christie’s and Sotheby’s, so the corresponding drop in jewelry sales seems par for the course. But despite the drop, it’s clear that records are being broken. Just a few weeks ago, Christie’s New York sold the Annenberg Diamond for a record-breaking $7.7 million. Earlier in the spring of 2008 Sotheby’s in Geneva sold a 7.03-carat blue diamond for just over $1.34 million a carat, making it the most expensive stone per carat ever sold in any category, according to an article in the New York Times.  Diamonds, it seems, are still a girl’s best friend. Just take a look at the heavyweights hitting the block this season.

The Evening Star Diamond sold by Christie's

1. The leading lady in Christie’s “Magnificent Jewels from a Distinguished Private Collector” sale on December 10th is the Evening Star Diamond, a pear-shaped 39-carat, D-color diamond from India’s ancient Golconda mines. Estimated at $3.6 to $5.5 million, the stone is the highlight of a single-owner sale (estimate to realize over $10 million) of ten exceptional jewels that’s to follow the larger “New York Jewels Sale” of the same day. What’s more, on December 2nd Christie’s Hong Kong is bringing a bubble-gum-colored five-carat diamond known as “Vivid Pink” to the gavel, slated to garner $5 to $7 million.

Blue Diamond At Upcoming Sotheby's NY Auction

2. Estimated to realize over $20 million, Sotheby’s New York sale of “Magnificent Jewels” on December 9th will yield booty including flawless white diamonds, works by master jewelers such as Cartier, Louis Comfort Tiffany and JAR, and pieces from the collection of former Brazilian model and philanthropist Lúcia Moreira Salles.

Lot 167 at Phillips de Pury

3. The smallest of the three main houses—its sales are about a twentieth of either Christie's or Sotheby's—Phillips de Pury and Company offers 220 lots on December 8th in their New York “Jewels” sale. Heavy hitters include Lot 167, a pair of sapphire-and-diamond earrings expected to reach $120,000 to $150,000, while lightweights are more along the lines of Lot 3, a 34-inch coral necklace with a series of woven oval links that’s slated to go for $800 to $1,500.

Stars and Stripes Brooch, 1927

4. While smaller than all three of the preceding houses in this lineup, Rago Arts in Lambertville, New Jersey is still a force to be reckoned with and it still prizes itself for its friendly hands-on approach. Its big “Jewelry + Silver” auction on December 6th will comprise 325 lots including a 1927 Cartier Stars and Stripes brooch, unearthed from among a group of shockingly lesser-valued baubles.

Lot 149 at Bonhams Cartier Art Deco Brooch, 1925

5. Across the Atlantic the extravagance continues at Bonhams in London, where the “Fine Jewelry” sale on December 9th will feature 155 lots. The big stars are again epic diamonds, while middle of the road (yet stunning) Lot 149 is a 1925 Cartier art deco brooch and sliding pin with onyx, coral, enamel, and diamonds arranged in an open-ended hoop, estimated to reach $60,000 to $75,000. Another Cartier design, this one from 1935, Lot 148 is a rare art deco black lacquer bangle set with three detachable diamond flower clips, estimated at $30,000 to $40,000.

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This article is writen by Meghan Edwards is a freelance writer whose work has appeared in Interior Design and Metropolis magazines. She has worked in Special Collections at Christie’s and presently holds a full-time editorial position at Interior Design. Born and raised in rural Washington State, she graduated from Brown University in 2006 with a BA in the History of Art and Architecture. Ms. Edwards has studied and worked in France and Portugal and currently resides in Brooklyn, New York.