Doyle's New York to Hold Auction in LA

Continuing the westward move of auction houses Doyle will hold its Inaugural West Coast Auction in Beverly Hills on Thursday, May 21, 2015 at 10am. These important sales address an entire demographic that has been ignored in the past by the established Eastern houses. 
The sale of Fine Jewelry will feature exquisite designs by such prestigious makers as Van Cleef & Arpels, Cartier, Bulgari and Tiffany & Co. Comprising over 250 lots, the sale showcases jewelry set with diamonds, colored gemstones and pearls, as well as gold jewelry, fine watches and gentlemen's accessories.
One star of the show will be the dazzling collection of jewelry once owned by film star Mae West, comprising a circa 1950 platinum and diamond bracelet-watch by Fred and a platinum, moonstone and diamond ring.

'Sunrise Ruby' Steals the Show at Sotheby's Auction

The “Sunrise Ruby,” a 25.59-carat untreated pigeon’s blood red-colored stone set a new world auction record for price paid for a ruby on Tuesday at the Sotheby's Geneva sale. The ruby was initially estimated to sell at between $12-$18 million but bidding soared to $30.3 million, demolishing the existing ruby auction record that was held by the $8.6 million sale of the “Graff Ruby.” The ring also set a record for the price paid for a jewel by Cartier. It was sold to an million to an anonymous buyer.
The high price of the ruby heavily contributed to the Sotheby’s Magnificent and Noble Jewels auction which the highest-ever total for any jewelry auction at $160.9 million, deposing the Christie’s November 2014 sale of Magnificent Jewels in Geneva, which totaled $150.2 million.

Also performing well but not meeting pre-sale expectations was the “Historic Pink." The 8.72-carat fancy vivid pink diamond sold for $15.9 million, below its pre-sale high estimate of $18 million.
David Bennett, worldwide chairman of Sotheby’s international jewelry division had this to say about the sale: 
“(The) record result is the reflection of outstanding quality of the pieces in the sale across the board,...The galleries have been brimming with collectors during our worldwide exhibitions, and this translated into lively bidding throughout the sale … with truly global demand for the finest diamonds, gemstones and signed pieces of the very highest order.”

The entirety of the auction results can be viewed at Sotheby's 

Alert from GIA Lab

The Gemological Institute of America has cut off four clients traced to hundreds of diamonds submitted with an undisclosed treatment that improves their color by as much as three grades but fades over time. 

On May 12, 2015 GIA Laboratory sent out notifications about the still-unidentified temporary treatment Tuesday and is asking anyone in the trade with these 424 potentially treated stones to turn them back into the GIA for reexamination. According to the National Jeweler approximately 76 of the 500 already have been reexamined by the GIA.)  The majority of the stones are 1 carat or larger. 

GIA has confirmed that they have terminated the client agreements of the companies linked to the stones. GIA spokesman Stephen Morisseau said the lab “reasonably suspects” that the companies knew the diamonds were treated and did not disclose it.  

The companies are listed online as: E.G.S.D Diamonds Ltd., L.Y.E Diamonds Ltd., Abramov Romok and Yair Matatov.

 The GIA also said it notified the diamond bourses. In a statement issued Wednesday, the Israel Diamond Exchange said it called an emergency meeting of its board of directors upon hearing the news and has “resolved to identify the suspects” and act immediately to “take the needed measures.” 
The lab became aware of this potentially new color treatment when a client purchased one of these diamonds and the treatment began to wear off, leaving him with a diamond that had a much lower color grade than what he had paid for. He returned the stone to GIA for reexamination. It was then that the GIA discovered the treatment and the stone was connected with hundreds of others that had been submitted by the four companies. 
GIA hasn’t drawn any solid conclusions yet, Morisseau said they “reasonably believe” that all of the approximately 500 stones have been treated, but cannot definitively say anything until the lab reexamines them. 
Morisseau said the GIA has not yet identified the treatment but are “actively researching it.” He added that they are monitoring other GIA labs worldwide for similar submissions. 

You may view the list of recalled diamonds here.

Kathleen Marino M.A, G.G., AJP, NAJA