Spring Into May Auctions

A peek into the treasures to be found in the May auctions.

CHRITIE'S AUCTION HOUSE

Magnificent Jewels May 17, 207 Geneva

LA LÉGENDE
A diamond and cultured pearl sautoir necklace by Boehmer et Bassage
Set with a heart-shaped diamond, weighing approximately 92.15 carats. 

A superb diamond fringe necklace with square, old and baguette-cut diamonds as well as cushion, and single old-cut diamonds set in platinum. Signed Cartier

A colored star sapphire and chalcedony 'bourrelets' ring by Suzanne Belperron.

A pair of ruby and diamond earrings by Bhagat. Stylised lotus flowers with central rubies surrounded by flat diamond petals.

In the culmination of Geneva Luxury Week, the Magnificent Jewels auction features a fantastic 92 carat D Flawless heart-shaped diamond pendant, named ‘La Légende’, and a pair of chandelier earrings, named ‘La Vie Bohème’,  both by Boehmer et Bassenge. With a thematic section dedicated to the Dolce Vita era along with pieces formerly owned by Doris Duke and Elizabeth Taylor, the sale embraces distinguished provenance and jewellery with a storied past. Signed pieces from Bulgari and Cartier, Kashmir sapphires, Burmese rubies and Columbian emeralds round out an exceptional sale this season.

Magnificent Jewels May 30, 2017 Hong Kong

An exceptional natural pearl and diamond necklace, by Paspaley. The three-strand necklace composed of two hundred thirty-seven natural pearls gathered by a button-shaped natural pearl surrounded by circular-cut diamonds.

A unique pair of natural pearl and diamond ear pendants by Etcetera for Paspaley.

An exceptional colored diamond ring by Moussaiff. The rectangular-cut fancy vivid blue diamond, weighing approximately 3.98 carats, within a cushion and triangular-shaped pink diamond surround. 

A natural jadeite and diamond ring. 
A natural oval jadeite cabochon, within a marquise-cut diamond two-tiered surround, to the circular-cut diamond three quarter-hoop, mounted in gold

The Magnificent Jewels Hong Kong auction features an assortment of natural gemstones including pearls, jadeite, and diamonds of various colors. 

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SOTHEBY'S AUCTION HOUSE

Magnificent Jewels and Noble Jewels, Sessions 1, 2, and 3MAY 16, 2017 GENEVA

Pair of attractive diamond ear clips. Diamonds range from 2.01 to 3.08 carats. Accompanied by ten photocopies of GIA reports, stating that the diamonds ranging from 2.01 to 3.08 carats, are D to F Colour, Internally Flawless to VS2 Clarity.

Diamond parure, Van Cleef & Arpels. Comprised of: a sautoir set with brilliant-cut diamonds, supporting a detachable pendant that can be worn as a brooch, a pair of ear clips and a ring 

Two ruby and diamond rings by JAR
 

Important diamond ring by Van Cleef & Arpels.
Set with a step-cut diamond weighing 21.60 carats, between tapered baguette diamonds.

'Apollo & Artemis' fancy blue and fancy pink diamonds. 

Superb and extremely rare fancy vivid blue diamond. 
The pear-shaped fancy vivid blue diamond of truly and outstanding color and purity weighing 14.54 carats, mounted as an earring with a pear-shaped and a brilliant-cut diamond, post fitting. Accompanied by GIA certification. 

The pear-shaped fancy intense pink diamond of fine color weighing 16.00 carats, mounted as an earring with a pear-shaped and a brilliant-cut diamond, post fitting. Accompanied by a GIA certification. 

Sotheby’s spring sale of Magnificent Jewels and Noble Jewels at Mandarin Oriental, Geneva will be led by the ‘Apollo and Artemis Diamonds’. Individually, these captivating diamonds – one Fancy Vivid Blue, one Fancy Intense Pink – are truly exceptional stones and when considered as a pair, they enter a class of their own: the most important earrings ever to appear at auction. Offered separately as individual lots, ‘The Apollo Blue’ will be presented with an estimate of CHF 38,125,000–50,160,000 ($38,000,000–50,000,000) and ‘The Artemis Pink’ is estimated between CHF 12,545,000–18,060,000 ($12,500,000–18,000,000). The sale features jewellery from different collections comprising signed jewels and superb gemstones. Gems from Kashmir, Burma, Colombia rub shoulders with signed jewels from the most iconic and well-known jewellery houses, such as Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels, Lacloche, Bulgari, Schlumberger and Tiffany.

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BONHAM'S AUCTION HOUSE

Bonham's Jewelry May 24, 2017 Edinburgh 

A pink tourmaline, emerald and diamond necklace, circa 1900

A Victorian topaz and gold brooch

A diamond brooch, circa 1910

A 1940s diamond double clip brooch

A sapphire and diamond ring

Bonham's Rare Jewels and Jadeite May 31, 2017 Hong Kong

A Fine Natural Sapphire and Diamond Ring.
The cushion-shaped sapphire, weighing 10.83 carats, between heart-shaped diamond shoulders, the gallery and hoop pavé-set with brilliant-cut diamonds, diamonds approximately 3.05 carats total, ring size 6½

An Exceptional Ruby, Tsavorite Garnet and Diamond Ring, by Ferri

An Important Natural Ruby and Diamond Bracelet

An Important natural jadeite and diamond 'Guanyin' Pendant

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DOYLE'S FINE JEWELRY AUCTION

Doyle's Auction House May 22, 2017 Beverly Hills

Gem-Set and Enamel and Plique-à-Jour Calla Lily Bracelet by Moira
Numerous round pink sapphires, yellow stones & round diamonds.

Platinum, Gold, White Enamel and Diamond Clip-Brooch, David Webb

Art Deco Platinum, Coral, Black Onyx, Diamond and Enamel Ring
One oval cabochon coral, 8 old European & single-cut diamonds, c.1925

Antique Gold, Tourmaline and Sapphire Cross Pendant, Tiffany & Co.

Doyle will hold the Spring 2017 sale of Fine Jewelry at The Paley Center for Media in Beverly Hills on Monday, May 22, 2017 at 10am (Pacific). Our West Coast sales of Fine Jewelry attract hundreds of bidders vying for exquisite designs consigned from prominent private collections and estates. The range of offerings includes stylish jewelry for garden lunches to glittering statement pieces perfect for the red carpet!

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Shirley Temple's Blue Diamond

The blue diamond ring that belonged to child-star-turned-diplomat Shirley Temple is going up for auction at Sotheby’s next month.
The 9.54 carat stone was bought by the former Hollywood actress’s father around her 12th birthday for $7,210 in 1940 and it became a favored piece of jewelry. 
Shirley Temple Temple began her film career in 1932 at the age of three and in 1934 she found international fame in Bright Eyes. She was well known for her bouncy curls and outgoing personality (she was cute as a button!). From 1935 through 1938 she was Hollywood’s biggest box office star. 
As Shirley Temple Black, she had a long career in public service and was the US ambassador to Ghana and Czechoslovakia. She was also appointed as Chief of Protocol by President Gerald Ford in 1976 and was involved in preparations for President Jimmy Carter’s inauguration. 
She died in February 2014 at the age of 85 at home in Woodside, California.

Blue Diamond Ring being Auctioned by Sotheby's in April

BLUE DIAMOND RING On a Model's hand

Shirley Temple Black as US Ambassador 

The stone has a pre-sale estimate of between $25 million and $35 million and is scheduled to go under the hammer on April 19. 
According to Frank Everett, sales director for Sotheby’s jewelry department in New York the ring had been sold by her estate to a private buyer and that buyer was now putting it up for auction. The stone is in its original platinum and diamond setting. A gold setting that Temple had made for it will also be included.

Largest Blue HPHT Synthetic Diamond in GIA Lab

A 5.03 ct Fancy Deep blue HPHT synthetic diamond was examined by GIA (left). Faint but sharp color zoning was observed (middle, field of view 4.77 mm) along with small metallic inclusions and a cavity at the girdle (right, field of view 2.19 mm). Photos by Sood (Oil) Judy Chia (left) and Kyaw Soe Moe (center and right)

The largest faceted colorless HPHT-grown synthetic diamond reported to date is a 10.02 ct E-color, VS1-clarity specimen, cut from a 32.26-carat piece of rough, was reported by IGI Hong Kong in 2015. The diamond was grown by NDT, or New Diamond Technology, is one of the founding members of the new International Grown Diamond Association. Recently, large colorless and near-colorless HPHT-grown diamonds by the Russian company have been investigated by GIA laboratories. The sizes ranged up to up to 5.11 ct. In January 2016, GIA’s New York laboratory examined a 5.03 ct fancy-color HPHT-grown type IIb synthetic diamond produced by NDT. this is the largest faceted blue laboratory-grown diamond studied so far. 

The notes from GIA's lab report stated that the 5.03-carat diamond exhibited a number of traits characteristic of diamonds grown using the high-pressure, high-temperature (HPHT) process, including color zoning and a cuboctahedral growth pattern. The stone was graded a VS1, fancy deep blue. 

"This emerald-cut synthetic diamond was color graded as Fancy Deep blue. This is a very attractive color with no other color component, a prized rarity among natural type IIb diamonds (the Blue Moon, for instance, was graded as Fancy Vivid blue). When viewed under a microscope, faint but sharp color zoning could be seen, indicative of the uneven impurity incorporation of HPHT synthetic diamonds. No strain was observed under crossed polarizers, indicating a very low dislocation density, which is also characteristic of HPHT-grown diamonds. It had VS1 clarity, with only very small metallic inclusions and a cavity observed at the girdle. Fluorescence and phosphorescence images collected using a DiamondView instrument revealed the sample’s cuboctahedral growth pattern, another feature of HPHT synthetics. The long-lasting chalky blue phosphorescence was further analyzed using spectroscopy, and the emission was found to originate from two broad bands centered at approximately 500 and 575 nm (figure 2, right). These bands have previously been reported in NDT’s type IIa and IIb HPHT synthetic diamonds (D’Haenens-Johansson et al., 2015). "

The evaluation of a lab-grown blue diamond of this size is considered by the researchers to be so significant that they opted to publish Lab Notes online ahead of the next quarterly edition of Gems & Gemology.  

To read Lab Notes GIA.edu

Sotheby's Breaks Record with 9.75 carat Blue Diamond

                       © Sothebys

On Nov. 20 a 9.75 ct fancy vivid blue pear-shaped diamond hit the auction block at Sotheby's New York. A frenzied 20 minute bidding war between seven people ensued ending with the stone fetching $3.3 million a carat ($32.6 million total), setting a new record for any diamond's per-carat price sold at auction. 
The price tops the 14.82 carat vivid orange sold by Christie's in Geneva which sold at $2.3 million a carat ($35.5 million total). The diamond has also set a record as the most expensive diamond ever, a spot previously held by the Wittlesbach-Gaff  sold in 2008.
The blue has been dubbed "The Zoe" by its current owner, A Hong Kong collector who remains anonymous.