2023-11-08 00:19:00
The 17.61 carat stone is simply the largest flawless bright blue fancy gemstone ever to come up for sale in auction history. Set in a ring, it has been part of a private collection for 50 years. It was sold for 39.505 million francs in seven minutes to a private collector who had bid by telephone, the auction house said.
The most expensive jewelry of 2023
“We are extremely satisfied with the result. It sold for almost $2.5 million per carat. This is the most expensive piece of jewelry sold in the entire year of 2023, internationally, in any auction house… We are very, very happy,” reacted to the AFP Max Fawcett, head of Christie’s jewelry store in Geneva. “It is one of the top 10 most expensive lots ever sold in terms of jewelry,” he added.
Rahul Kadakia, international head of jewelry at Christie’s, announced before the sale that many modern diamonds had undergone custom cutting to enhance their color. But in the case of Royal Blue, “the raw material itself was so rich that they were able to carve it in a classic style of brilliant faceting,” he said. “It ticks all the boxes – it truly is the best in its class.”
Prices “evaluated in the same way as for large paintings”
Bright blue fancy diamonds weighing more than 10 carats are extremely rare. Since Christie’s founding in 1766, only three stones of this type have been offered for sale, and all have been for the past 13 years.
The sales record is still held by Oppenheimer Blue, acquired for $57.5 million in 2016. “This part of the jewelry market is now subject to the same type of appreciation as that of art” , explains Rahul Kadakia. “The market has noted the great rarity of these special stones and prices are now assessed in the same way as for large paintings.”
In total, the 87 lots in this sale of “magnificent jewelry” were sold for more than 77.5 million dollars (72.5 million euros).
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Five million for Marlon Brando’s watch
The Rolex worn by Marlon Brando, photographed on November 2, 2023. — © MARTIAL TREZZINI/EPA
In another auction house sale, the watch worn by Marlon Brando in the 1979 film Apocalypse Now was sold for just over $5 million. The Rolex GMT-Master from around 1972 bears the inscription “Mr. Brando” hand-engraved by the Oscar-winning American actor. “The engraving is still clear, so one can imagine that this watch has been worn, but not too much,” according to Eli Fayon, watch specialist at Christie’s Geneva.
Marlon Brando gave it to his adopted daughter Petra in 1995, who then gave it to her husband in 2003 on their wedding night. The watch was then sold at auction in 2019 for 1.8 million euros. Over time, its white hands and indexes have turned parchment yellow but it remains in very good condition, according to Christie’s.
Read also: Marked drop in watch auctions
A separate Christie’s online jewelry sale, running through November 16, features the pearl necklace worn by Hepburn in the film Roman holidays by William Wyler in 1953. The actress, who played a princess in this romantic comedy, had chosen it from a selection proposed by the Austro-Hungarian jeweler Furst.
It is being sold by a European collector with a starting price of 18,000 francs, but it might go much higher in the event of a bidding war. “It only takes two people to throw a party,” says Max Fawcett, head of jewelry at Christie’s in Geneva.
The fall sales season is in full swing in Geneva, where Sotheby’s is also offering an exceptional sale this week, billed as the most important collection of imperial and royal jewelry ever to come to auction.
Read also: The Only Watch watch sale postponed to 2024
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