$136 million worth of jewels

Sotheby’s Geneva auction saw sales of $136 million worth of jewels, with Graff Diamonds taking home two pink diamonds that went under the hammer.

The first of those was a step-cut, 17.07-carat, fancy intense pink, VVS1-clarity diamond ring, which sold for for $20.8 million (CHF 20.8 million), or $1.2 million per carat. The stone was the top lot of the Magnificent Jewels and Noble Jewels sale on Wednesday, beating its pre-sale estimate of $11.8 million to $14.7 million.

Graff’s second purchase of the evening was a pear-shaped, 13.20-carat, fancy intense pink, internally flawless diamond, which it bought for $16.2 million, or $1.2 million per carat. The stone also surpassed its guide price of $8.8 million to $13.7 million. In total, Graff forked out $37 million on the two pink stones.

The much hyped about Sky Blue Diamond, a square-cut, 8.01-carat, fancy vivid blue, VVS1 Cartier ring, was purchased by an anonymous buyer for $17.1 million, or $2.1 million per carat. The piece sold at the lower end of its guidance of $14.7 million to $24.5 million, or up to $3.1 million per carat.

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Pear-shaped 40.30-carat fancy light pink

Other highlights of the Sotheby’s Geneva auction included Samer Halimeh, the New York-based jeweler, splurging $7.5 million on a pear-shaped, 40.30-carat, fancy light pink, VVS2 diamond ring. Of the top 10 sales, one was to the European trade and one to the “international” trade.

The very best colored diamonds of all hues remain highly desirable, but tonight pink and blue were undoubtedly the hottest colors accounting for many of the top prices this evening,” said David Bennett, worldwide chairman of Sotheby’s international jewelry division.

The auction was 87 percent sold by lot. Sotheby’s said it recorded the highest annual jewelry total for any auction house in Switzerland, at $311.5 million – beating a record the company set itself in Geneva in 2015 with $300.5 million.

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Sylvain Goldberg – on the latest Sotheby’s Geneva auction