Christie’s Geneva magnificent jewels

The magnificent jewels sale held by Christie’s Geneva on 13 November 2018 fetched a total of CHF 110 million (US$110 million). The leading lot ‘The Winston Pink Legacy’ (photo 1) has set a world auction record price per carat for a pink diamond.

The largest and finest fancy vivid pink diamond ever offered at auction by Christies, The Winston Pink Legacy was sold for over CHF 50 million, with a per-carat price of almost CHF 2.7 million. The diamond, previously owned by the Oppenheimer family, became the most expensive pink diamond at Christie’s after five minutes of bidding.

Nayla Hayek, president and CEO of Harry Winston, the new owner of the diamond, said: “We are proud to continue in the Winston tradition of acquiring the finest gems in the world and tonight THE WINSTON PINK LEGACY joins our incredible legacy collection, which began with the acquisition of the 101 carat, D Flawless, Winston Legacy diamond at Christie’s in 2013.”

An 8.28-carat fancy deep orangy pink VVS1 rectangular-cut diamond ring realised CHF 3.7 million, setting a world auction record price per carat for an organy pink diamond of over CHF 450,000.

Another fancy-coloured diamond lot, an 8.85-carat blue VS2 pear-shaped diamond and an 8.79-carat fancy orangy pink VVS2 pear-shaped diamond, achieved CHF 4.7 million, claiming the second top lot of the sale.

Besides diamonds, signed jewels also performed well. An art deco Egyptian revival sautoir by Van Cleep & Arpels and a rare early 20^th century steel and diamond tiara by Cartier were sold for CHF 4.3 million and CHF 490,000 respectively. A multi-gem bouquet of violets brooch by JAR fetched CHF 730,000.