'Zoe Diamond' Sets Records at Sotheby’s New York Auction
November 23, 14
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The 9.75 carat, pear-shaped diamond, from the famous collection of Mrs Paul Mellon, sold for $32,645,000 ($3,348,205 per carat) and was the target of seven bidders who competed for it for 20 minutes. The diamond was sold to a Hong Kong private collector who has named it The Zoe Diamond.
The previous per-carat auction record for any diamond was $2,398,152, set by a 14.82-carat fancy vivid orange diamond at Christie’s in Geneva in November 2013. The previous auction record for any blue diamond was $24,311,191, set by the Wittelsbach diamond at Christie’s London in December 2008.
The first session of Sotheby’s sale of Jewels & Objects of Vertu from the Collection of Mrs. Paul Mellon totaled $42.1 million– already well in excess of the entire sale’s $19.2 million high pre-sale estimate.
All but one of the 42 lots on offer were sold, with 93 percent of sold lots achieving prices in excess of their high pre-sale estimates.
The sale also saw a fancy blue diamond pendant, with a pear-shaped diamond weighing 9.15 carats, VS1 clarity, sell for $2,965,000, double its high pre-sale estimate of $1.5 million.
A gold and diamond Rivière by Cartier circa 1948, set with 29 old European-cut diamonds weighing approximately 111.00 carats and completed with a clasp set with a round fancy deep yellow diamond weighing 4.20 carats, sold for $2,797,00, nearly double its $1.5 million high estimate