Top Three Diamonds Fail to Sell at Sotheby’s

Three top diamond lots failed to find a buyer at Sotheby’s Wednesday sale of Magnificent Jewels in Geneva. The sale, which brought CHF 17.9 million ($14.84 million), reflected the current financial uncertainty, with many potential buyers exhibiting reluctance.

Of the 371 lots offerd at the auction, only 225, or less than 61 percent, were sold.
 

The top seller at the auction was a ring set with an 8.02 carats fancy pink, SI2 clarity diamond that sold for CHF 1,594,500 ($1.32 million).

“The diamond market is currently in a period of transition and it will probably not be clear where it is headed until the end of the year,” Sotheby’s Chairman of Jewellery David Bennett said following the sale. “As in all markets in transition, potential buyers were reluctant to commit to purchase.”

Two other top selling items are the Golconda diamond ring, a claw-set 11.70 carats, D/VS2 modified brilliant-cut diamond that sold for CHF 1,202,500 ($996,319) to a European private collector; and a Harry Winston 10.50 carats, D/VVS1 diamond ring that sold for CHF 1,034,500 ($857,125).

The Wednesday auction brings Sotheby’s Geneva sales of jewelry in 2008 to CHF 77.89 million ($64.53 million), topping the 2006 total of CHF 74.68 million ($61.88 million).

The 'Golconda' is a name steeped in the annals of diamond lore, according to the auction house, originally the name of a fortress that served as a trading centre. Sotheby’s believes the sold diamond is part of a group of surviving diamonds which were mined in the Golconda region up to the beginning of the 18 century.