The Evening Star diamond, named because the owner considered it the very best to be worn to dinners and fêtes, has sold in New York. It headed a ten piece private collection which was auctioned at a special sale by Christie's, almost simultaneously with a larger jewellery sale.
The highest quality pieces did well in both sales.
A cushion-cut Type I white diamond doubled its $250,000-350,000 listing to sell for $650,000 in the main auction, whilst two fancy intense yellow diamonds also beat their estimates.
One, a 20.42ct rectangular cut in a diamond bracelet had been valued at $400,000-600,000 and the other a modified cushion-cut fancy intense yellow diamond of 40.92ct valued at $550,000-650,000. Both sold to an Asian bidder for$746,500 and an impressive $1,106,500 respectively.
 Fancy Vivid Yellow Diamond Ring |
The top lot of the main sale was a fancy, intense 7.02ct blue diamond in an 18k rose gold ring, which excited bidders sufficiently to push it up past its already demanding estimate of $2-3m to be taken home for an enormous $3,890,500.
In the private collector's ten-piece sale it was all about the pear-shaped diamonds:
A pear-shaped diamond necklace set with 68 graduated diamonds weighing 96.94ct sold for $1,094,500, doubling its $400,000-600,000 expected price, whilst a pair of pear-shaped white diamonds of 10.21 and 10.51ct fetched $2,098,500.
There was no doubt about the overall top lot however, as the 39ct pear-shaped Type IIa diamond known as the Evening Star sold at the top end of its estimate for $5,402,500 to an anonymous bidder - quite a Christmas present, whether for themselves or a loved one.
 The Evening Star Diamond |
Overall, the sales achieved a fantastic 97% of their lots sold by value, showing the endurance of high-end jewellery as an investment in economically perilous times.
"It was a fitting grand finale to a year that saw over $100 million in jewels change hands under our gavels in the US" commented a satisfied Rahul Kadakia, Head of Jewelry at Christie's New York.
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Images: Christie's
