As seasons go the jewellery auction season has to be one of the most exciting. The fervour around certain pieces and the prices they may achieve only adds to the excitement. So many prices are being reached and at times surpassed – especially for the coloured gemstones. But it’s not just the big hitter jewellery and gemstones that are up for sale, are these auctions a solution for the smaller jeweller? Have you been or are you going to a jewellery auction, are you planning to buy? Was it good for business? Please hit reply and let us know, we are collating stories to write a report on this very subject, to share with you and others in the industry so we can all learn from each other’s triumphs and how pitfalls were avoided.
What Caught My Eye This Week
The London Victorian Ring Co
What makes this and the other vintage style rings that The London Victorian Ring Co produce stand out from the crowd, is that the company holds the original patterns for rings including very on trend Victorian, Art Deco and Edwardian original patterns. This particular piece starts at £4,500. http://www.london-victorian-
ring.com/bespoke-art-deco-
green-tourmaline-ring
Christie’s Sets the Record
A 15.99 carat Burmese ruby fetched more than $14.1 million at Christie’s New York Magnificent Jewels sale on 21 April, making it the most expensive coloured gemstone sold at auction in the US. The price includes commission and fees. The hammer price was $12.5 million, on the low end of its $12 to $15 million estimate. Christie’s disclosed that it was sold to a private European buyer.
Rahul Kadakia, international head of Christie’s jewellery, said, “After selling the Jubilee Ruby, the most expensive coloured gemstone sold at auction in the United States, we look forward to May 18 in Geneva where we will offer the 14.62ct Oppenheimer Blue diamond, the largest fancy vivid blue diamond ever offered at auction, and jewels from the collection of Princess Gabriela zu Leiningen.”
Diamond and Sapphire Prices Soar for Bonhams
Gracing the front cover of the sale catalogue and headlining Bonhams London’s first Fine Jewellery sale of the year was a magnificent 15.52 carat step-cut diamond single-stone ring by Harry Winston. The diamond – D colour and VVS2 clarity, potentially flawless – attracted interest from across the globe and went to a telephone bidder for £1,094,500 against its pre-sale estimate of £700,000-£900,000.
An exceptional pair of marquise-cut and pear-shaped diamond earrings, also by the famed American jeweller, proved popular with bidders. The earrings, totalling 25.37 carats, were the subject of fierce bidding, eventually selling for £266,500 against their pre-sale estimate of £150,000-£200,000.
Elsewhere in the sale, an antique cushion-shaped diamond bangle featuring 13 graduated diamonds, including a central 9.50 carat Fancy Yellow diamond, sold for £206,500.
Sapphires Soaring
A striking Kashmir cabochon sapphire, weighing 7.13 carats, was one of the sale’s star performers, selling to a telephone buyer for £506,500 against its pre-sale estimate of £50,000-£70,000. The unheated sapphire, set in a ring surrounded by old brilliant-cut diamonds, boasts the coveted ‘Royal Blue’ colour, a term reserved only for the very best examples of these rare gemstones. Another Bonhams client was tickled pink after successfully bidding for a rare oval-cut pink sapphire from Burma, weighing 17.15 carats. This was much admired during Bonhams’ jewellery previews in Geneva, New York, Hong Kong and London ahead of the sale. The sapphire, set in a ring by Cartier, sold for £140,500 against its pre-sale estimate of £30,000-£40,000.
Signed Jewellery Ever Popular
A private collection of bird brooches by Cartier also proved popular with bidders. Collected during the 1960s, each of the five birds featured a different gemstone. The collection reached a total of £123,750, demonstrating the enduring appeal of signed jewellery.
Jean Ghika, Head of Bonhams Jewellery for UK and Europe, says: “The sale performed exceptionally well, generating interest from buyers in the UK, Europe, the US and Asia. We were delighted to see our headline lots achieve strong prices, demonstrating that top quality diamonds, coloured gemstones and signed jewels remain highly desirable.” She further added, “The sale performed exceptionally well, generating interest from buyers in the UK, Europe, the US and Asia. We were delighted to see our headline lots achieve strong prices, demonstrating that top quality diamonds, coloured gemstones and signed jewels remain highly desirable.”
Industry News
A New York Tiffany Minute?
Swiss watchmaking are synonymous with luxury watches and horology in general, but the Swiss are not the only players in the game, Tiffany and Co has entered the fray for the gentleman watch wearer. The sales pitch is easy, its origins are all New York, well except that they do have a team in Switzerland working on the watches – shhhh.
Last week, Jean-Marc Bellaiche, Tiffany’s senior vice president of strategy and business development, introduced a new concept—New York watches. He said, “I don’t understand why people think the best luxury watches should only come from French, Swiss, and Italian brands. We are from New York, we have a great style and we can design a watch that have this clean, neat aesthetic and be different from all the other players.
We can also leverage the energy and aspiration from New York, what we called the New York Minutes in some of the video spots that you’ve probably seen. After all, this is probably the most known and desired city on earth.
Tiffany are not new to the watch market. In 2007 they entered into an agreement with the Swatch Group to design and produce Tiffany & Co. watches. But this didn’t work out, and the resulting legal wrangling to separate were very costly indeed. The fallout left the Swatch Group looking for another brand so that they could produce jewellery watches (so they purchased Harry Winston), and Tiffany & Co. quietly announced that they would be producing watches under their own umbrella again at some point in the future. And now, with their latest watch collection, this future has arrived.
The New York timepieces are priced at the new “affordable luxury” bracket, but they are still reassuringly expensive to most. But this bracket cleverly widened the consumer audience to the ever expanding aspiring middle class, not only in America but across the world. They are cashing in on people wanting to buy not only into the Tiffany Brand but the consummately trendy brand that is “New York.”
The inspiration for design has been taken from Roosevelt’s watch and now has added an Annual Calendar, Chronograph and Annual Calendar Limited-Edition piece in white gold to its collection. With the words ‘New York’ are proudly displayed on the dial. The collection’s vintage aesthetic is richly reflected in the CT60 Annucal Calendar’s month and date double-complication, and self-winding mechanical movement which has received the Côtes de Genève hallmark of quality. The movement is housed in a 40 mm case of 18 karat rose gold and the dial is complemented by a black soleil finish and gold poudré numerals. The dial of the CT60 Chronograph features a blue soleil finish and gold poudré numerals, which give it a clean and masculine look. The timepiece also features sapphire crystal glass (front and back) and is fitted with a blue alligator strap.
Cartier, Channel and Dior Top List Of China’s Most Powerful Fashion and Lifestyle Brands
A study has been recently released on the spending habits of the Chinese consumer, and good news is that they really love to buy the brands that hold the heritage of Europe’s and America’s most famous brands. The study comes as China’s middle-class is rapidly overtaking America’s to become the largest in the world. The biggest sellers in the top 100 are luxury jewellery sellers, with the likes of Chanel, Cartier and Dior appearing in the top 10. The rest of the list is also heavily littered with jewelleries’ big hitters; Tiffany, Harry Winston, Chopard, Graff and Van Cleef & Arpels all appear in the top 100 of brands that are being furiously bought by the ever expanding middle class Chinese market.
The report, produced by China’s leading fashion business platform Luxe.CO, ranks the top 100 premium brands for mid-high end consumers in China. The rankings are based on a uniquely detailed analysis of data from sales in China, mentions and searches on Chinese social media platforms and search engines, and a survey of mid-high end Chinese consumers. The study reveals that American and European brands still dominate fashion in China. The top 10 brands are: 1. Chanel 2. Starbucks 3. Cartier 4. IKEA 5. Nike 6. Adidas 7. Louis Vuitton 8. Uniqlo 9. Dior 10. Burberry The wide-ranging study also reveals that American and European brands still dominate among Chinese consumers, with 90% of the top 100 brands coming from America or Europe, but newer Chinese entrants make the list too. Older brands hold most sway among China’s mid-high end consumers. The average age of the top 100 brands is 76 years. But while European brands mostly hail from the 1930s, most top American brands were founded in the US heyday of the 1950s.
Some brands have significant potential to grow, with brand awareness far in excess of their current sales ranking in China. Chinese consumers are not tied to luxury brands, with the top 100 list including a mix of high-end brands such as Louis Vuitton and Dior, alongside high-street value brands such as IKEA, Uniqlo and Zara.
Alicia Yu, founder and CEO of Luxe.CO, said, “With China’s middle-class now the biggest in the world, it’s more important than ever that brands understand what makes China’s consumers tick. Our research shows that China’s consumers love the heritage of Europe’s and America’s most famous brands.
But there’s a warning here too – the Chinese brands that make our list are younger on average. The world’s top brands will need to keep upping their game if they’re to hold on to their dominant position.”
Shirley Temple’s Fancy Blue Fails to Sell
Despite Sotheby’s heavy promotion of the ring, exhibiting it at its bureaus in Hong Kong and Los Angeles and taking it on a major media tour, the 9.54 carat blue diamond ring that belonged to former child star Shirley Temple failed to buy a buyer at a touted Sotheby’s auction in New York.
The ring, flush in its original Art Deco setting, was originally expected to bring between $25 million and $35 million. Sotheby’s said in a statement, “Unfortunately, tonight wasn’t its night in the salesroom, but we remain fully confident that it will find a buyer.” Other top items at the auction included a platinum and fancy purple-pink diamond ring that sold for $4.5 million, a platinum and diamond ring weighing 19.25 carats that fetched $1.9 million and a fancy light blue diamond ring weighing 5.06 carats that sold for $1.2 million.
Lindsay Lohan Says Yes to An Emerald Engagement Ring
After a speedy romance Lindsay Lohan has just said yes to her new beau Egor Tarabasov, and even though Lohan’s publicist has been trying to deny all reports of the engagement – Lindsay has other ideas, as she has been waving her left hand around like it’s on a string and reports say that she’s not stopped smiling since, and who could blame her – the emerald is the size of the Rock of Gibraltar, allegedly bought from Ramesh Jewellers, it’s a stunning vintage style, 5 carat oval-shaped emerald surrounded by diamonds.
The post Thank TGB it’s Friday – Auction Season Kicks Off appeared first on Colored Diamonds and Loose Gemstones | TheGemBank.