Christie's makes $16.5 million in auction

Christie's said that it has made sales worth $16.5 million in its second auction of contemporary jewels. The auction was held in Dubai. The sale was 80% by lot and 86% by value. Out of the total, four lots crossed values beyond $1 million, and two amongst these recorded the highest sales figure of $1.553 million, each. The two lots featured a diamond necklace created by Van Cleef & Arpels in New York in 1957; and a F colour SI1 clarity diamond weighing 37.08 carats. The third was a 186 carats diamond necklace, which was bid for $1.161 million and the fourth was a 16.54 carats circular-cut fancy vivid yellow diamond, which realised $1.021 million.

Amongst the other lots, a 44.99 carat old cushion-shaped yellow diamond which was cut in the early 19th century, sold for $892,200. This is yet another step towards firmly establishing Christie's in Dubai as an important market platform for jewellery in a worldwide context,Esaid François Curiel, the international head of jewellery and auctioneer of the sale. The participating buyers essentially came from Middle East (34%), Europe (28%), Asia (17%), the US (17%) and Russia and the Ukraine. (8%).