Christie’s Hong Kong jewels sale recently held, delivered a good purchase pattern, as gem prices were resilient considering the current economic slowdown. Diamonds attracted a good response, and according to company officials, the success was attributable to the fine selection of lots offered for the sale.

The sale yielded $33.52 million (HKD 259.82 million), with 63 percent of the lost on offer, sold. The auction had a total of 289 lots on offer, of which all the top 10 lots were purchased by Asians. The top lot was a pair of circular-cut, D-color flawless diamonds of 16.11 carats and 16.08 carats, respectively. It was bought for $5.65 million (HKD 43.78 million), or approximately $175,000 per carat. Also, featuring in the purchase list was a diamond necklace set with a pear-shaped, 17.97 carat D-color flawless diamond, purchased for $2.4 million (HKD 18.58 million), below the HKD 20 million minimum pre-auction estimate. A Belle Époque rivière crafted with thirty old European-cut diamonds of around 80 carats was bought at a price higher than its estimated price, for $2.04 million (HKD 15.78 million). A circular-cut, D-color flawless 10.98-carat diamond was bought at the estimated price at $1.89 million (HKD 14.66 million). Featuring as the fifth-largest lot, was a twin stone ring, within which was embedded a D-color flawless 5.25-carat diamond and a 9.25-carat Kashmir sapphire. Its sale price was $1.82 million (HKD 14.1 million).