Sotheby’s Magnificent Jewels and Noble Jewels sale in Geneva witnessed strong bidding further culminating into new records.
The 8.62 carat cushion-shaped ‘Graff Ruby’ displaying the coveted “pigeon blood” red colour, featured from the collection of Dimitri Mavrommatis, led the sale and was bought by Laurence Graff for $8,600,410, setting a new world auction record for a ruby. Laurence Graff said, “It was a natural thing to do. Graff deals in the finest gemstones in the world and this is the finest ruby in the world. We are very proud to have it in our possession for the second time.”
There were 16 pieces from the the Mavrommatis Collection offered, within which a rare 27.54 carat step-cut Kashmir sapphire set a new world record set of $5,984,474. Many of the offerings in the collection were from the portfolios of Graff and JAR, who was represented by a pair of superb sapphire, ruby and diamond earrings, which sold for $578,205.
The sale earned revenues worth $95,272,767.
Amongst the historic jewels on auction was a natural pearl and diamond neckpiece featuring in the royal collection, was bought for $3,426,669. Vintage jewels also gathered interest with a collection of 23 Art Deco jewels, objects and clocks by Cartier, which included a 1927, a rock crystal, mother-of-pearl, onyx and diamond ‘Model A’ Mystery Clock, which sold for $628,032, overshadowing the previous record set just a day earlier.