Following the Christie’s auction in New York just yesterday, Sotheby’s also set a new record today for a Fancy Intense Blue diamond. However, the record that they broke was one that Christie’s just set yesterday in the same sub-category of 3-5 carat weight Fancy Intense Blue diamonds.

Sotheby’s had total sales of $26,172,550 this year compared to $28,977,875 last year, a decline of 10% (9.7% to be exact). There are two pink diamonds of great importance that went unsold. Should they have sold, the final picture would have looked different.

A new world sub-category record was set when the 3.47 carat Fancy Intense Blue I1 diamond sold for a record $6,663,300 total, or $1,920,259 per carat. It broke 2 records, the highest total amount paid for any 3-5 carat weight Fancy Intense Blue diamond, and price per carat for that same category as well. Some would say that it is the second highest per carat paid for any Fancy Intense Blue diamond. It follows the highest price ever paid for a Fancy Intense Blue diamond for the 6.64 carat Fancy Intense Blue diamond that sold on May 17, 2016 in Geneva. The diamond was on a brooch with 2 other smaller blue diamonds. If we break up those 3, at the time, we estimated the center diamond’s value alone is $2.06 million per carat. This 3.47 would be considered the second highest at its price of $1.92 million per carat.

The 3.47 carat Fancy Intense Blue I1 diamond          Image credit: Sotheby’s

The 6.64 carat Fancy Intense Blue diamond          Image credit: Sotheby’s

Another blue diamond that sold this evening was the smaller 1.55 carat Fancy Blue VS1 marquise shaped diamond. It is set in a setting surrounded by pink and colorless diamonds. The ring sold for $387,000 total. It was estimated to sell between $250k and $350k, so it exceeded Sotheby’s highest expectations, and the diamond set a record in the sub category for 1-2 carat weight Fancy Blue diamonds.

The 1.55 carat Fancy Blue VS1 diamond          Image credit: Sotheby’s

The 7.01 carat Fancy Intense Pink SI2 diamond did not sell. It was valued at $4.2 million – $5.2 million, or $600k to $741k per carat. Investors want top quality, and this SI2 failed investors’ criteria so it remained unsold.

The 7.01 carat Fancy Intense Pink SI2 diamond          Image credit: Sotheby’s

The 7.37 carat Fancy Intense Orangey Pink Diamond also went unsold. It was valued to sell at $3 million – $5 million total.

The 7.37 carat Fancy Intense Orangey Pink VS1 diamond          Image credit: Sotheby’s

It would be easy to concentrate on what did not sell at every auction and focus on the issues. However, being negative and pessimistic does not help although it sometimes sheds light on opportunities for the future. We concentrate on positive lessons and our main takeaway from this auction was that investors were hungry to pay for top diamonds, yielding an even higher price for a blue diamond than what was paid the day before. Clearly, where there is value, there are investors who are willing to invest. Got any questions about how investors choose the worthwhile diamonds? Ask us in the comments!