Christie’s Geneva Auction This Week Is Weakest In 9 Years

Although Christie’s auction sale in Geneva was much better than that of Sotheby’s, it is still the weakest year for the last 9 years, just like Sotheby’s. The total sales were CHF 63,145,500 compared to CHF 81,620,500 from last year, a 22.6% drop, while it also represents a 57% drop from 2016; the highest sales year ever for this Geneva auction. In Christie’s case, sales were down across the board, not just Fancy Color Diamonds. Some very important Fancy Color Diamonds were sold, others did not. We still saw a world record price, which I will mention it in the results below.

The top lot sold for Fancy Color Diamonds was the 118.05 carat, Fancy Yellow Diamond, which had some provenance. It was sold for $7,085,000 or $60k per carat compared to its estimates of $2.5 million to $3.5 million. It was acquired by the family of Sam Abram, in his memory. It was renamed the Siba Diamond.

The second highest sale for Fancy Color Diamonds was another yellow diamond. The 71.80 carat, Fancy Yellow was sold for $1,635,000 or $22.8k per carat, after being assessed between $1.6 million to $2.4 million.

The 20.46 carat, Fancy Brown-Pink diamond was sold for $1,515,000 or $74k per carat, after a higher valuation range of $1.7 million to $2.8 million.

The 7.22 carat, Fancy Deep Greyish-Blue diamond from Van Cleef & Arpels did not sell. It was valued between $3.25 million to $5 million, but the highest bid was $2.7 million, or $374k per carat.

The twin heart (2.22 carat and 2.00 carat Fancy Deep Blue Diamonds) ring did not sell either. It was valued between $3.5 million to $4.5 million but the highest bid was $2.8 million or $663k per carat.

The 1.41 carat, Fancy Vivid Green-Blue was sold for $237,500 or $168k per carat after being valued between $150k to $250k total. It is the I clarity that caused the price to be low, otherwise, the color was strong.

The 1.40 carat, Fancy Vivid Pink was sold for $275k or $196k per carat, after being valued between $200k to $300k. It is the low clarity that made it sell for such a low price, but the color was great.

The Rob Red; a 0.59 carat, Fancy Red with an exceptional color and a rare VS1 clarity was sold for $711,000 total or $1.205 million per carat after being valued between $300k to $500k total. It broke the world record price per carat for any red diamond under 1 carat in size. This diamond also has some particular provenance as well.

In recent years, red diamonds have been gaining traction, more on the private transaction side than the auction arena. It is extremely difficult to find red diamonds on the market these days with VS clarity or better, let alone those above 1 carat. Investors will have to settle for lesser clarities in the SI and I clarity moving forward.

Next month we will have the last few auctions, which will close the first half of the year for Jewelery auctions. We will report results and will wait with anticipation for some unique items in the fall.