Christie’s Geneva Magnificent Jewels Auction Will Offer Unique Fancy Color Diamonds At A Challenging Time

On July 22, Christie’s will be offering some unique items for auction in Geneva. Sotheby’s Geneva auction was quite challenging as only 23 out of 49 items were sold at the live auction back on June 23, 2020. it was also the first physical auction for the year.

The top lot for the auction is a 5.37 carat, Fancy Vivid Blue Diamond with an Internally Flawless clarity. it is valued between $8.48 million to $12.7 million or $1.58 million to $2.36 million per carat. There is a strong possibility that the price reflects a weaker vivid blue than it should be. never buy on the certificate but rather on viewing the diamond. This price range is more for a 3ct vivid blue diamond. let’s see how it performs…

5.37 carat, Fancy Vivid Blue Diamond
Image Credit: Christie’s

The second highest valued Fancy Color Diamond is a 104.04 carat, Fancy Intense Yellow, Internally Flawless, modified pear shape. it is valued between $$2.65 million to $3.71 million or $25.5k to $35.6k per carat. we can see that from a certain weight, the price per carat stops to climb even though the diamond is rarer is size. there are quite a few Yellow diamonds in the 100 ct+ size in recent years.

104.04 carat, Fancy Intense Yellow Diamond
Image Credit: Christie’s

The next highest value item for Fancy Color Diamonds is a Cartier bracelet containing 12 Fancy Vivid Yellow diamonds ranging from 5.40 carat in size down to 2.20 carats for a total of 41.80 carats, and clarities ranging from VVS2 to SI1. The valuation is between $1.8 million to $2.65 million or $43k to $63k per carat on average. Looking at how Fancy Vivid Yellow Diamond prices are doing in these size range, it seems to me that the valuation is too high, and most likely will not reach the minimum value. The only way it would, is due to the fact that it is a Cartier Bracelet. I don’t think it will sell.

41.80 carat, Fancy Vivid Yellow GRAFF Bracelet
Image Credit: Christie’s

a 2.01 carat, Fancy Vivid Pink diamond with an SI1 clarity is being offered for $1.17 million to $1.59 million or $580k to $791k per carat. although we have not seen a 2 carat Vivid Pink in auction for 2 years or so, at current market conditions, the price is strong. the color has to be very strong in order to achieve a sale.

2.01 carat, Fancy Vivid Pink Diamond
Image Credit: Christie’s

A 17.81 carat Fancy Vivid Yellow pendant with Internally Flawless clarity by GRAFF is being offered for $954k to $1.27 million or $53k to $71.3k per carat. this is a very strong price valuation considering we can find quite a few such diamonds i the market right now. Even the GRAFF Brand has a limit to what it can be sold above the market value for a non branded diamond with these characteristics.

17.81 carat, Fancy Vivid Yellow GRAFF
Image Credit: Christie’s

An interesting 18.00 carat Fancy Pink-Brown with VVS2 clarity is being offered at between $636k to $848k or $35k to $47k per carat. the interesting part is the possibility of a polisher expert seeing it closely to see if it can be improved or even reverse the certificate to be a Fancy Brown-Pink. this can have a major impact o the value of the diamond. We can only sit back and wait for the sale to take place and see if the sale price will reflect such a potential. 

18.00 carat, Fancy Pink-Brown Diamond
Image Credit: Christie’s

Another beautiful GRAFF jewelry piece is being offered. The necklace includes a 30.01 carat, Fancy Intense Yellow diamond heart with a VS1 clarity. it is valued between $583k to $689k or $19.4k to $23k per carat. this necklace should easily sell for more. not only for a generic Fancy Intense Yellow diamond, but the fact that it is a GRAFF one.

30.01 carat, Fancy Intense Yellow GRAFF
Image Credit: Christie’s

The 1.01 carat, Fancy Deep Blue with an SI2 clarity has an old european cut to it. it is valued between $530k to $636k. This is a unique situation. The diamond, as is, may be slightly overpriced. knowing that it is an old european cut and round, may end up selling. perhaps, it can be repolished into a vivid and then it will definitely be valued at those levels for a round one. the biggest risk is for it to fall under the 1.00 weight and then the potential loss in value is huge.

1.01 carat, Fancy Deep Blue Diamond
Image Credit: Christie’s

It is extremely rare that we see a Fancy Purple being sold at auction as this color is considered a collectible item. it weighs 2.01 carats and has a rare VS2 clarity. it is valued between $318k to $530k or $159k to $265k per carat. such rarity will deserve such valuation. There are no such opportunities quite often or even rarely. only 2 purple diamonds have been offered previously at auction. both by Bonhams. one was the 4.23 carat fancy pink-purple SI1 sold back in November 2017 and the other is the 1.51 carat Fancy Intense pinkish-purple VS2 sold back in June 2015.

2.01 carat, Fancy Purple Diamond
Image Credit: Christie’s

The last item to review is the 1.52 carat, Fancy Pink with Internally Flawless clarity setup in a ring. it is valued between $95k to $117k or $62.5k to $77k per carat. if the color is a true Fancy Pink color, it should easily surpass the high end valuation very fast.

1.52 carat, Fancy Pink Diamond
Image Credit: Christie’s

This will be another interesting auction as we will get a better understanding of the market. There are not a lot of transactions i the market right now for Fancy Color Diamonds, and this will help us know where the market is. Everybody is looking for an opportunity. the questions remains if the sellers are willing to let go of such beauties for less than market value or allow time to pass and strong prices to come back.

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