After the recent successful Jewelry and Diamond show in Hong Kong, the diamond and jewelry market has renewed high hopes. Sotheby’s will be offering some beautiful and noteworthy pieces at its October 7th Magnificent Jewels and Jadeite auction. With global turnover in the diamond industry sluggish lately, the market’s overall optimistic sentiments follow this auction of rare and unique items. Whenever auction results break new ground and make headlines, the whole industry follow suit in a related upturn. In no way is this misleading. Auction results are a major marketing arm for the jewelry industry in the same way as it has been for the art industry and many other global industries.

In Hong Kong, some very fine and hard to find pieces will be offered, some more exceptional than others. Below are some of the top pieces that will be offered, in order of  their valuation.

The first diamond on our list is a 5.24 carat Fancy Intense Pink VS2 diamond, valued at a price between $3.31 million and $3.90 million (or $631k to $744k per carat). I do not expect this stone to break a world record, but of course we never know, especially since it is quite hard these days to find a 5+ carat Fancy Intense Pink diamond on the open market. The current record for such a size stone is $1.314 million, and it was set on December 5, 2012 for a 6.54ct size diamond.

The 5.24 carat Fancy Intense Pink VS2 diamond

Our next diamond is an impressively large 41.65 carat Fancy Vivid Yellow IF diamond that is valued between $1.95 million to $2.34m total (which not very exciting since it is already IF), or $46.8k to $56k per carat. This stone has some potential excitement in it, as we have seen some similar diamonds sell well above $100,000 per carat. This is an interesting diamond to follow.

The 41.65 carat Fancy Vivid Yellow IF diamond

The third diamond to watch is the 2.11 carat Fancy Intense Blue VVS1 emerald shaped diamond, valued between $883k to $1.04m total, or 418k to $492k per carat. The last similar diamond sold at auction was 2.20 carats and was sold on November 26, 2013, for $638k per carat. The current stone has a long way to reach that level, but it is worth it to mention that in the last year, we have seen prices really jump due to rarity, even at a 2 carat size. This diamond has the potential to surprise us.

The 2.11 carat Fancy Intense Blue VVS1 emerald shaped diamond

Our next diamond to watch is the 11.10 carat FVY VVS2 diamond, valued at $714k to $844k total or $64k to $76k per carat. good value diamond, fantastic clarity. anything over 10 carat in size for Vivid Yellow should be considered for a portfolio.

The 11.10 carat Fancy Vivid Yellow VVS2 diamond

Another very interesting diamond is the impressive 45.88 carat Fancy Yellow VS1 diamond pendant, valued between $364k to $455k total, or $8k to $10k per carat. Based on the size and clarity of the stone, a professional gemologist cutter would be able to review it and would consider re-polishing it. This would serve to increase either its color or clarity, and the value would subsequently increase as well. The major value  increase would happen due to a color “upgrade”, rather than that of a clarity “upgrade”.

The 45.88 carat Fancy Yellow VS1 diamond pendant

A very beautiful and alluring diamond to watch in this auction is the 5.06 carat Fancy Light Pink VS2 diamond, valued between $312k to $390k total, or $61.7k to $77.1k per carat. Here too, like in the previous diamond on our list, there might be a possibility of an upgrade – meaning, maximizing the color grade, by an expert diamond polisher.

The 5.06 carat Fancy Light Pink VS2 diamond

Our last diamond to watch is the delicately beautiful  3.04 carat Fancy Pink IF diamond, valued between $260k to $325k total, or $85.5k to $106.9k per carat. This is a really great stone, with a top clarity grade. What a treasure!

The 3.04 carat Fancy Pink IF diamond

A very interesting gemstone to note at this auction is the 27.68 carat Kashmir Sapphire, called the Jewel of Kashmir, which is  valued at $6.23m to $7.14m total, or $225k to $258k per carat. It is one of the gemstones that is headlining the auction, and it comes as no surprise. It is beautifully cut emerald shaped sapphire and has amazing color. Currently, the world record price for a sapphire stands at $240k per carat from an auction in June 2015. Most likely we will see a new record set with the sale of this sapphire at Sotheby’s in October. Sapphires from Kashmir of this size are quite rare which causes much interest in them.

The Jewel of Kashmir, the 27.68 carat Kashmir Sapphire

What do you think the outcome of the auction will be? Will prices be broken at this auction?

Do you think the jewelry market will recover over the last few months of the year, and increase market sentiments?