Sotheby’s New York Sale, Closes The Year With A Continued Down Trend For Two Years!

Sotheby’s ended up selling $37.9 million on December 10th, 2019 in New York, down from $46.4 million in 2018 and from $53.9 million in 2017. 

A 5.06 carat, Fancy Pink-Purple, with a VVS2 clarity was sold for $860k or $170k per carat. It was valued between $750k to $1 million.

A 7.00 carat, Fancy Blue diamond with a VS2 clarity did not sell and went back home, after it did not meet the $2.2 million or $314k per carat, minimum bid.

A 1.38 carat, Fancy Red diamond did not sell after it was valued at $1.8 million to $2.8 million or $1.3 million to $2 million per carat. The diamond had a brown tone to it, and although it is a rare one in the market due to its size, buyers and investors are still looking for the best out there. The highest bid was $1.6 million.

A very interesting Fancy Color Diamond was sold. Normally I would not review such a diamond, but the interesting part was the fact that it was sold for a much higher value than the estimate. It was a 20.17 carat, Fancy Deep Brownish Pinkish Orange, with a VS2 clarity. It was valued between $1.4 million to $1.8 million or $69k to $89k per carat, and ended up selling for $2,780,000 or $138k per carat. Perhaps somebody thinks there is an upgrade in the diamond if it gets re-polished. Perhaps it can be improved to a Fancy Vivid Pinkish Orange?

A 2.07 carat, Fancy Pink and a rare Internally Flawless clarity was sold for $350,000 or $169k per carat, after an evaluation between $250k to $350k.

A 2.58 carat, Fancy Greyish Blue Diamond was sold for $860,000 after being valued at $150k to 200k total. The only explanation here is that a professional Fancy Color Diamond polisher or dealer is seeking to do an upgrade to at least a Fancy Blue Intensity, otherwise, this value does not make sense.

The Majestic Pink Bracelet went back home after it was valued well above $2.5 million (upon request). The highest bid was $2.2 million. It has 204 pink and red diamonds with a total weight of 43.34 carats. It has individual weights between 0.10 carats to 0.47 carats, in all Fancy Pink intensities as well as both purplish and fancy red colors as well. The average per carat on the highest bid was $50.8k per carat.

The 7.55 carat, Fancy Deep Greyish Blue Diamond (The Indian Blue) estimated between $6 million and $8 million was sold for $6,642,400 or $880k per carat. This diamond has significant historical value as it comes from the Golconda Mine in India.

Update: On February 20, 2020 a new certificate update was issued for the 2.58 carat Fancy Greyish Blue diamond mentioned with GIA 1186961476 and the new weight is 2.43. It seems that I was right and an upgrade was attempted yet not achieved, for now. Maybe the owner will continue to attempt to upgrade to a straight Fancy Blue, otherwise, we are looking at a significant loss on value.