This was a week when one jumbo yellow diamond made a splash while another went back into the stash.
The 202 ct. Yellow Rose diamond sold for $6.7 million at Christie’s Magnificent Jewels sale in Geneva on Wednesday. The auction was held in the shadow of a cyberhack that has knocked the Christie’s website offline since last Thursday. (At press time, it remained offline.)
On Tuesday, a smaller but historically significant yellow diamond—the 101.29 ct. fancy vivid Allnatt—was pulled from Sotheby’s Magnificent Jewels auction at the last minute, despite carrying a $6.1 million to $7 million estimate.
“It has been a privilege to present the Allnatt to collectors and connoisseurs over the past few months,” said a statement from Sotheby’s emailed to JCK. “Following discussions with the consignor, they have elected to retain this jewel.”
The auction would have marked the Allnatt’s first appearance on the market in nearly 30 years. It sold for over $3.04 million in 1996.
The gem was named after Major Alfred Ernest Allnatt, a renowned British sportsman, racehorse owner, and collector who acquired the diamond in the early 1950s and had it mounted as a brooch by Cartier. In 2003, it was included in the Smithsonian’s “Splendor of Diamonds” exhibition at the National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C.
Overall, both auctions scored strong results. The Christie’s sale took in S54.2 million, with 97% sold by lot and 98% sold by value.
The Sotheby’s auction garnered $34.2 million, with 90% of its lots finding buyers. Of those, over 96% achieved prices in excess of their low estimates and 63% sold for more than their high estimates.
Sotheby’s did particularly well with white diamonds, as a 37.61 ct. E internally flawless round-cornered brilliant-cut square stone with excellent polish and symmetry went for 3.87 million Swiss francs, or approximately $4.2 million—significantly above its estimate of 1.46 million to 2.4 million francs.
Top: The Yellow Rose diamond (photo courtesy of Christie’s)
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