Francois Curiel is a regular fixture at the Christie’s Geneva Magnificent Jewels sales, moving at ease around the saleroom, chatting with clients, and representing them on the phone banks during bidding for some of the top jewelry lots.
Curiel has been present at the Geneva auctions since the inaugural sale in May 1969, when he saw the jewel now known as the Aga Khan emerald. The brooch containing the 37-carat Colombian emerald once belonged to socialite Nina Dyer, and it sold for over $200,000.
“At the time, I was a 21-year-old law student in Paris, accompanying my father to the sale,” he recalls, describing the event as “filled with glamour and excitement.”
Fifty-five years later, in November 2024, Curiel presided over the sale of the same brooch, this time as chairman of Christie’s Europe. The piece sold for $8.9 million, a world record for an emerald at auction. “I had the privilege of being on the phone with the buyer during an electric bidding session, achieving a record-breaking price,” he relates.
From law to Liz Taylor
Curiel embarked on his jewelry-auction journey in June 1969 — one month after the sale of Dyer’s collection in Geneva — through an internship in the jewelry department at Christie’s London.
“Just as my tenure was about to end, a colleague left, and my boss offered me the position,” he says. “So one summer stretched to 55 years, and I never became a lawyer.”
He has had some extraordinary memories during his long career, including handling the collection of Elizabeth Taylor. He first met Taylor in her Los Angeles home and spent the whole day talking with her about her jewelry. He was struck by her passion and in-depth knowledge of the pieces.
“It is hard to imagine anything better than going to meet Elizabeth Taylor and discussing her collection,” he remarks. “I used to see her in Los Angeles at least once a year for over a decade to inventory her breathtaking jewelry collection. It was eventually sold in New York after she passed away.”
The private collection of jewelry and artworks totaled 1,856 lots and garnered over $180 million in “an epic series” of nine auctions between December 2011 and February 2012, relates the Christie’s executive. It was “a historic milestone, with every single lot selling,” he declares.
He also presided over the 2006 sale of 800 jewelry pieces that had belonged to the UK’s late Princess Margaret. These included the Poltimore tiara, which British crown jeweler Garrard made in 1870 for the wife of the second baron Poltimore, treasurer to Queen Victoria’s household. It achieved a remarkable GBP 926,400 (about $1.7 million) against a high estimate of GBP 200,000 ($368,000).
Decades of change
The growth of Curiel’s reputation came in part from his career as a skilled auctioneer. He maintained close relationships with international private clients and professionals, who trusted him and often asked for his advice.
During his time, he has seen big changes in the market.
Back in the 1970s, jewelry was a niche department at the auction house, contributing a modest 2% to 3% of total sales. In more recent years, that has risen to around 12%, according to Curiel.
The business has also progressed from operating regionally — mostly in the UK — to globally, with auctions taking place in Amsterdam, Geneva, Dubai, Hong Kong, New York, Milan, Paris and Shanghai, as well as on digital platforms. And it has gone “from selling mostly to professionals to now a growing legion of private clients with varying budgets,” Curiel says.
In terms of what’s selling, the natural colorless-diamond market has weakened recently, he reports, but interest in rare natural fancy-color diamonds has risen, and signed jewels from respected maisons remain in high demand.
“The luxury market faces short- to mid-term challenges due to economic softening, less activity from China, and high interest rates,” he explains. “However, the secondary market for magnificent jewels remains stronger than ever.”
Particularly popular are “fine pearls and vintage jewelry signed by Boucheron, Bulgari, Cartier, and Van Cleef & Arpels, from the 1920s to 1940s,” as well as “jewels by famous, though less-well-known, French and American makers like Belperron, Boivin, Verdura and David Webb,” he says. Besides colored diamonds, “lesser-known precious stones like Paraiba tourmaline and spinel are fetching unprecedented high prices.”
Enduring traditions
Regarding the future of the jewelry business at Christie’s, Curiel highlights the growing importance of online bidding, which accelerated during the pandemic and without which, he says, “auctions would certainly not be as successful.” However, he believes live auctions will continue to attract interest when it comes to the top lots.
And despite the huge changes he’s seen during his career, the one consistent feature has been the resilient demand for rare natural stones and superbly crafted signed jewelry.
Main Image: Francois Curiel at a Christie’s Paris auction in 2007. (Christie’s)
