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Large, unmounted colorless diamonds have long been a mainstay of live jewelry auctions, but in 2024, the top-10 lot lists of the three main auction houses — Sotheby’s, Christie’s and Phillips — were awash with color. From prized emeralds and Burma rubies to an exceptional number of fancy-color diamonds ranging from purplish-pink to orangy-pink, brightly hued stones were clearly in demand among high-jewelry patrons.
Emeralds
Emerald, one of the vaunted Big Three gems, made a good showing last year. The highlight at Christie’s was a marquise-shaped, 37-carat Colombian emerald in a brooch with diamonds, which Cartier made for Prince Aga Khan in 1960. It sold for $8.8 million at the November Magnificent Jewels auction in Geneva. Phillips, meanwhile, had the Amazon Queen (pictured), a 280.84-carat Colombian emerald on a pendant that brought in $3.1 million at its May Geneva auction after a 30-minute bidding war.
Fancy-color diamonds
Fancy-color diamonds ruled at auction. Christie’s, for instance, sold the Oriental Sunrise earrings, featuring oval-shaped, vivid-yellow diamonds of around 12 carats each, for just under $8 million at Hong Kong Magnificent Jewels in October. An electrifying 7-carat, yellowish-orange diamond on a ring netted $3.8 million at the Sotheby’s Hong Kong Magnificent Jewels sale in April, while Phillips sold two rare fancy-red diamonds in Geneva during the year: the 1.56-carat Argyle Phoenix in May, and the 1.21-carat Red Miracle (pictured) in November, for $4.2 million and $1.1 million, respectively. Jeweler Laurence Graff bought the former, which is the largest known fancy-red round brilliant.
Alexandrite
In a refreshing departure from the Big Three, Phillips sold a ring featuring a 10.85-carat Brazilian alexandrite chrysoberyl (pictured) for $980,694 at its October jewelry sale in Hong Kong.
Pink diamonds
The top lot at Christie’s this year was the Eden Rose, a round brilliant, 10.20-carat, fancy-intense-pink diamond on a ring with 10 pear-shaped diamonds surrounding it, all but one of which were internally flawless. It sold for $13.3 million at the Magnificent Jewels auction in New York last spring, hot on the heels of a similarly notable pink-diamond sale at Phillips in Geneva: a 6.21-carat, fancy-vivid-pink stone that went for $12 million in May. In December, Sotheby’s sold an emerald-cut, 7-carat, fancy-intense-purplish-pink diamond for $3.4 million (pictured) in New York. Pink has been an “it” color in new jewelry collections and watches as well, particularly in the form of pink sapphires.
Burmese rubies
Burmese rubies, another of the Big Three, were out in full force, achieving handsome sums. In November, Sotheby’s sold a ring with a 10.33-carat Burmese ruby between diamonds for $5.5 million at New York Magnificent Jewels. Phillips did well in this category as well: A 17.97-carat Burmese ruby on a ring went for $5.4 million in Geneva during November, and a 7.02-carat specimen made $1.3 million at its October Hong Kong sale. The latter event also featured a necklace of 40 graduated cushion-shaped Burmese rubies totaling 54.18 carats amid pear-shaped diamonds, which fetched $1.1 million. Christie’s sold a similar necklace (pictured) at its October Hong Kong auction, but with 26 Burmese rubies totaling 62.46 carats for $6.4 million. In May, it sold a Cartier tutti frutti necklace with carved rubies, emeralds and sapphires for $8.7 million in Hong Kong.
Kashmir sapphires
Blue stones — both Kashmir sapphires and fancy-blue diamonds — had a strong year at auction. The second-highest lot at Christie’s was a platinum ring centering a 5.72-carat, fancy-intense-blue diamond that brought in $8.8 million at New York Magnificent Jewels in December. Meanwhile, a cushion-cut, 17.29-carat Kashmir sapphire on a ring got snapped up at Sotheby’s Geneva for $3.8 million in May, and another Kashmir sapphire weighing 10.31 carats (pictured) achieved $2 million at the company’s June New York sale.
Main image: A ring with a cushion brilliant-cut, fancy-intense-blue diamond of 5.72 carats, which sold at Christie’s for $8.2 million in December. (Christie’s)
