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At auction, color was king in 2014
Auction houses Christie’s and Sotheby’s brought the hammer down on more than $1 billion worth of jewels last year. Here’s a look at the lots that were top off the block.
Christie’s jewelry total for the year was $754.7 million, an 11 percent increase over 2013 and the highest annual result ever achieved for jewelry at auction house.
Sotheby’s came in second with $603 million in jewels sold last year, the highest annual total in company history and its third consecutive year of record sales in the category.
Popular sellers between the two auction houses were large blue gemstones, including the 13.22-carat “Winston Blue” diamond, a 392.52-carat sapphire named the “Blue Belle of Asia” and the “Zoe Diamond,” another blue diamond, this one weighing 9.75 carats.
Strong results also were seen for colored diamonds such as the “Graff Vivid Yellow,” a 100.09-carat fancy vivid yellow diamond, and an 8.41-carat fancy vivid purple-pink diamond.
Numerous new world auction records also were established between Christie’s and Sotheby’s, notably the highest price paid for a blue diamond (Zoe Diamond), the highest price paid for any jadeite jewelry (the Hutton-Mdivani necklace) and the highest price paid for a yellow diamond (the Graff Vivid Yellow).
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