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AuctionsOct 11, 2016
Another Top Lot Fails to Sell, This Time at Sotheby’s HK
A jadeite bangle predicted to go for up to $9 million didn’t sell at the Oct. 4 auction, just two weeks after a headlining piece in New York also failed to meet its reserve price.
This circular jadeite bangle of high translucency and intense emerald green color, which Sotheby’s called “highly important,” was estimated to sell for up to $9 million. It failed to meet its reserve price Oct. 4 in Hong Kong.
Hong Kong--It appears the buyers at auction and the experts giving the jewelry lots their pre-sale estimates are on different pages these days.
For the second time in about a two-week period, the predicted top lot of a jewelry auction failed to sell.
At the Magnificent Jewels and Jadeite sale held at Sotheby’s Hong Kong Oct. 4, the auction house predicted that a “highly important” jadeite bangle would lead the event with a pre-sale estimate of between $6.4 million and $9 million.
Instead, it failed to meet its reserve price, just like a 27-carat oval diamond ring recently did at Sotheby’s New York.
Sotheby’s Hong Kong did not respond to a request for comment on the failed sale by press time.
The top lot of the sale turned out to be a colored gemstone, also mirroring the results of the New York sale.
A ring featuring a 5.07-carat ruby surrounded by four pear-shaped diamonds weighing 7.56 total carats, accented with circular-cut diamonds and mounted in platinum and 18-karat yellow gold, sold for about $1.9 million.
Following the ruby ring were more colored stones, with a matching Bulgari set comprising an emerald and diamond necklace and earrings falling just behind when it garnered approximately $1.8 million, surpassing its pre-sale estimate of $1 million.
A Cartier ring set with a 13.60-carat cut-cornered rectangular step-cut diamond sold for $1.7 million, a VS2 clarity oval fancy vivid yellow diamond of 10.81 carats followed behind at $1.2 million, and two brilliant-cut unmounted diamonds weighing 5.96 and 5.86 carats garnered $1.1 million.
A natural 5.07-carat Burmese ruby, surrounded by four pear-shaped diamonds weighing 7.56 carats in total, accented with circular-cut diamonds, led the Sotheby’s Hong Kong Magnificent Jewels and Jadeite sale Oct. 4 when it sold for $1.9 million.
This Bulgari demi-parure (matching set) comprises a necklace with three graduated step-cut emeralds weighing 12, 10.14 and 6.91 carats, with smaller step-cut emeralds and diamonds, and a pair of matching earrings, each set with a step-cut emerald weighing 6.01 and 5.92 carats, as well as additional smaller emerald and diamond accents. It garnered approximately $1.8 million.
This Cartier ring is set with a cut-cornered rectangular step-cut diamond weighing 13.60 carats, flanked by two baguette diamonds and mounted in platinum. The D color, flawless stone sold for $1.7 million.
A VS2 clarity oval fancy vivid yellow diamond weighing 10.81 carats went for $1.2 million.
Two jadeite pieces did appear in the top lots--a pair of highly translucent jadeite double hoop earrings surmounted by an oval diamond each weighing 1.01 carats went for approximately $815,000, and a necklace composed of 47 translucent jadeite beads with a clasp set with circular-cut diamonds and calibré-cut rubies sold for about $737,000.
Rounding out the top 10 were a pair of earrings featuring pear-shaped diamonds weighing 5.10 and 5.07 carats that garnered about $691,000; a bracelet comprised of 28 emerald-cut diamonds weighing 57.75 carats total that sold for about $614,000; and a fancy intense yellow, fancy yellow, fancy light yellow and white diamond necklace and earring matching set from Graff that also went for about $614,000.
The sale generated revenues of more than $24.8 million but was only 60 percent sold by lot, with 115 out of 192 lots on offer finding buyers.
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