Gem Records set at Christie's Hong Kong Auction

by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed)
Dec 2nd 2009 at 3:01AM

Hong Kong's fall sales have been great for records, for Christie's in particular. After several were broken at the art auction this week, the gem scene was ignited. A pink diamond no larger than a chickpea went for $10.8 million, according to Bloomberg News. The stone had the second-highest rating available (potentially flawless) and a weight of 5 carats. It shattered the per-carat record set back in May. Back then, Hong Kong property investor Joseph Lau picked up a 7.03-carat blue diamond at an auction in Geneva for $10.5 million.

The pink diamond was sent under the gavel by Graff Diamonds, a London-based jeweler. The stone was sold to a phone bidder who beat out Liu Yiqian and his wife, Wang Wei. But, those two have bought enough already, right?

Overall, the 255 lots sold (an 89 percent sell rate) brought in HK$372 million, with the action pushed forward by mainland Chinese, a growing trend in the auction world this year. Donald May, a ruby and sapphire dealer based in Hong Kong, attended the auction and told Bloomberg, "There's a lot of mainland Chinese buying; either they didn't know what the items are worth or they wanted them so badly that price didn't matter." He believes that prices were pushed way out of control.

There were other records set in Hong Kong, as well. A sapphire weighing 16.65 carats, set by Van Cleef & Arpels, brought in HK$18.6 million, also setting a per-carat record.

[Photo courtesy of Christie's]

Tags: auction, auction-house, AuctionHouse, auctions, china, christies, diamond, diamonds, gem, gems, graff, graff diamonds, graff jewelers, GraffDiamonds, GraffJewelers, honk kong, HonkKong, jewel, jewelry, jewels, pink diamond, PinkDiamond, sapphire, sapphires, van cleef, Van Cleef Arpels, VanCleef, VanCleefArpels

Filed under: Jewelry, Auctions

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Yan Dec 2nd 2009 11:00AM

Wang Wei and Liu Yiqian are out of control. Wang said recently that collecting art was "the only thing that made her happy." The two of them are really stocking up on art now while it is cheaper than it'll be in a year or two, and are focusing a lot on Mao-era classics while dipping in to contemporary Chinese pieces when they feel like it. Shopping spree indeed. jingdaily dot com