Auction Round-up - A SEASON OF DAZZLE!

From exceptional unmounted diamonds, emerald cuts and brilliant rounds, statement pieces by JAR, and other masters of jewellery, to timeless vintage classics, the auction season has been about diamonds, diamonds and more diamonds!

The 100ct Spectacle Diamond

The Spectacle, a 100.94ct, D-colour Internally Flawless, Type Ila diamond, estimated at $12,000,000-18,000,000, was the highlight of the Geneva Magnificent Jewels auction, selling for $14.1 million. The diamond was cut from a rare 207.29ct rough stone. The incredible size and impeccable quality made the rough diamond extremely unusual and valuable. It was unearthed in 2016 at Zarnitsa kimberlite pipe in the Sakha Republic (Yakutia) in northeast Russia, the first-ever diamond deposit discovered in Soviet Russia in 1954.

The Chrysler Diamond

Estimated to fetch between $3.5 million and $4.5 million, the pear-shaped, D-colour, Internally Flawless 54.03ct Chrysler Diamond sold for nearly $5.1 million. In 1958, Harry Winston purchased what was then known as The Louis XIV Diamond from the estate of Thelma Chrysler Foy. Although the provenance cannot be verified, it was believed that this diamond was possibly mined in India and could have been brought to France by the famed gem merchant Jean-Baptiste Tavernier. Winston recut the diamond from its original 62.00cts to 58.60cts to achieve a D colour and Flawless clarity grade.

The diamond, now mounted in a tiara, was exhibited at the Musée du Louvre in 1962 in the Ten Centuries of French Jewelry exhibition. In 1963, Winston sold the diamond, along with a 61.80ct diamond, to Eleanor Loder. Her estate sold the pair of diamonds at an auction in Geneva in 1980. The current owner acquired the pair in 1983 from the buyer at a Swiss auction. This time, the diamonds had again been recut to weigh 54.03cts and 61.02cts, respectively and were included in Notable Diamonds of the World. They are now referred to as The Geminis.