Jewellery, unique gems and divas' stories light up the December auctions
Christie's, Sotheby's and Phillips bring to New York creations whose value stems from extremely rare stones, signature designs but also from being owned by famous owners
Today on newsstands with Il Sole 24 Ore comes out the Special Gioielli, 46 pages of news and in-depth analysis on the world of jewellery. Below is the article that opens on page 4
Exhibitions, meetings with the heirs of famous artists, of course auctions, and a billion dollars worth of auctions: the Collectors' Week organised by Sotheby's for the first time in Abu Dhabi between 2 and 5 December, in collaboration with the Abu Dhabi Investment Office (which about a year ago took over a minority stake in the auction house, from 2019 owned by the tlc magnate Patrick Drahi), was a very representative event of the global and contemporary luxury scenario: according to the recent Bain-Altagamma report, it is precisely the Middle Eastern market that will be the only one to grow in 2025 (between 4 and 6%), driven precisely by Abu Dhabi and Dubai, and among the personal luxury goods it will be jewellery that will register the highest increase, thanks to their identity as objects with an emotional value, which precisely in the world of auctions can reach very high levels when it comes to pieces belonging to celebrities or particularly rare. At the Abu Dhabi auction, for example, exceptional lots were offered, such as the world's largest orange-pink fancy diamond, which fetched $8.8 million, making it the most expensive gem in its category.
Stories and passions also populated the more traditional auctions, those of November in Geneva and those to be held in New York in the coming days. Let's start with Christie's, which recently appointed Max Fawcett as the new global head of its jewellery department: on 10 December, at the Rockefeller Center already glittering with Christmas lights, he will offer as the star of his "Magnificent Jewels" the Rockefeller Kashmir, a rare Art Deco-era Cartier ring culminating in a 17.66-carat sugarloaf cabochon sapphire (estimate $1.5-2.5 million), from the collection of Sandra Ferry Rockefeller, daughter of John Rockefeller III.
Other iconic Old Hollywood items are also in the catalogue, such as the Bulgari marquise-cut yellow diamond ring that Eddie Fischer gave to his wife Elizabeth Taylor on her 30th birthday, and Frank and Barbara Sinatra's diamond engagement ring. In the first half of the year, the passion of collectors drove jewellery sales at Christie's, owned by François Pinault's Artémis holding company, up 25%, mainly due to the success of the June auction in New York itself, which closed with record proceeds of $88 million, of which $14 million came from Marie-Antoinette's pink diamond ring, mounted by Joel Arthur Rosenthal (or Jar, one of the most fashionable brands of the moment).
Also in New York, in its new headquarters in the Breuer Building at 945 Madison Avenue, already home to important museums in the city, Sotheby's will organise its Luxury Days from 8 to 11 December, inaugurating an interesting change: the auctions of the most precious jewels will no longer be called "Magnificent Jewels", but "High Jewelry", "to align itself", explains Sotheby's, "with today's growing digital markets" and thus try to intercept its clients through more targeted searches, increasingly oriented by artificial intelligence. Among the most spectacular pieces are a 3.48-carat blue fancy diamond, and a Van Cleef&Arpels parure in diamonds and sapphires, which will perhaps take the department over the $270 million mark in revenues by 2024. On 12 November, meanwhile, the Geneva brooch that belonged to Napoleon and was lost on the field of Waterloo fetched €3.7 million, more than four times its high estimate.
