An unmounted 10.02-carat blue diamond sold for $8.7 million at Sotheby's New York auction.
The auction house announced Wednesday that the rectangular-shaped, beveled-cut, intense blue diamond with a VS2 clarity surpassed its high estimate of $6 million at the June 16 high jewelry auction.
The auction raised $43.4 million, with 98% of the 119 lots sold, and more than 63% achieving prices above their high estimate. The lots also included jewelry by renowned designers Van Cleef & Arpels, Graff, and Cartier.
Fancy diamonds were popular with buyers, including a ring featuring a 5.02-carat oval-cut, deep pink diamond flanked by two pear-shaped, light pink diamonds. The lot sold for $1.6 million.
A ring with a 34.75-carat, square-cut, modified brilliant-cut diamond of intense yellow color and VS1 clarity, set between two triangular-shaped diamonds, sold for $998,400.
A pair of 1935 Cartier hairpins, featuring one emerald-cut sapphire and five cushion-cut sapphires from Kashmir totaling 23.02 carats, along with European, single-cut, and baguette-cut diamonds, sold for more than 13 times its high estimate, at $1.6 million.
A beveled-corner ring with a rectangular mixed-cut diamond of fancy light purple-pink color and VS2 clarity, totaling 13.77 carats, sold for $1.5 million.
An unmounted oval-shaped Brazilian Paraiba tourmaline weighing 7.70 carats sold for $1.4 million. Another loose Paraiba tourmaline from Mozambique, a modified triangular shape and weighing 6.11 carats, sold for $972,800 against an estimate of $300,000-$500,000.
Hélène Tarin, Editor-in-Chief of the Asian Bureau, Rough&Polished
