8ct. Blue Diamond Sells for $20M at Christie's

RAPAPORT... An 8.01-carat blue diamond necklace was the top seller atChristie's Magnificent Jewels auction in Hong Kong on Tuesday. The pear-shaped, fancy vivid blue, internally flawless pieceby Moussaieff sold for just under $20.5 million, or $2.6 million per carat, Christie'ssaid. Its original estimate was $18.5 million to $24.9 million (HKD 145 millionto HKD 195 million). Other top lots at the sale included a colored diamondbracelet that designer Edmond Chin created for the House of Boghossian. The piece set a world auction record for its category, at $4.5 million, smashing itspre-sale estimate of $2 million to $3.2 million (HKD 16 million to HKD 25million). A jadeite necklace featuring two oval-shaped diamonds weighing 1.50and 3.02 carats fetched $4.3 million, against a price estimate of $3.8 millionto $6.4 million (HKD 30 million to HKD 50 million). A pair of pear-shaped, 7.46- and 6.81-carat BrazilianParaiba tourmaline ear pendants set a world auction record price for Paraiba tourmaline,at $2.8 million. Its estimate was $1.6 million to $2.3 million (HKD12.8 million to HKD 18 million). A pearl and diamond necklace from theRockefeller family collection also made the top 10, as did three Burmese rubypieces. Overall, 64% of lots sold for a total of $72.1 million. Thenext Christie's sale is the Paris Fine Jewels auction, which will take place onJune 6, followed by Magnificent Jewels on June 12 in New York, and the LondonImportant Jewels sale on June 13.