Sotheby's Showcases Decade of Auction Records

RAPAPORT... The past 10 years might be known for superheroes, Netflix and memes, but for Sotheby's it was all about record-breaking jewels, as worldwide sales for the divisiontotaled more than $4.7 billion. The auction house sold 40,353 items during the decade, including683 for more than $1 million and 41 topping $10 million, Sotheby's said lastweek. The 10 most valuable jewels ever sold at the auction house were purchasedover the past decade. "The last 10 years have seen a complete transformation ofthe jewelry-auction market, and without a doubt, this has been a definingdecade in my 40-year career at Sotheby's," said David Bennett, chairman of Sotheby'sinternational jewelry division. "The revolution of online bidding andsocial media...[has] led to unprecedented results for unforgettable diamonds andgemstones." The CTF Pink Star, a 59.60-carat, fancy-vivid-pink,internally flawless diamond set the record for the most expensive diamond orgemstone sold at auction. It was purchased by Hong Kong jeweler Chow Tai Fookin 2017 for $71.2 million at Sotheby's Hong Kong. Two other diamonds hadpreviously set that record during the past 10 years, including the 24.78-caratGraff Pink, which fetched $46.2 million in Geneva in 2010. The 12.03-caratBlue Moon of Josephine, which went for $48.5 million in 2015, also soldfor the highest price per carat for a diamond or gemstone, at more than $4 millionper carat - a record that still stands. In 2013, a D-flawless diamond weighing 118.28 carats garnered$30.1 million at Sotheby's in Hong Kong, setting an auction record at the timefor a white diamond. Sotheby's also holds the world record for a ruby, with the25.59-carat Sunrise Ruby fetching $30.3 million, more than triple the previous topprice. The sale of the most valuable jewel ever purchased online alsotook place between 2010 and 2020. That honor went to a pair of diamondearrings, which sold for $6 million in Geneva in 2016. When it comes to royal jewels, the collection from theBourbon-Parma family scored the record, making history in Geneva, and breakinga 31-year record set by jewels belonging to Wallis Simpson, theduchess of Windsor. The collection sold in its entirety in 2018 for atotal of $53.1 million. Included in it was a pearl pendant that had been MarieAntoinette's, which went for $36.2 million, more than 18 times its highestimate. Female purchasing has been on the rise, with the proportionof women taking part in auctions at Sotheby's increasing 20% since 2010. A growingnumber of those collectors were under 40, the auction house noted. Image: Some of Sotheby's highest-selling items over the past decade, including the CTF Pink Star (top, middle) and Marie Antoinette's pearl brooch (top, right). (Sotheby's)