Sotheby's Garners $12M at New York Jewelry Sale

RAPAPORT... Sotheby's brought in $12.4 million from its Important Jewels sale in New York, with a pair of diamond earrings by Boucheron taking the top spot.The set features marquise- and pear-shaped diamond clusters suspending two detachable pear-shaped diamonds - a D-color, VS1-clarity stone weighing 14 carats and a D-color, VVS2-clarity diamond weighing 13.75 carats. The pair fetched $1.3 million at the March 9 auction, beating its estimate, Sotheby's said last week.A necklace bearing 47 square emerald-cut diamonds weighing a total of 146.52 carats went for $945,000 - toward the upper end of its estimate - while a brooch by jeweler Raymond Yard, designed as an insect, attained $390,600. The piece, which contains a pear-shaped, 11.02-carat, fancy-intense-yellow diamond and an old European-cut, 3.95-carat, K-color, VS1-clarity stone, exceeded its high expectation.A number of other items smashed their upper estimates, including a ring set with an emerald-cut, 7.62-carat Burmese ruby, framed by marquise-shaped diamonds, which sold for $327,600, nearly three times its high presale price. Meanwhile, a ring with a heart-shaped, 7.58-carat, G-color, VS2-clarity diamond, flanked by two heart-shaped rubies weighing a combined 4.15 carats, brought in $214,200, above its $180,000 upper estimate.Sotheby's next jewelry sale will be the Hong Kong Magnificent Jewels auction, set for April 30.Image: The Boucheron earrings. (Sotheby's)