HONG KONG.- On 25 May,
Christie’s Hong Kong Magnificent Jewels will host its highly-anticipated Spring live auction, presenting more than 170 lots of extraordinary and rare treasures, ranging from exquisite jadeites, dazzling coloured and colourless diamonds, sensational rubies, emeralds and sapphires, to wondrous natural pearls.
Leading the sale is an exceptional Jadeite Bead Necklace (estimate: HK$55 million – 85 million/ US$7 million – 11 million). The greatest challenge in creating a top-quality jadeite bead necklace lies in finding an assemblage of beads in perfectly well-matched colour, texture and translucency. The rough stones have to be of the highest saturation as well as the finest texture. The exceptional jadeite bead necklace offered in the sale this season consists of 33 perfectly round beads with the most saturated and purest imperial green and glassy translucency viewing from every angle. The jadeite beads range from 12.3 to 15.0 mm in diameter, which is unusually substantial in size. Among all the prized gemstones, only jadeite can utterly demonstrate the philosophy of “circle” in Chinese, integrating the concept of perfect harmony into jewellery aesthetics. This remarkable masterpiece will undoubtedly create a stir in the saleroom.
Vickie Sek, Chairman, Department of Jewellery, Christie’s Asia Pacific, commented, “Building upon the strong buying momentum and market resilience in Asia from last year, this Spring we are very delighted to offer new and seasoned collectors worldwide a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to acquire some of the most spectacular fine jewellery ever to appear at auction. We remain confident that our live auction on the 25 May will continue our success in establishing remarkable prices and solid sell-through rate for our carefully curated assemblage of jewels.”
Highlights
COLOURED GEMSTONES
Not to be missed is a selection of sensational gemstones from their distinguished and diminishing mines: Burmese “Pigeon’s Blood” rubies of over 5 carats, “Royal Blue” sapphires from Kashmir and Burma, as well as emeralds from the legendary Muzo mine in Colombia. Headlining the sale are:
A 6.04 Carat Burmese “Pigeon’s Blood” Ruby and Diamond Ring
Estimate: HK$26 million – 35 million/ US$3.2 million – 4.5 million
COLOURED DIAMONDS
Appetite for diamonds at auction continues to soar, as jewellery connoisseurs endeavour to purchase diamonds in every colour available to perfect their collections. Specially featured in the sale is an array of exceptional coloured diamonds with utmost fancy colour in hue, tone and saturation:
A 13.32 Carat Fancy Intense Orangy Pink VVS1 Diamond Ring
Estimate: HK$28 million – 38 million/ US$3.5 million – 4.8 million
COLOURLESS DIAMONDS
Building upon Christie’s tradition and continued success in offering the highest quality of colourless diamonds in the auction world, our specialists have carefully sourced a Magnificent 36.15 carat Diamond and a pair of diamond earrings, both D colour, Flawless to Internally Flawless clarity and entirely devoid of impurities:
A Magnificent 36.15 Carat D Colour Flawless Type IIA Diamond
Estimate: HK$24 million – 35 million/ US$3 million – 4.5 million
NATURAL PEARLS
Coveted by both Eastern and Western collectors for centuries, pearls have captivated the heart of some of the world’s most esteem celebrities including Coco Chanel, Princess Diana and Elizabeth Taylor. Natural pearls are much rarer, mostly because pearl-producing species of mollusks were nearly hunted to extinction in the 18th and 19th centuries. Appearing in the Hong Kong saleroom this season are two beautiful natural pearl necklaces adorned with diamonds:
A Natural Pearl and Diamond Necklace
Estimate: HK$8 million – 12 million/US$1 million – 1.5 million
Other Highlights
Every season, Christie’s specialists delicately source treasures by celebrated jewellery artists and legendary jewellery brands, to offer the best for global collectors. This Spring, impressive designs that spicing up the sale include:
A Multi-Gem “Tiger” Ring, by Wallace Chan
Estimate: HK$450,000 – 650,000/ US$58,000 – 80,000
