DALLAS, TX.- A stunning fancy yellow diamond ring sold for $337,500 in Heritage Auctions’ Fall Fine Jewelry Signature® Auction on Monday, helping lead the event to a total of $5,001,358. Based on the ring’s dazzling center stone — a radiant-cut 16.07-carat yellow diamond flanked by shield-shaped diamonds weighing approximately 2.65 carats — it’s easy to see why the ring surpassed its high pre-auction estimate by more than $110,000.

Not far behind was a Van Cleef & Arpels 5.01-carat Type IIa pear-shaped diamond and platinum ring that realized $300,000. The renowned French jewelry house is known for using only the finest materials, and this exquisite creation is no exception. According to the Gemological Institute of America, in addition to being extremely rare, Type IIa diamonds such as this one are “the most chemically pure type of diamond and often have exceptional optical transparency.”

Sizable diamonds captured bidders’ attention throughout the auction, in fact. Also breaking the six-figure mark was a 5.18-carat unmounted diamond that sold for $150,000. Other diamond highlights included a 5.62-carat emerald-cut diamond and platinum ring that realized $75,000, a pair of white gold earrings featuring round brilliant-cut diamonds weighing a total of 6.02 carats that sold for $71,875, a 7.38-carat pear-shaped diamond and platinum ring that realized $68,750 and a 7.05-carat diamond and white gold necklace that sold for $65,625.

Colored gemstones also made a fine showing in the sale, including a Ceylon sapphire, diamond and platinum brooch that sold for $75,000, a 17.30-carat Colombian emerald and diamond ring that realized $52,500 and an orange sapphire, diamond and 18k gold necklace that sold for $50,000.

Other highlights included a Nini pink sapphire, diamond and 18k gold necklace that realized $42,500 and a Nini pink sapphire, diamond and 18k gold bracelet that sold for $40,000. Both pieces — just two of the event’s more than 80 creations by third-generation jewelry designer Nini Hale — hailed from an impressive single-owner collection that made up the entirety of the auction’s second session. All of the session’s proceeds, which totaled more than $640,000, will benefit the Mayo Clinic, the Remember the Alamo Foundation and San Antonio’s Witte Museum.

“Overall, we were very pleased with the auction results,” says Jill Burgum, Executive Director of Fine Jewelry at Heritage Auctions. “Diamonds and fine-colored gemstones rose to the top. Numerous charities were represented in both sessions, so there was definitely a feel-good vibe to the auction experience for bidders.”