GENEVA.- Tonight’s sale of Magnificent Jewels achieved an outstanding total of CHF 64,012,750 ($56,964,306) and was highlighted by the sale of the largest, purest white flawless brilliant-cut diamond ever to be offered at auction. The stone was acquired tonight by Mr Georges Marciano, founder of Guess? Jeans, who paid CHF 18,193,000 ($16,189,769) for the stone - the second highest price for a diamond at auction and at $191,980 a carat, the highest price per carat ever paid for a white diamond at auction. Mr Marciano has already exercised his right to name the diamond, which is now known as the ‘Chloe Diamond’.

David Bennett, Chairman of Jewellery for Sotheby’s Europe & the Middle East, said: “The result achieved tonight for the Chloe Diamond is one of the highlights of my career. It has been a privilege to work on the marketing and sale of this magnificent stone, which ranks among the most beautiful diamonds I have ever seen. Tonight’s price of CHF 18.2 ($16.2) million makes it the second most expensive diamond ever sold at auction. Sotheby's continues to hold the world record for a single precious stone and jewel of any kind for The Star of the Season, which was sold in 1995 for $16.5 million."

Ron Cohen, CEO of Clean Diamonds Inc., Los Angeles CA, and the seller of the diamond, said: “I am absolutely delighted with the fantastic result achieved tonight by Sotheby’s for this phenomenal, 84.37 carat stone. When I first saw the diamond in its rough form, weighing 365 carats and covering the palm of my hand, I knew immediately that it was of gem quality. Having taken over two years to plan and cut the stone, I decided to consign it with Sotheby’s for the amount of exposure that I was confident the auction house would be able to provide internationally. Tonight’s sale price has vindicated my decision.”

Further highlights in the sale included an extremely rare Fancy Vivid Blue pear-shaped diamond, weighing 4.16 carats and mounted as a ring. This magnificent piece of jewellery was sold for CHF 5,313,000 ($4,727,986) against a pre-sale estimate of CHF 3.85-5 million. The success of this stone comes hot on the heels of the Rare Fancy Vivid Blue Diamond Ring sold by Sotheby’s in Hong Kong this October for US$7.9 million which set a per-carat world record for any gemstone at auction of $1,321,495. The per-carat price for tonight’s stone was $1,136,535, making it the second highest price per carat paid for a coloured diamond at auction.

The Duchess of Windsor’s exquisite diamond and emerald bracelet, which was her Christmas gift in 1935 from Edward, then Prince of Wales, fared extremely well tonight. The bracelet, which was last offered at Sotheby’s in 1987 at the legendary sale of the Jewels of the Duchess of Windsor and then sold for $352,000, tonight fetched a fantastic CHF 1,141,000 ($1,015,364), more than three times its price in 1987.

Another highlight tonight, and also a piece with exceptional provenance, was a ring from the collection of Countess Mona Bismarck. Set with a magnificent step-cut emerald weighing approximately 9.50 carats within a double frame of circular-cut diamonds, the ring was sold for CHF 289,000 ($257,178). In the Mona Bismarck sale at Sotheby’s in May 1986, it was sold for just CHF 143,000.

Signed period pieces sold well tonight, with a particularly high price achieved for a Fine Diamond Bracelet by Van Cleef & Arpels, circa 1950, which sold for CHF 661,000 ($588,217), more than three times its low estimate of CHF 180,000. There were bidders competing for the piece, the winning bid coming from an anonymous collector bidding on the telephone.

Today’s sale brings the 2007 total for Magnificent Jewels sold at Sotheby’s Switzerland to CHF 124,067,830 ($106,019,622) – the highest total for annual sales of Jewellery in Switzerland since 1995.