Blue Diamonds continue to bolster diamond auctions worldwide

After the record-breaking sale of a 7.03-carat flawless vivid-blue diamond for 9.49 million US Dollars (the highest price per carat for any gemstone sold at an auction) by Sotheby's last month, rivals Christies also joined the action with a 6.29-carat fancy-intense-blue stone going for 3.6 million US Dollars at their spring jewellery sale in New York.

The pear-shaped stone was bought by an anonymous buyer 565,000 US Dollars per carat.

Other stones grabbing the headlines were a 46.72-carat modified-rectangular-cut fancy yellow diamond with SI1 clarity, purchased by the U.S. trade for 602,500 US Dollars; a 10.01-carat pear-shaped internally flawless F-colour diamond, which went to a private U.S. buyer for 458,500 US Dollars; and a diamond necklace by billionaire diamantaire Laurence Graff, which was purchased by a private buyer from the Middle East for 410,500 US Dollars.

And the auction wasn’t just limited to a few big deals. The "New York Jewels" auction turned in a solid performance selling 91 percent by lot and 86 percent by volume. Coming on the heels of good sales in Hong Kong and London, the show in New York reaffirmed that the jewellery market is regaining its strength, which in turn clearly reflects steady progress for the economy in getting back to good health.

This was corroborated by Rahul Kadakia, Christie’s head of jewellery, who described the room as "buzzing" with excitement. And he had reason to be pleased. After all, Christies ended their Spring Jewellery season with dominant market share of 65 percent in New York and 60 percent worldwide. Sphere: Related Content