Christie’s auction houses have continued to enjoy tremendous sales and demand for high-quality, rare, and antique diamonds and diamond jewelry, despite the general economic downturn that has affected smaller diamond sales.  The market for large, unusual, or historical stones has remained steady, and Christie’s has been able to feature some of the most fantastic pieces made available.  In 2009 alone, they broke per-carat prices in categories of colorless diamonds and all gemstones. 

The Vivid Pink set the per-carat record price for any gemstone at $2.1 million/carat for a total sale price of $10.8 million.  The Annenberg Diamond—also a historical piece—set a new per-carat record price for a colorless diamond.  The D-color Internally Flawless diamond sold for $240,000/carat, which, at 32 carats, totaled $7.7 million.  Christie’s anticipates that the trend will continue through 2010, with a steady demand for jewels of historical stones or with an exceptional provenance. 

The famed auction house will have its first opportunity to prove this theory in their first major jewelry sale of the year on April 22.  Two jewels of historical significance will be made available, each of which has been held in a separate private collection.  The 39.55 Emperor Maximilian Diamond was acquired by the Archduke Maximilian in Brazil in 1860, before Napoleon declared him Emperor of Mexico.  According to legend, he was wearing this diamond in a small bag around his neck at the time of his execution, and it was then returned to his wife, Princess Charlotte of Belgium.  She sold the gem, and its whereabouts were unknown until it was bought in 1919 by a Chicago diamond dealer.  It appeared at Christie’s in July 1982, where jeweler Laurence Graff bought it for $726,000.  In 1983, Graff sold it in a lot with two other diamonds to Imelda Marcos.  Since then, it has not been publicly viewed.  The current estimated value of the Emperor Maximilian Diamond is $1-1.5 million. 

Also on sale at the April 22 auction is the Catherine the Great Emerald and Diamond Brooch.  First belonging to Catherine II of Russia, the hexagonal-cut Colombian emerald (weighing 60-70 carats) in set within rows of white and rose diamonds and mounted in silver-topped gold.  This was one of her favorite pieces in a famously-large jewelry collection.  She gave the brooch to Sophie Dorothea, Princess of Wurttemberg, as a wedding gift when the Princess married her son—and heir to the Russian throne—in 1776.  It was handed down through descendants of the Princess for generations until it was eventually sold to an American in 1972.  It, too, has been held privately and becomes available only as part of the estate of the buyer.  This piece is also expected to sell for $1-1.5 million. 

“This April, we are honored to present two legendary gems not seen in public for decades: the Emperor Maximilian Diamond of 39.55 carats and the Catherine the Great Emerald and Diamond Brooch, set with a Colombian emerald over 60 carats,” commented Rahul Kadakia, Head of Jewelry at Christie’s New York.  “Aside from their exceptional rarity, these large stones bear a fascinating history and provenance that renders them truly priceless in the world of fine jewels”.  It is likely that, given the trend in historical gem sales, that these pieces will surpass their estimates and, perhaps, set new records.

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