Christie’s jewelry sales came in at over $31 million at their annual auction, Christie’s New York Magnificent Jewels sale. Their biggest item in gemstone jewelry up for sale was, in fact, not sold. The item, a 10.09-carat purple-pink diamond, has an estimated value of $12 to $15 million – not the most recession friendly of options.

Eight percent of the sale was sold by lot and seventy percent was sold by value.

Raul Kadakia, the head of Jewelry at Christie’s, told Forbes Magazine,

“While we were disappointed that the 10-carat, purple-pink diamond did not find a buyer, top-quality white, blue, pink and yellow diamonds fared very well.”

He also said:

“Demand for large colored diamonds from connoisseurs and investors continue to reach new heights… And we look forward to starting the spring season with this exceptional group of top-colored diamonds, curated with the specific desires of today’s collectors in mind.”

One diamond that fared especially well was a 3.25-carat square, emerald-cut, fancy intense IF, blue diamond. It sold for three and a half million dollars.

The highest ranking diamond was a rectangular cut, internally flawless one. At a show stopping 37.16 carats, the diamond sold to a private collector for four and a half million dollars, which comes out to about one hundred and twenty thousand dollars per carat.

Five diamonds were sold at over a million dollars each.

There were also two rings made out of sapphire that garnered a lot of attention at the sale. One of which was an Art Deco Kashmir 10.06 carat sapphire ring from Tiffany & Co., from around the 1920s, which was sold for almost seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars (seventy four thousand dollars per carat). In addition, a forty carat cushion cut Burmese sapphire rand diamond ring. It sold for over five hundred thousand dollars.

Out of the two hundred and eighty lots that were offered, two hundred and twenty four lots were sold, which equated to a selling rate of about eighty percent.

Next month, Sotheby’s will hold an auction in Geneva, Switzerland, where it will auction off the most expensive tiara to have ever been sold. Its price is somewhere between five and ten million dollars.