A perfect blue diamond: The coveted Royal Blue could become one of the most expensive stones ever sold by Christie’s at an auction scheduled for Tuesday in Geneva.
Royal Blue is the flagship lot of a series of sales organized this month on the banks of Lake Geneva, including legendary objects from the history of cinema, such as pearls worn by the British actress Audrey Hepburn or a Marlon Brando engraved watch. The 17.61 carat stone is simply the largest flawless bright blue fancy gemstone ever to come up for sale in auction history. Set in a ring, it has been part of a private collection for 50 years.
The Royal Blue is expected to fetch between 32 and 46 million euros at Christie’s Magnificent Jewels auction. “It will be part of the top 10 sales at Christie’s, in terms of value,” Rahul Kadakia, international head of jewelry at the auction house, told AFP. According to Kadakia, many modern diamonds have undergone custom cutting to enhance their color. But in the case of Royal Blue, “the raw material itself was so rich that they were able to carve it in a classic style of brilliant faceting,” he said. “It meets all the conditions, it’s truly the best in its category.”
Bright blue fancy diamonds weighing more than 10 carats are extremely rare. Since Christie’s founding in 1766, only three stones of this type have been offered for sale, and all have been for the past 13 years. The Bulgari Blue sold for nearly 14.7 million euros in 2010, the Winston Blue brought in 22.2 million euros in 2014 and the Oppenheimer Blue was acquired for $53.6 million in 2016.
“This part of the jewelry market is now subject to the same type of appreciation as the art market,” says Kadakia. “The market has noted the great rarity of these special stones and prices are now assessed in the same way as for large paintings.”
Christie’s separate online jewelry sale, which runs through November 16, also features the pearl necklace worn by Hepburn in William Wyler’s 1953 film Roman Holiday.
The actress, who played a princess in this romantic comedy, chose it from a selection offered by the Austro-Hungarian jeweler Furst. It is being sold by a European collector with a starting price of 18,000 Swiss francs (18,650 euros), but it could go much higher in the event of a bidding war. “It only takes two people to throw a party,” says Max Fawcett, head of jewelry at Christie’s in Geneva.
In another sale from the auction house, the watch worn by Marlon Brando in the 1979 film Apocalypse Now is estimated at between one and two million euros. The Rolex GMT-Master from around 1972 bears the inscription “Mr. Brando” hand-engraved by the Oscar-winning American actor.
“The engraving is still clear, so we can imagine that this watch has been worn, but not too much,” explains Eli Fayon, watch specialist at Christie’s Geneva. Brando gave it to his adopted daughter Petra in 1995, who then gave it to her husband in 2003 on their wedding night. The watch was then sold at auction in 2019 for 1.8 million euros. Over time, its white hands and indexes have turned parchment yellow but it remains in very good condition according to Christie’s.
Mr. Fayon expects the item to attract interest from collectors of vintage Rolexes, but also from customers who want “not only a piece of watchmaking history but also cinema history.” The fall sales season is in full swing in Geneva, where Sotheby is also offering an exceptional sale this week, billed as the most important collection of imperial and royal jewelry ever to come to auction.
