Pre-Auction Analysis: April 15th, 2021 Sotheby’s, New York, Magnificent Jewels 

As most of the industry has been prevented from traveling during this challenging period in order to inspect the lots physically, we believe this current analysis is more relevant than ever.                                                 

Our Sotheby’s New York Pre-Auction Analysis focuses on elements that are hidden from the unprofessional eye. We will describe the important visual elements for those who cannot attend the preview and discuss characteristics such as: Undertone, Color Dispersion, and Inner-Grade (UDI; a detailed explanation appears at the bottom of this article). We analyze and grade Fancy Color Diamonds relative to their GIA grade.

We use grades 1, 2, 3, and 4, 1 being the lowest grade. Grade “+” is granted in rare cases and stands for stones with an exceptional characteristic. Stones that receive a minimum total UDI score of 8, without a red remark, pass the industry threshold and can be traded easily. Fancy Color Diamonds that are graded 10 or above, (without a quality remark) are usually sought after by high-end jewelry brands, collectors and the investment community.

For your convenience, we have added direct links for the GIA reports.

• All images in this article review were taken with an iPhone 12 pro, no filters were applied.
• All auction valuations are per carat and in US Dollars.

Lot #205

5.53 carats, Fancy Vivid Yellow Diamond, Round, VS2 

An extremely small number of similar diamonds enter the market yearly… Check Rarity Here 

And

5.07 carats, Fancy Deep Yellow Diamond, Round, SI1 

A similar diamond enters the market once every… Check Rarity Here 

High catalog estimation: $113,207 per carat

Didn’t reach the minimum

Yellow Fancy Color diamond studs, with a different color grade (Deep and Vivid), are not very common in the high-end jewelry segment. Looking at the visual characteristics such as the greenish undertone in the color and the crystals characteristics in the stone, we can assume