Pre-Auction Analysis: November 29th 2020, Christie’s Hong Kong, Magnificent Jewels

As most of the industry has been prevented from flying during this special period and inspect the lots physically, we believe this current analysis is even more relevant than ever.                                                 

Our Christie’s Hong-Kong 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). When we analyze and grade any Fancy Color Diamond it is always done in relation to its 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, are considered to be “Gems” and are generally 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 11pro, no filters were applied.
• All auction valuations are per carat and in US Dollars.

Lot #2029

3.29 carat, Fancy Intense Blue, Marquise IF 

3.29 carat, Fancy Intense Blue, Marquise IF 

High catalog estimation: $689,008 per carat

Price realized: $922,562 pc

The uniqueness of this lot comes first and foremost from the fact that very few fancy color diamonds are manufactured into marquise shape diamonds, moreover when it comes to larger blue fancy colors such as these two fancy intense blue diamonds. From the way they are cut and polished (the large culet and the classic, brilliant cut), we can assume they were cut between the 1970’s and the 1990’s of the last century. The color dispersion is quite low in both stones and the Inner-Grade is not quite the same.The length and width of the two stones is quite different as well and they don’t appear to be a matching pair.   

To review the GIA Report of 3.29 ct F.I.B (a) Click here

To review the GIA Report of 3.29 ct F.I.B (b) Click here

Total Average Score 8 out of 12     

************************

Lot #2027

4.90 carat, Fancy Intense Pink, Emerald, VS1. High catalog estimation: $925,240 per carat

Price realized: $764,913 pc

Click here to check the rarity of this diamond

A square pink Emerald cut diamond with a very pleasant pink Undertone. The color dispersion is