45-Carat Yellow Diamond Withdrawn from Phillips Auction
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The headlining lot of Phillips New York jewels auction, a 45-carat fancy vivid yellow diamond, was withdrawn prior to the start of the sale, which took place June 12.
New York—A 45-carat yellow diamond estimated to sell for up to $3.5 million at Phillips jewelry auction was pulled from the sale.
Phillips said the unnamed 45.07-carat fancy vivid yellow diamond, which it billed as “leading the sale,” was withdrawn prior to the start of the auction, which took place in New York on June 12.
No other information is available, it said.
The withdrawal comes about a month after another yellow diamond, also advertised as a headlining lot, never made its appearance at a Sotheby’s auction in Geneva.
According to the auction house, the consignor elected to retain “The Allnatt,” a 101.29-carat fancy vivid yellow diamond which was estimated to sell for $6.2 million to $7.2 million.
Phillips’ New York jewels auction garnered $2.9 million in total.
With 93 lots sold of the 120 lots offered, the auction was sold 78 percent by lot and 77 percent by value.
Eva Violante, Phillips head of jewels for the Americas, said the sale saw participation from across the globe.
A 9.81-carat emerald and diamond ring, along with a pair of diamond earclips, were the highest grossing lots, each selling for $165,100.
Signed jewels performed well also, with a Van Cleef & Arpels diamond necklace (est. $90,000 to $140,000) as second highest-grossing piece of the sale, going for $152,400.
It was followed by Cartier’s diamond necklace, “Méandres-Bavoir.”
Violante said extraordinary enthusiasm was shown for the 1953 piece, which achieved $146,050 against an estimate of $40,000-60,000.
A sapphire and diamond ring sold for the same price.
A 19th century antique tiara, a highlight of the sale’s selection of period jewels, also found a place in the top ten.
It sold for $120,650, more than three times its high-end estimate of $36,000.
Also earning well above its pre-sale estimate, a pair of emerald and diamond ear clips from Bulgari sold for $107,850, more than four times the low-end of its expected sale price, $26,000.
