Diamond and sapphire prices soar for Bonhams

Sapphire and diamond jewellery designs achieved top prices when they went under the the hammer at Bonhams Fine Jewellery sale in London yesterday.

Bidders in the New Bond Street saleroom, online and on the telephones, competed for 129 lots at the auction on Wednesday, 20 April, which achieved £4.98m with 88% lots sold by value.

The headlining piece of the auction house’s first fine jewellery sale of the year was a 15.52-carat step-cut diamond single-stone ring by Harry Winston. The diamond – D colour and potentially flawless – was sold for £1.1m against its pre-sale estimate of £700,00 to £900,000.

A pair of marquise-cut and pear-shaped diamond earrings, also from the renowned American jeweller and totalling 25.37-carats, sold for £266,500 against their pre-sale estimate of £150,000 to £200,000.

Elsewhere in the sale, an antique cushion-shaped diamond bangle featuring 13 graduated diamonds – including a central 9.5-carat fancy yellow diamond – sold for £206,500.

Sapphires also performed well with a Kashmir cabochon sapphire, weighing 7.13-carats, selling to a telephone bidder for £506,500 against its pre-sale estimate of just £50,000 to £70,000.

The unheated sapphire – set in a ring surrounded by old brilliant-cut diamonds – boasts the coveted ‘Royal Blue’ colour, a term reserved only for the very best examples of these rare gemstones.  

Meanwhile, a rare oval-cut pink sapphire from Burma, weighing 17.15-carats, set in a ring by Cartier sold for £140,500 against its pre-sale estimate of £30,000 to £40,000.

Jean Ghika, head of jewellery for UK and Europe, said: “The sale performed exceptionally well, generating interest from buyers in the UK, Europe, the US and Asia. We were delighted to see our headline lots achieve strong prices, demonstrating that top quality diamonds, coloured gemstones and signed jewels remain highly desirable.”