At its December 9 Magnificent Jewels auction in New York, Sotheby’s achieved total sales of $52.2 million. Almost $4.3 million of that went for the highest profile lot, a Van Cleef & Arpels diamond necklace worn by the late Queen Nazli of Egypt.
Commissioned by the Queen for her daughter’s 1939 wedding, the bib-style piece was estimated at a value of $3.6 million to $4.6 million by the auctioneer. It features 217 carats of diamonds in a “sunburst” motif, centering around a magnificent 6-carat round diamond. The design also features 134 carats of additional round diamonds, 50 carats of baguette diamonds, and 27 carats of smaller round diamonds.
The highest selling price at the auction was for a platinum, sapphire and diamond ring, which went for $5.1 million. The piece features a 25.87-carat cushion-cut sugarloaf cabochon sapphire surrounded by two 0.40-carat bullet-cut diamonds. CJ
