Geneva auctions test market for luxury goods

The market for luxury goods will be tested against the backdrop of the continuing global economic slump as auction houses in Geneva put jewellery, collector watches and fine wines under the hammer this week.

A ring with a pear-shaped blue diamond weighing 5.96 carats tops the list of “magnificent jewels” to be auctioned by Sotheby’s on Tuesday, while Christie’s is touting a connoisseur’s collection of rare timepieces, vintage reds dating back to 1858 and its own array of fancy jewels to be bid on this week.

Sotheby’s rare blue diamond, originating from the Cullinan mine in South Africa, is valued at up to 7.6 million francs.

Last spring, when the world economies were still reeling from the financial crisis, a 7.03-carat blue diamond set a world record when Sotheby’s in Geneva sold it for more than 9.4 million dollars – the highest amount ever paid per carat for a gemstone.

The blue diamonds are valued, says Sotheby’s, because the Cullinan mine is their only “reliable source.”

These diamonds “owe their colour to the presence of a small concentration of boron atoms within the crystalline structure.”

But it is difficult to find such gems without other colours, such as grey or violet, hence the high value of the one to be sold on Tuesday at the Beau-Rivage hotel.

Other attractions include the largest fancy green diamond ever to be offered at auction, weighing 2.52carats and valued at up to 5.54 million francs.

Among the collectible items is a sapphire, emerald and diamond brooch made by Cartier and once owned by society figure Daisy Fellowes (1890-1962), an heiress to the Singer sewing machine fortune and former editor of the French edition of Harper’s Bazaar.

The brooch is valued at between 155,000 and 255,000 francs.

Christie’s, meanwhile, was expecting to ring up 10 million francs in sales for its rare watches auction set for Monday at the Hotel des Bergues.

A total of 380 lots were up for sale, including a collection of vintage Patek Philippe wristwatches dating from 1938 to 1982 valued at from three to four million francs.

Aurel Bacs, international co-head of Christie’s watches department, called the group of Geneva-made timepieces “stunning.”

He noted they have been kept in a safe for almost 20 years and “their extraordinary quality and perfect state of conservation makes each of them a real treasure.”

For lovers of wine, Christie’s is selling 774 lots of rare and sought-after vintages commanding vertiginous prices.

Among the prized collections are six bottles of 1999 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti red wine from Burgundy, estimated at 40,000 to 50,000 francs.

A jeroboam (three litres) of the same pinot noir vintage is valued at 28,000 to 38,000 francs.

Christie’s said the sale is highlighted by an exceptional collection of Lafite-Rothschild reds, carefully stored in a “cellar in the mountains” with vintages dating back to 1858 (estimated at 8,000 to 12,000 franc per bottle).

There’s also a collection sourced directly from Paul Jaboulet Ainé, a wine producer in the Côtes du Rhône region, which includes 1961 Hermitage la Chapelle “known as one of the best 10 wines of the 20^th century.”

Christie’s “superb stones and important jewels” auction on Wednesday features the sale of a “perfect 62.30 carat pear-shaped “D colour” diamond, among 215 lots.

The auction house was not publicizing its estimated value for the gem but it said it was one of the most important ones of its type to be offered at auction.