Auctions

An auction house in Scotland is giving someone the opportunity to buy a special Valentine's Day gift a £35,000 ($55,000) heart-shaped diamond necklace.

The necklace, to be sold by a Glasgow auctioneer, is set with 22 carats of brilliant cut diamonds – 17 carats of diamonds are set in the white gold chain, and another five carats in a diamond-set heart pendant.

Sotheby’s set a record for jewelry sales in 2012 of US$460.5 million, with strong growth reported at all of its auction houses.

Sales figures were boosted by strong interest from buyers in private collections, outstanding diamonds and gemstones, and historical jewels with noble history.

Among the 2012 highlights was a new world auction record of US$108.4 million set in May for any jewelry sale at Sotheby’s Geneva featuring items that had more than one previous owner.

A vivid yellow diamond weighing 32.7 carats could sell for up to $8 million at auction, said auction house Christie's.

The diamond is likely to be the outstanding lot at a Christie's jewelry auction in New York on October 18. The diamond is also being sent on a worldwide tour ahead of the auction and can be viewed in Hong Kong, London and Geneva.

The diamond could break the record $203,000 per-carat price seen for an 18.49-carat Golden Drop yellow diamond sold in London in 1990, the auction house said.

Christie's New York is holding its first jewelry auction of the fall season on October 16, where a total of 372 lots will be offered and expected to achieve in excess of US$35 million. Highlighting the two-session Magnificent Jewels sale at Christie's Rockefeller Center saleroom will be a trio of diamond jewels weighing more than 50 carats each, as well as a rare double strand of large natural pearls.

A heart-shaped yellow diamond that once belonged to the controversial Wallis Simpson, the Duchess of Windsor, is one of many jewels from the collections of Estee and Evelyn Lauder to be sold at a Sotheby's auction next month.

The 47.14-carat heart-shaped fancy intense yellow diamond was worn by Wallis Simpson as a ring, but was re-set in a diamond pendant necklace by Van Cleef & Arpels for Estee Lauder in 1978. It has a pre-sale estimate of US$1.5 million to US$2 million.

Skinner, Inc. said it generated close to $3.7 million in sales at a fine jewelry auction. The amount includes buyers' premiums and easily surpassed the pre-sale forecast.

The top lot was a double-strand jadeite bead necklace bought for $348,000, more than four times its pre-sale estimate of $80,000.

Meanwhile, an Art Deco platinum and diamond longchain necklace was sold for $162,000, more than double its pre-sale estimate high.