Blue diamond ring to be sold at Sotheby’s HK

[bmfang]

http://www.diamonds.net/news/NewsItem.aspx?tc_dailyemail=1&ArticleID=59383

It looks rather fetching to my eyes. The auction site is very close to where I am at the moment (Guangdong province, China). No chance of making it over there to watch the proceedings.

 

[tyty333]

Its quite beautiful...

 

[OoohShiny]

That is nice

Paging @kenny!

I quite like the sound of the earrings too...

The sale on October 3 will also include a set of earrings, each featuring a pear-shaped fancy pink diamond — one weighing 5.21 carats and internally flawless, the other 5.01 carats with VS1 clarity. The pair carries an estimated price tag of $3.8 million to $5.1 million.

 

[WinkHPD]

I am thinking that the blue might go for much more than the estimate. It will be interesting to know what the hammer actually falls for.

Wink

 

[bmfang]

I am thinking that the blue might go for much more than the estimate. It will be interesting to know what the hammer actually falls for.

Wink

My gut feeling is the same as you @Wink for the blue diamond ring. Would be funny if one of the big Chinese B&M retailers purchase it to have as part of their corporate collection).

Speaking of Chinese B&M jewellers, I’m having a nice time looking at diamonds in their stores while on holidays over here. Particularly at the two big chains in the PRC and HK, Luk Fook and Chow Tai Fook (the owner of HoF) and another of the mainland Chinese B&M powerhouses, Lao Feng Xiang.

So far I have found only one GIA graded diamond out of approximately 120 that I’ve looked at that I would consider buying (if I was in the market for a stone currently, 56/61.7 34.5/40.8 ). All the rest have been steep/deep stones (table/depth combos are primarily 55-57/61-62 however, there are lots of 35-36/41-41.5 angle combos). Have been surprised at the penetration of GIA graded stones into the PRC market (based on visiting the stores in this “small” PRC city of approximately 3.5 million folks).

What is more surprising for me is seeing a lot more stones now at SI1 clarity being sold (a couple of years ago, it was primarily VS1+ clarity stones). Price wise, no brainer to purchase stones online compared with what’s available in a PRC B&M store. But that doesn’t seem to be an option that my extended in-laws would even consider (they are totally fine with purchasing finished rings online from one of these vendors, just not purchasing individual stones online).

 

[WinkHPD]

My gut feeling is the same as you @Wink for the blue diamond ring. Would be funny if one of the big Chinese B&M retailers purchase it to have as part of their corporate collection).

Speaking of Chinese B&M jewellers, I’m having a nice time looking at diamonds in their stores while on holidays over here. Particularly at the two big chains in the PRC and HK, Luk Fook and Chow Tai Fook (the owner of HoF) and another of the mainland Chinese B&M powerhouses, Lao Feng Xiang.

So far I have found only one GIA graded diamond out of approximately 120 that I’ve looked at that I would consider buying (if I was in the market for a stone currently, 56/61.7 34.5/40.8 ). All the rest have been steep/deep stones (table/depth combos are primarily 55-57/61-62 however, there are lots of 35-36/41-41.5 angle combos). Have been surprised at the penetration of GIA graded stones into the PRC market (based on visiting the stores in this “small” PRC city of approximately 3.5 million folks).

What is more surprising for me is seeing a lot more stones now at SI1 clarity being sold (a couple of years ago, it was primarily VS1+ clarity stones). Price wise, no brainer to purchase stones online compared with what’s available in a PRC B&M store. But that doesn’t seem to be an option that my extended in-laws would even consider (they are totally fine with purchasing finished rings online from one of these vendors, just not purchasing individual stones online).

Given the drek they are selling in their B & M stores, I most likely would not buy from them on line either, as you must SEE to know what YOUR eyes are going to think of their different diamonds. With more than 100 to 1 against buying from your experience, that could wrap up a LOT of money in postage fees.

You mention you are on holidays. Where do you normally call home if I may ask?

Wink

 

[bmfang]

Given the drek they are selling in their B & M stores, I most likely would not buy from them on line either, as you must SEE to know what YOUR eyes are going to think of their different diamonds. With more than 100 to 1 against buying from your experience, that could wrap up a LOT of money in postage fees.

You mention you are on holidays. Where do you normally call home if I may ask?

Wink

While the drek in their stores is limited to the stones they carry, the designs of the jewellery they carry are quite nice. The one wonderful thing over here however is that there is a tradition of buying/selling pure 24k gold in various forms (ingots, pendants, statues, etc). At far cheaper prices than in Western countries. Even in my birth country of Malaysia, 22k gold is very common to be bought/sold at a jewellery shop rather than 14/18k.

Home for me however is the land down under, Australia.

 

[WinkHPD]

While the drek in their stores is limited to the stones they carry, the designs of the jewellery they carry are quite nice. The one wonderful thing over here however is that there is a tradition of buying/selling pure 24k gold in various forms (ingots, pendants, statues, etc). At far cheaper prices than in Western countries. Even in my birth country of Malaysia, 22k gold is very common to be bought/sold at a jewellery shop rather than 14/18k.

Home for me however is the land down under, Australia.

Many years ago I had the pleasure of hiring a Vietnamese refugee, Bei van Tiet, who became both a friend and a jeweler I highly respected.

I still fondly remember one of the first things he did with all of the equipment purchased for him was to break most of it down into the over used sizes of what he was used to working with. All of his nice new files were broken in at least half and a few into thirds. He also had a nice press for flattening a glob of gold into a flat sheet, and also slotted wheels with which he could make smaller and smaller strands of gold until he had them small enough to pull through a sheet with different sized holes to make the wire that he used for so many of his exquisite designs.

He would form a point in his strand of gold with a pair of pliers, poke it through one of the larger holes in the plate, stand on his chair with the plate under his feet and reach down and slowly pull the gold through. Then he would do it again and again until the wire was the fineness that he wanted. For me that was almost always 18kt gold. For his Vietnamese clients it was always 22 to 24 kt gold. (Yes, although I employed him, I allowed him to do work for his local Vietnamese community for which I was not paid. He asked permission, which was freely granted.) I was always amazed at how long the wire from a small lump of gold would become.

When I closed that store he opened his own store and continued to make pieces for me from time to time after I opened a new store some few years later. He would never quote me a price on a ring, he always responded, "Winfield know what worth." I did, but I always paid more than I would have if he had offered a price and we got to dicker. He may not have spoken English well, but I think he had my number.

He died some years ago now, and I miss him like the dickens. I attended a Buddhist ceremony for him. After the ceremony his sons came and held my hands while we talked for some time about their father and told me how much I had done for their family. I told them how much their father had done for me.

This man was a refugee from a country I had fought an ugly war in. I will die with the scars in my heart that I earned in that war. For a time there was a hue and cry against letting any Vietnamese into the country. How much I would have missed had I never known this wonderful man.

Wink

 

[GearGirly]

Wink that's a beautiful story!

 

[valeria101]

The one wonderful thing over here however is that there is a tradition of buying/selling pure 24k gold in various forms ...

There is some such tradition back in home country & in my veins, it would seem ! It certainly pulls weight with me in matters of diamonds too, regarding colour WWW .

I have seen my share of cold gold magic ... wire pulling, chasing, foil beating - rarer joys now, @Wink

 

[bmfang]

That is nice

Paging @kenny!

I quite like the sound of the earrings too...

Looks like the blue diamond ring and the pink diamond earrings were both passed in with no buyers. The Sotheby’s iOS app is showing no buyer for me.