The Hutton-Mdivani necklace is “the greatest jadeite bead necklace of historical importance,” Sotheby’s said. The necklace sold for $27.4 million Monday in Hong Kong.
Hong Kong--A jadeite bead necklace with a Cartier clasp sold for $27.4 million at Sotheby’s Monday, smashing its pre-sale high estimate of $12 million and setting a new world record for any jadeite jewelry and Cartier jewel sold at auction.
Called the Hutton-Mdivani necklace, the piece boasts 27 jadeite beads of “magnificent green color, excellent translucency, extremely fine texture and majestic proportions,” Sotheby’s said, that range in size from 15.40 to 19.20 millimeters. The Cartier Collection bought the necklace.
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The jadeite jewel was one of three necklaces in what Sotheby’s dubbed the “Tremendous Trio,” gemstone-heavy pieces that were expected to lead the auction house’s sale of Magnificent Jewels and Jadeite held Monday in Hong Kong.
Two out of the three sold.
The “Red Emperor Necklace,” designed by James. W. Currens and set with 60 pigeon’s blood rubies ranging in size from 0.72 to 5.04 carats for a total of 104.51 carats, sold to a private buyer for $9.9 million. It was the second highest-grossing lot in the sale.
Not finding a buyer was an 85.33-carat diamond necklace by Indian diamantaire Nirav Modi. Expected to sell for as much as $8.3 million, the piece was set with 17 D-color, flawless and internally flawless Type IIa diamonds, as well as 40 smaller diamonds.
Also at Monday’s auction, a world record for a ruby was set when a 29.62-carat oval-shaped Burmese Mogok ruby mounted in a platinum ring with brilliant-cut diamonds realized $7.3 million, rounding out the auction’s top three lots.
Overall, the auction totaled $106.6 million, and sold 82 percent by lot and 81 percent by value.
