Stonelove

There was plenty of drama at Christie's Hong Kong Magnificent Jewels auction on Tuesday, which raked in just over HK$640.5 million from about 290 lots including signed pieces from Cartier, Tiffany & Co and Van Cleef & Arpels.

In late afternoon, a bidding war raged over an ornate Boucheron necklace from the 1950s. An elderly Asian woman in a pale blue suit battled with a telephone bidder for several minutes before throwing her hands up in concession. The crowd erupted into applause when the hammer came down at HK$38.5 million (HK$44.1 with the premium).

Acquired from a prestigious family who chose to remain anonymous, the necklace features a line of cushion-shaped diamonds which suspend a fringe of rare Colombian emeralds.

Minutes later, murmurs travelled through the saleroom as Christie's star lot, the largest briolette diamond to appear at auction, was sold for HK$86.1 million to an anonymous bidder, setting a world record for a diamond of its kind. Like the famed Koh-i-Noor diamond in Queen Elizabeth II's crown, the rare type IIa gem is known for its purity and transparent nature. Dangling from a marquise-cut purplish pink diamond, the droplet-shaped diamond weighs 75.36 carats.

"This was not just another important diamond," says Rahul Kadakia, Christie's head of jewellery. "It is the largest internally flawless diamond that has ever been graded by the GIA [Gemological Institute of America]."