Only at Christie’s November Auction in Geneva will the most demanding collectors find such an exceptional selection of almost 300 lots, including top quality gemstones from the legendary mines.
Legendary Mines : Golconda, Kashmir and Muzo
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The Indian mines of Golconda are considered legendary by gem connoisseurs. The quality of the diamonds discovered in those mines is so outstanding that they have been compared to ’pools of crystal water’ by the 17th Century French traveller Jean-Baptiste Tavernier. Mining activities in the Golconda area reached their climax in the mid 1600s. Over the years the mines yielded the greatest historical diamonds of India, such as the Koh-I-Noor, now part of the Crown Jewels of England, the Agra and the Hope. The mines were almost depleted in the mid 18th Century and as a result large diamonds with this famed provenance and distinction are seldom encountered today. Christie’s has now the privilege to offer a unique pear-shaped Golconda diamond weighing 26.17 carats, D colour, Internally Flawless clarity, Type IIa. This antique pearshaped diamond, suspended form a diamond briolette chain, is estimated US$3,000,000-5,000,000.
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From central India Golconda: the sale will move North to the mountains of Kashmir where the most beautiful sapphires were mined in the late 19th Century. Their rich blue colour, with a mesmerizing velvety quality, and their rarity, especially above 10 carats, commands a much higher price than all other sapphires. To find a superb Kashmir such as the superb unmounted cushionshaped Kashmir sapphire of 19.94 carats (estimate US$1,000,000-1,500,000).
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From Kashmir to South America: the history of the legendary mines of Muzo began with the discovery of the New World by the Spanish conquerors in the early 16th Century. Certainly the most sought after, emeralds from the Muzo mines are highly valued because of their famous saturated pure green to slightly bluish green hue, their size and their clarity. Since their discovery by the Spanish, the Muzo mines have supplied exceptional emeralds which now adorn the crown jewels of most Royal collections around the world. Unlike the mines of Golconda and Kashmir, which are now depleted, Muzo still yields to this day high quality gemstones, though very few displaying the purity and intense saturation of the exceptional square-cut offered in November: an exceptional square-cut ’Muzo’ emerald weighing 9.27 carats, highly transparent pure crystal, free of any form of enhancement, estimated US$ 380,000-580,000.
Jewels: The Geneva sale
Wednesday 17 November 2010 - 2pm & 6pm
Four Seasons Hotel des Bergues, Geneva - Switzerland
Sale 1378
