A non-matching pair of fancy-color diamond earrings named after the twin deities Apollo and Artemis set an auction record at Sotheby's Geneva yesterday when they sold for a combined $57.4 million. The pink and blue pear-shaped duo now hold the title of the most valuable pair of earrings ever sold at auction.
Sotheby's had promoted the earrings as a pair, but offered them as separate lots. Any fears that the Apollo Blue and Artemis Pink would be separated forever were put to rest when a single anonymous buyer claimed both siblings.
"I am delighted that the stones will remain together as earrings,” noted David Bennett, Worldwide Chairman of Sotheby’s International Jewelry Division.
In the lead-up to the sale, Bennett had accurately portrayed the Apollo and Artemis diamonds as "by far the most important pair of earrings ever offered at auction."
The auction house also announced that the new buyer had renamed both stones. The "Apollo Blue," a fancy vivid blue diamond weighing 14.54 carats, is now called "The Memory of Autumn Leaves," while the "Artemis Pink," a fancy intense pink diamond weighing 16.00 carats, is now called "The Dream of Autumn Leaves."
The Apollo Blue had the distinction of being the largest internally flawless fancy vivid blue diamond ever to be offered at auction. Sotheby's had set a pre-sale estimated price range of $38.3 million to $50.4 million. The hammer price, including the buyer's premium, was $42.1 million. Just last year, the 14.62-carat "Oppenheimer Blue" set a record when it yielded $57.5 million at Christie’s Geneva.
Boasting a clarity rating of VVS2, the pink diamond carried a pre-sale estimate of $12.6 million to $18.1 million and eventually sold for $15.3 million.
Overall, Sotheby’s Magnificent Jewels and Noble Jewels sale at the Mandarin Oriental hotel in Geneva presented nearly 400 pieces and reaped more than $150 million in sales. More than 90% of the lots found buyers and three auction records were broken.
In addition to the record-setting earrings, Sotheby's collected a record price for a fancy intense purplish pink diamond at $13.2 million. That same stone also established a record per-carat price at $1.9 million.
Credit: Image courtesy of Sotheby's. Screen capture via sothebys.com.