28.88-Carat Fancy Vivid Yellow Diamond Fetches $3.1 Million

Christie’s Geneva managed to make its Magnificent Jewels sale intriguing, intense and exciting despite having a saleroom void of buyers due to a new set of government restrictions to stop the spread of the coronavirus.

However, the sale on Tuesday took nearly five-and-a-half hours to go through approximately 158 lots. Rahul Kadakia, international head of Jewelry, and Max Fawcett, head of the jewelry department in Geneva, spent a great deal of time coaxing bids and it largely worked as the sell-through rate was an impressive 89% with many items surpassing the high estimate. Bids were handled via phone in Geneva and London, and online. Those buyers were competing with others who chose to place absentee bids ahead of the sale. The sale achieved $39.9 million.