Golconda diamond pendent to headline in Christie's Hong Kong Magnificent Jewels auction

KOLKATA: Christie’s Hong Kong will hold its Magnificent Jewels auction on 27 May 2014. Consisting of over 300 lots with a combined estimation of over US$100 million, headlining the sale is a rare Golconda diamond pendent necklace named The Eye of Golconda, whose centrepiece is the largest Golconda diamond ever to be auctioned in Asia.

It also boasts an array of rare coloured diamonds, including fancy orangy pink, fancy deep pink, fancy intense blue, fancy vivid green-blue, fancy intense green, fancy deep yellow-green, fancy violet-grey and fancy vivid yellow diamonds.

Having previously set multiple pink diamond auction records (The Vivid Pink, The Perfect Pink and The Martian Pink), this season, Christie’s Hong Kong will unveil an important 9.38 carats pear-shaped fancy intense pink diamond (estimate: HK$45,000,000-65,000,000/US$5,800,000-8,300,000), once again reaffirming its Queen of Pink Diamond title.

In addition, two highly-esteemed jadeite jewels by Chow Tai Fook, a number of D colour Flawless clarity Type IIa diamonds, a range of vividly saturated Burmese rubies and sapphires, Colombian emeralds and exclusive vintage pieces from Bulgari, Harry Winston and Van Cleef & Arpels complete the sale.

The introduction of diamonds to the Western world is attributed to celebrated French traveller and gem-merchant, Jean-Baptiste Tavernier (1605-1689). During the 17th century, he travelled to India and brought back a spellbinding stock of diamonds that dazzled the French Court. These sparklers of extraordinary transparency came from Golconda, and a captivated King Louis XIV called them ‘pools of crystal water’.

Golconda diamonds are often described as Diamonds of First Water, characterised by an almost indefinable water-clear appearance that attest to their diaphanous quality and a degree of transparency rarely seen in stones from other localities.

They are often graded as Type IIa. Type IIa diamonds represent less than 2 per cent of the world’s production of gem-quality diamonds; they are the purest form of diamonds and show exceptional optical transparency.