Blue White Red are colors of diamonds at Sotheby's.

[Pierre Tavlitzki]

Three exceptional diamonds will be sold by Sotheby's in Geneva on November 19, two of them displaying extremely rare colors.

Start with the deep blue. Weighing 10.48 carats, it is an exceptional size for this color. The press release says that the deep blue color is due to the replacement of carbon atoms by boron in the diamond crystal. It is naturally flawless, and perfect in its cut, both for polish and symmetry. In addition, I can assure you that its shape named briolette (a variant of the pear shape) is particularly aesthetic. For this perfect stone, prepare $ 6 million (6.72 MCHF).

The red diamond is a rarity, and those of more than one carat are virtually impossible to find. With 1.92 carat, Sotheby's knows that this gem, mounted on a ring, is truly exceptional. Here the color resulted from the combination of a deformation of the crystal and a small supply of nitrogen. For this marvel of natural history, the estimate is $ 2.5 million (2.8 MCHF).

Let us finish this tricolor article by a white diamond that was already famous long before its arrival at Sotheby's. In 1967, a rough gem of 600 carats was discovered by a couple of diamond researchers in Lesotho. Beautiful diamonds were carved out in the hands of Harry Winston. The example that comes up for sale is the Lesotho I. Cut in emerald shape, it weighs 71 carats. It expects $ 3 million (3.36 MCHF). Lovers of people informations will be delighted to know of a smaller offspring of the same rough gem, Lesotho III, that served as an engagement gift to Jacqueline Onassis.

[Pierre Tavlitzki]

None of these three important diamonds has been sold. In its press release issued after the sale, Sotheby's said that prices had been established before the financial crisis and that buyers were reluctant to commit to purchase. That is an argument we heard in modern and contemporary art, where it was much less obvious.

I am surprised by this result because we could take the diamond as a safe good. The opposite seems to be happening now. The financial crisis put a correction in a market that had become too speculative;

At lower prices, buyers of jewelry are still present. The two pearl necklaces that I included in my previews were sold above their low estimates. Results: 1.6 and 1.15 MCHF costs included.