Displaying items by tag: christie's international

A flawless D-color diamond weighing 101.73 carats will be offered as part of Christie’s International’s jewelry auction at the Four Seasons Hotel des Bergues in Geneva, Switzerland on May 15, 2013. The pear-shaped gem, which is the largest colorless diamond of such high quality to appear at auction, is estimated to garner about $20 million. An anonymous client is selling the rare stone that was recently cut from a rough diamond weighing 236 carats found at the Jwaneng mine in Botswana. Workers spent 21 months polishing the jewel.

While colorless stones tend to be less desirable than their colored counterparts, the record price for a colorless stone at auction is $21.5 million, which was set by the 76.02 carat cushion-shaped Archduke Joseph Diamond that sold at Christie’s in Geneva in November 2012. The diamond heading to Christie’s in May is not only the largest colorless stone but also a chemically pure Type IIA diamond, which accounts for less than 2% of the world’s diamond production.

The buyer of the pear-shaped diamond will have the honor of naming the extraordinary jewel, securing its identity among the most desirable diamonds in the world.

Christie’s International announced that they will be closing their Haunch of Venison subsidiaries in New York and London in March 2013. The gallery in Chelsea will close after its exhibition, How to Tell the Future from the Past, ends its run on March 2. The London gallery, known as the Yard, will be converted to a permanent exhibition and sales space for Christie’s private sales department.

Founded by art dealers Harry Blain and Graham Southern in 2002, Haunch of Venison represents and exhibits the works of emerging and established contemporary artists. The gallery’s name comes from the London courtyard, Haunch of Venison Yard, where it was originally based. Christie’s bought the gallery, which had branches in London, Berlin, and New York, in 2007. Haunch of Venison’s Berlin branch closed in 2010, the same year Blain and Southern left Haunch to start a new gallery, BlainSouthern.

Christie’s decision to shutter the Haunch of Venison galleries came as private sales have been gaining ground for the auction house. The restructuring will focus the company’s attention on those private sales rather than working as a primary gallery representing artists. Haunch of Venison has also withdrawn from the upcoming European Fine Art Fair in Maastricht.