Christie’s June 2 sale of Magnificent Jewels from The Doris Duke Collection sold to benefit The Doris Duke Charitable Foundation was an astounding success, totaling $11,964,176, doubling the high presale estimate. The sale was 100 percent sold by value and 100 percent sold by lot.

With intense bidding in the packed salesroom and on the telephones, this result was the highest sale total ever for any private jewelry collection sold at auction in America and the third most successful single-owner sale held worldwide in the past ten years

The top lot of the evening was a Belle Epoque diamond and pearl pendant necklace by Cartier, which sold for $2,359,500, a world auction record for a diamond necklace by Cartier. A world auction record of $1,127,500 was also established for an emerald bead necklace.

“As witnessed during recent paintings sales, there seems to be no price limit for exceptional quality,” said François Curiel, chairman of Christie’s Europe, international head of Christie’s jewelry department and the evening’s auctioneer.

“There is no truer testimony to this than the exceptional price of $2.3 million obtained tonight for the Belle Epoque diamond necklace by Cartier. Its design and period and use of extremely old Indian diamonds no longer available today made it effortlessly eclipse its intrinsic value.

“The auction room was packed and extremely buoyant with bids coming from Berlin, Bombay, Brussels, Dubai, Geneva, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Kuwait, London, Monaco, Paris, Riyadh, Rome, Singapore, and of course from all over the United States. The results of this sale follow very successful spring jewelry auctions in New York, Hong Kong and Geneva and prove that the jewelry market is back in force. Indeed, in just six months, Christie’s has sold 19 jewels worldwide for more than $1 million, compared to only 11 during 2003.”

A complete review of this auction will appear in a future issue.

All prices cited include the buyer’s premium.

– CBS