What is it worth | Jewels

Collectors are on the lookout for craftsmanship, have opted for a more traditional or patrimonial approach to luxury, valuing the flavours of certain eras, like Art Deco, and are even more interested in the history, design and revolution of objects and their provenance.

The appetite for unique and historic diamonds is growing, the commercial diamond sector is rather soft at the current stage and prices seem to stagnate. Fancy Deep Blue diamond, are still in very high demand and this was witnessed this May when an emerald-cut gem of 6.24 carats, mounted by Boucheron was sold after competitive bidding for over five minutes, finally selling for CHF10,640,000. It entered the Moussaieff private collection.

Sapphires  and rubies have shown great results in this first half of the year, especially pink sapphires which have already shown increased results throughout 2023. Emerald prices are rather stable since the beginning of this year, with top quality stones continuously attracting higher prices.

The pearl market is solid with especially high prices achieved for pearls of top quality, which is also in line with the thriving Middle Eastern market where many of the top buyers reside.

Signed jewelry from important historical brands such as Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels, Tiffany & Co., Bulgari… are consistently attracting a lot of interest and reaching high prices  signature, date and uniqueness playing an important role in the price. Especially signed pieces from the 70s and 80s have shown remarkable results in recent auctions.

But one of the most desirable remains JAR. There’s no shop sign or window display at 7 Place Vendôme in Paris — nothing that hints at the brilliance within, beyond three discreet letters, JAR. Yet for jewellery collectors, this is a place of pilgrimage: the atelier of the acclaimed contemporary jewellery designer Joel Arthur Rosenthal. The man who gives no interviews  produces fewer than 100 pieces a year and nobody can just buy a piece of jewellery at JAR – he selects the owners for his pieces. This May in Geneva a private collection of 21 creations designed by JAR realised CHF 5,943,830 and was led by the exceptional “Apricot Blossom” bangle, selling for CHF2,374,258, nearly ten times its pre-sale estimate. The sale closed with an extraordinary diamond necklace by JAR, selling for nearly five times the pre-sale estimate, CHF2,162,500.