Geneva –  Luxury Sales at Christie’s totaled SFr. 112,005,520/ $113,685,603 collectively for Important Watches, Fine & Rare Wines and Magnificent Jewels held from 15-17 May 2017, in a series of high energy auctions. A world record price at auction was achieved for reference 2497 by Patek Philippe known as the Haile Selassie, which sold on Monday for just over SFr. 2.9 million. The Fine & Rare Wine auction on Tuesday was highlighted by a 29-lot collection of Bouchard Père et Fils, La Romanée, which was 100% sold.

Strong overall sell through rates of 88% by lot, for the first set of Luxury sales this season confirms that this market is confident, buoyant and growing with significant additional participation from Asia. New clients have been transacting with Christie’s all week, with more than 100 new registrants for the Important Watches sale alone.

"The Luxury Sales this week were well attended both in the saleroom itself as well as a significant increase in online bidding this season across all three sales. Geneva has proven once again to be the right place to offer the most exquisite jewels, the rarest wines and important watches. A fantastic result was achieved for the heart-shaped diamond which sold for just under $15 million, setting a new record for a heart-shaped diamond sold at auction, surpassing the previous record of $10.9 million set at Christie’s in May 2011." Commented François Curiel, Christie’s Chairman Europe and Asia

The Top lot of the Luxury sales was the much anticipated flawless, D colour, 92.15 carats, heart-shaped diamond, set by Boehmer et Bassenge into a very stunning sautoir, which sold for SFr.14,767,50 /

$14,989,012 - price per carat $163,016 after three minutes of bidding in the room and telephone, setting a new record for any heart-shaped diamond sold at auction.

The private collection of Eric Nussbaum, who was the initiator and "eye" behind the Heritage Cartier collection sold 100%, achieving SFr.683,125 / $693,176 with the top lot, a natural pearl necklace, doubling its pre-sale estimate and selling for SFr.100,000. Another 105 lots from the collection will be offered in an online sale which will be open for bidding from 14-21 June 2017.

La Dolce Vita part of the auction – focusing on Italian jewellery design – was highlighted by the unique Bulgari sautoir from the collection of Silvana Mangano. The necklace came to Silvana’s attention through stylist Piero Tosi, who was working on the set for "Gruppo di Famiglia in un interno", directed by Luchino Visconti in 1974. Tosi had free reign to choose from Bulgari’s 1970s collection for the role of La Marchesa Bianca Brumonti, played by Silvana Mangano. The necklace sold for SFr.187,500 / $190,312 , tripling its pre-sale estimate.

IMPORTANT WATCHES - 15 MAY 2017

Christie’s Spring Important watches totaled SFr.16,050,875 / $16,018,773 / €14,654449, sell through rates were 92% by value and 90% by lot and the sale set a new record at auction for lot 166, the Patek Philippe, reference 2497, known as The Haile Selassie, amongst many.

Auctioneer and head of Christie’s Geneva watch department, Thomas Perazzi opened lot 166 for bidding at CHF400,000 and it took 15 minutes until he was able to knockdown this collector’s dream at SFr.2,911,500 / $2905,677. "Selling one of only three examples of this watch was a privilege and seeing how enthusiastic the world of watches reacted to this masterpiece was really exciting. Along the 15 minutes until knockdown new bidders entered the competition constantly, either in the room or on the phones. The afternoon session of the auction was dedicated to Rolex and the offering of 116 watches was again very well received with strong bidding through all our channels. Experiencing strong live bidding from the room underlined the importance of Geneva to be the place to offer these kind of watch masterpieces as the city continues to attract new bidders every season," he commented after the auction.

The Important Watches auction was much anticipated and international interest and bidding from 44 countries -one of the highest ever- was witnessed in a packed saleroom from 10.00am to 5.00pm, welcoming over 100 new clients to Christie’s. Furthermore, did the auction achieve the highest online participation for any watch sale conducted at Christie’s with over 470 registrants.

FINE & RARE WINES 16 MAY 2017

The Fine & Rare wine auction in Geneva saw bidding from over 25 countries resulting in very strong sell through rates of 89% by lot and 96% by value, totaling SFr. 2,846,520/ $ 2,846,520/ € 2,598,873. Over 25% of the sale was bought or directly underbid from clients bidding online. The top lot of the sale was a collection of 56 bottles of Château Mouton-Rothschild Vertical which sold for SFr. 58,750. The Bouchard Père et Fils Romanée collection - lots 182-211 – was 100% sold, a result of global interest in the exceptional provenance and rarity of these wines. The bottles were released from the reserve of the château cellar of Bouchard specifically for the Christie’s auction, and have not been seen on the market before. A rare trouvaille in its original wooden case, of 12 bottles of Château Latour, 1957 (lot 233), sold 10 times above the pre-sale estimate for SFr. 45,825. Since reintroducing Christie’s wine sales in Geneva back in November 2015, we have seen a marked increase in new clients from around the world participating in the Swiss auctions in this category.

The next Luxury Sales will be held in Hong Kong, followed by London:

HONG KONG AUCTION CALENDAR

23 May Watches Online

26 May Finest & Rarest Wines

27 May Finest & Rarest Wines

29 May Important Watches

30 May Magnificent Jewels

31 May Handbags

LONDON AUCTION CALENDAR

08 June Fine Wines

12 June Handbags

13 June Important Jewels