auction

A colorless 76.02-carat diamond sold this week in Switzerland for 20.4 million Swiss francs ($21.5 million) with fees, setting a record auction price per carat.

Art collectors of ArtKabinett social network have witnessed some amazing auctions this week.

Known as the Archduke Joseph Diamond, the internally flawless stone was the most highly valued lot in a jewelry auction held by Christie’s International at the Four Seasons Hotel des Bergues, Geneva.

The gem was bought by telephone bidder against an estimate of $15 million to $25 million, based on hammer prices. Using Christie’s exchange-rate figures this gives a price of $282,545 per carat, a record for a colorless stone, beating the $276,600 set for the Beau Sancy diamond at Sotheby’s, Geneva, in May.

A 14th century bronze figure of a six-headed Tibetan deity that belonged to Brooke Astor and was expected to sell for $2,500 to $3,500 went for $134,500 this week at Sotheby’s.

Last week, art collectors of ArtKabinett social network were treated to an auction preview {please see, Ak Files 9/20/2012}

“I was going to bid on it, but it went through the roof,” said Philip Marshall, Astor’s grandson, as a two-day auction of the New York philanthropist’s property got under way. “It’s her provenance.”

An Indian carved ivory elephant mounted in gold and jewels, retailed by Van Cleef & Arpels, New York. Estimated at $6,000 to $8,000, it sold for $68,500.

Philanthropist Brooke Astor’s lacquered Japanese cabinets, Louis XV clocks and porcelain tea sets are heading to the auction block at Sotheby’s on Sept. 24 and 25.

Art collectors of Art Kabinett social network will find lots to bid on at these fascinating auctions of a gilded life.

The sale “Property From the Estate of Brooke Astor” includes more than 900 lots from her Park Avenue duplex and her Westchester mansion, Holly Hill.

Expected to tally as much as $9.7 million, the proceeds will benefit Astor’s favorite charities, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the New York Public Library, the Animal Medical Center and New York schools.

Astor died in 2007 at the age of 105.