Graff Pays $8.3 Million to Own 50 Carat Diamond for Third Time

Time and again, a certain 50 ct. D-color potentially flawless mega-rock keeps coming back to Laurence Graff.

The London diamond magnate purchased the top lot at Christie’s New York Dec. 10 Magnificent Jewels auction—a ring that he originally designed, featuring a 50.01 ct. rectangular-cut D-color potentially flawless diamond. He paid $8.37 million, or $167,400 per carat, said the auction house.

Christie’s sold the same diamond for $4.2 million in 2005, meaning in the intervening years its price has nearly doubled.

“This is the third time that I have owned this beautiful diamond and I am as thrilled today as I was the first time,” said Graff in a statement. “This is one of the finest D-color diamonds in the world and I am delighted to have it back again.”

The sale also set two notable records:

• An ultra-rare 3.15 ct. reddish orange stone—the largest such stone ever graded at the Gemological Institute of America—sold for $2.09 million, setting a new world auction record for a reddish-orange diamond, and a new per-carat record of $666,200.

• An 8.91 ct. sapphire sold for $1.37 million, or $154,000 per carat, setting a new per-carat record for a Kashmir sapphire at auction.

All in all, the sale realized a total of $32.5 million, with sell-through rates of 84 percent by lot and 86 percent by value.

www.jckonline.com

Police Appealing after a woman was robbed of her £250,000 Graff diamond ring

Camden Police are appealing for information and witnesses after a robbery on 18 November 2011 at 1710hrs in Chester Terrace, NW1. A 44-year-old female was walking along the road with her six-year-old daughter and her daughter’s six-year-old friend, when she was approached by two suspects, one of whom placed his arm around her neck and brought her to the ground. The other suspect then removed the victim’s rings from her finger.

(picture not of actual ring)

The suspects made off towards Chester Gate with a wedding ring and a ‘Graff’ ring, which had a four and a half carat, pear-shaped diamond, with smaller diamonds around the platinum band. The ring is approximately 20 years old and valued at £250,000 and believed to be a rare cut by this particular jeweller.

The victim suffered some scratches to her neck and finger, as well as some swelling. Suspect one is described as a black male, aged approximately 20-25 years and 6ft 1inch tall. He was wearing a black bomber type jacket, baggy blue jeans, black underwear and a dark-coloured cap. He had short black hair and was of an athletic build, with a London accent. Suspect two is described as a black male, aged approximately 20-25 years and 5ft 10inches tall. He was wearing a black bomber type jacket, baggy blue jeans, white cap. He had black hair and was of an athletic build.

It is believed that there were witnesses who may have seen the attack and police would urge anyone to come forward, as they may have information which could be pivotal to the investigation.

Detective Constable Matthew Isles from Camden Police’s Robbery Squad said: ”This was a particularly violent attack in front of two six-year-old children and we are following several lines of investigation to bring those responsible to justice. If anyone has any information at all, however small you may think it is, I urge you to contact police.” Do you know anyone who wears this type of clothing who may have been in the area at the time of the offense? If so, anyone with any information can call Camden Police on 101 or anonymously through Crimestoppers
on 0800 555 111.

-Diamondne.ws

Graff pays $4 million for white diamond...by Graff

London-based jeweler Laurence Graff paid nearly $4 million to buy back a white diamond ring of his own creation at a sale where wealthy investors seeking alternative assets snapped up top-quality gems, Christie's said on Thursday. Graff, whom close associates said was in China this week, made the winning bid by telephone to the semi-annual jewelry sales in Geneva on Wednesday night, the auction house said.

"He bought it back and he will sell it a second time," Jean-Marc Lunel, head of Christie's jewelry department in Geneva who conducted the sale, told Reuters.

"He is the King of Diamonds and recognizes his babies. The stone is fabulous and in great shape in terms of cut, color and clarity," he added.

The oval-shaped diamond, weighing 24.30 carats, is graded 'D' color and potentially internally flawless if repolished slightly on the surface, according to Lunel.

It was put on the block by an unidentified woman and had a pre-sale estimate of $2.9 million-$3.5 million, according to the catalog.

Christie's, owned by French billionaire Francois Pinault, netted 56.26 million Swiss francs ($61.37 million) from the event, with 77 percent of the 361 lots on offer sold, it said in a statement.

A gray diamond weighing 10.67 carats, which had been estimated at $120,000-200,000, soared to $1.19 million, a world record price for a gray diamond, according to Lunel. Earrings made of pear-shaped Colombian emeralds and diamonds fetched $3.078 million, also a record price at auction, he said.

"What is in the mid-range or not so attractive doesn't sell well. But what is exceptional sells at astronomical prices -- colorless diamonds, colored diamonds and colored gems including rubies from Burma (Myanmar)," Lunel said.

"There are more and more private collectors, clients looking for new investments. They are looking for top, top quality gem stones, to put their money into something that will not melt," he said.

Graff, who often attends auctions, is a self-made diamond merchant who became one of Britain's richest men with an estimated worth of around 2 billion pounds ($3.2 billion).

Graff Diamonds plans to raise about $1 billion in a Hong Kong listing next year, a move to fund further expansion in Asia and capitalize on booming demand for high-end gems in China and India.

"I think it is a clever move because he is number one today. He still has room to expand everywhere," Eric Valdieu, a jewelry expert formerly with Christie's who has launched an investment fund "Divine Jewels", told Reuters.

"It is a very expensive business. Therefore, if he wants to go faster he needs large financial support," he said.

Graff's glittering stores sit on the world's most exclusive shopping streets, including the posh rue du Rhone in Geneva.

"When I see his inventory, the quality of his merchandise, the beauty of his shops, how cleverly everything is run, I can only suggest to people to go for it -- if people want to invest with a retailer," Valdieu said.

"They are investing with someone who knows what he's doing," the Frenchman added.

Rival Sotheby's sold the "Sun-Drop Diamond", a huge yellow diamond weighing 110.03 carats for $12.36 million, a world record for a yellow diamond, in Geneva on Tuesday night.

-Reuters