Swatch`s Harry Winston buys $26.7mn diamond at auction
Baku, May 24 (AZERTAC). Prestigious jeweller Harry Winston, which was acquired earlier this year by Swatch Group, bought a new colorless, flawless 101.73-carat diamond for a record $26.7 million at an auction in Geneva on Wednesday, auction house Christie`s said. Christie`s representative Raul Kadakia told reporters after the sale that Harry Winston was the buyer of the diamond that Wednesday evening smashed the previous auction-price record for a diamond in its category by more than $10 million.
“Twenty-three million (Swiss) francs! Your last chance! Twenty-three million, sold!” shouted Francois Curiel, the head of Christie`s jewellery division shouted, referring to the $23.5 million price before tax and commission, and clinching the deal in front of some 150 people gathered for the auction at a luxury Geneva hotel.
As the first ever buyer of the new diamond, Harry Winston had the privilege of naming it and had decided to call it “Harry Legacy,” Kadakia said, pointing out that this was the diamond dealer`s first major purchase since it was snapped up by the world`s leading watchmaker for $1.0 billion in March.
Switzerland`s Swatch Group, most known for its brightly colored plastic watches, has been eagerly expanding its luxury offerings, and Wednesday`s sparkling purchase should perhaps especially tickle the group`s chairwoman Nayla Hayek, who was named chief executive of Harry Winston earlier this month.
“Diamonds are still a girl`s best friend,” she said following the January announcement that Swatch would buy the company, referring to the famous Marilyn Monroe song that mentions Harry Winston, from the 1953 musical film “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes”.
The American Institute of Gemology has handed the Harry Legacy the top colorless grade “D” and the best clarity grade, “flawless”, which is characterised by its “absolute symmetry”, according to Christies. The diamond, sold at the auction by a diamond merchant, was 236 carats in the rough when it was extracted from the Jwaneng mine in Botswana, before it was meticulously sculpted for 21 months, Christie`s said. Wednesday`s sale marked the highest price ever paid for a flawless colorless diamond at auction, although Christie`s had hoped the new diamond -- the largest of its kind to ever go under the hammer would rake in $30 million.
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