The Pink Petal is a pear-shaped diamond of 8.41 carats, graded fancy vivid purple-pink, the most saturated color category the Gemological Institute of America assigns. Christie’s has set its estimate at HK$65 million to HK$95 million, roughly $8.3 million to $12 million, and placed it at the front of the Magnificent Jewels sale that anchors Hong Kong Luxury Week on November 24.
The week runs November 18 to 26 at Christie’s Asia Pacific headquarters on the sixth floor of The Henderson, 2 Murray Road, Central. It is the centerpiece of the house’s 40th anniversary in Asia, and the calendar is built like an anniversary should be: seven live auctions across wine, handbags, jewels and watches, plus an online jewels sale running the length of the week.
Magnificent Jewels offers more than 120 lots. Behind the Pink Petal, an Art Deco Cartier brooch set with a 10.10-carat Burmese ruby, no-heat and graded “pigeon’s blood,” carries an estimate of $5.2 million to $7.7 million. A 21.05-carat Kashmir sapphire and diamond ring mounted by Cartier is expected to reach $6.4 million, and a 100.16-carat Burmese sapphire pendant is estimated at $2.3 million to $3.6 million. The provenance lots may draw the quietest, fiercest bidding of the day: a pair of natural pearl and diamond earrings Van Cleef & Arpels made in 1957 for the Duchess of Windsor, later part of Calvin Klein’s collection.
The watches could outdraw the jewels. Two sales on November 25 and 26 carry a combined low estimate above HK$330 million, which Christie’s says is the highest seasonal total ever set for the category in Asia. The November 25 evening sale, The Iconic 40, was assembled for the anniversary: 40 watches, among them a Patek Philippe Sky Moon Tourbillon Ref. 6002G-010, an F.P. Journe Tourbillon Souverain with a ruby dial, and a sapphire-set Cartier Crash. The following day belongs to Kronos: Titans of Time Part 2, a single-owner collection whose first installment sold during Spring Luxury Week in May.
Handbags get November 23, and the day’s two defining lots come from one closet. Collector Susan Casden is selling two Hermès pieces from Jean-Paul Gaultier’s tenure at the house: a Hornback Crocodile Kelly 32 from the Autumn 2004 runway collection and a Leopard Print Ponyhair Shoulder Birkin. Beside them sit the small, strange Faubourg Sellier Birkin 20s that collectors chase hardest, one in matte béton alligator called Snow, one called Rainy Days.
Wine opens the week on November 19 and 20, in the 60th anniversary year of Christie’s wine department. The Distinguished Cellar of Mr. Aki Asami holds 57 bottles of Romanée-Conti. Three Stunning Cellars offers Château Haut-Brion from 1926 and 1929 and Sassicaia 1985 in magnum. The Grand Cellar, a single private collection, runs past 500 lots.
Previews run in Shanghai from November 9 to 13 and in Hong Kong from November 18 to 25, with pre-registration required. Forty years after Christie’s planted its flag in Asia, the anniversary math is plain: the biggest number in the building belongs to the watches, and the stone everyone will remember is pink.
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