Rare ‘Graff Ruby’ on sale at Sotheby’s in Geneva

By the end of today someone, somewhere will be the owner of one of the rarest and most beautiful rubies on the planet. That is because today Sotheby’s is holding a sale in Geneva of an exquisite collection of jewels from the collection of Dimitri Mavrommatis, a consummate collector widely acknowledged as a connoisseur of art. His prized Graff Ruby, a Burmese ruby and diamond ring weighing 8.62 carats, one of the finest rubies in private hands, carries an estimate of $6.8mn to $9mn.

Only the lucky few get to handle jewellery of this quality, so the chance to attend a private viewing of some of the fabulous pieces in the Geneva sale was something Gulf Times accepted with pleasure. Sitting around a table at the auction house’s New Bond Street premises, it was fascinating to hear Sotheby’s jewellery experts talk about some of the rare gems that will form part of the sale.

David Bennett, chairman of Sotheby’s Switzerland, and chairman of the Jewellery Department for Europe and the Middle East, explained that what makes the Graff Ruby so rare is its incredible purity and colour.

“This is certainly one of the greatest rubies of its size in the world. In the 40 odd years that I have been working, I have never seen a ruby with that colour. The crystal is amazing; it’s so clear and bright,” he said.

Another stunning piece in the sale is a natural pearl and diamond necklace formerly in the collection of Josephine de Beauharnais (1763-1814), first wife of Napoleon Bonaparte and Empress of the French. This rare historical necklace carries an estimate value of $800,000 to $1.4mn.

Senior international jewellery specialist Daniela Mascetti said of this piece, “It is a most beautiful necklace with a fantastic provenance.” She added: “It is very rare to find pearls that are perfectly matched in colour. Nowadays, you wouldn’t be able to find this. For many centuries pearls were rated far higher than diamonds in terms of being prized possessions.”

Also in the sale are Queen Victoria’s “English Rose” Diamond pendant, an exceptional 27.54 carat Kashmir sapphire, and some beautiful creations by JAR.

Speaking of the sapphire, Bennett explained: “A Kashmir sapphire looks unlike any other sapphire – it’s a most perfect blue. It is often called cornflower blue. Once you get over 25 carats you are into a small handful of stones in the world. At the end of the 19th century there was an earthquake in Kashmir which caused a landslide revealing part of a hillside in which they started to discover these extraordinarily coloured stones. Between about 1885 and the next 30 odd years the best Kashmir’s were discovered. Today there is very little mining left – it’s been mined out for a long time. So the existing stones that we have are very likely the only ones likely to be found. So the price has been sky rocketing.”