Phillips auction house will offer a 20.19 ct. fancy intense pink diamond—the most valuable jewel it’s ever put up for sale—when it holds its first jewelry auction in Geneva, Switzerland, on Nov. 6.
The VVS1-clarity diamond, which boasts excellent polish and symmetry, carries a presale estimate of $11 million to $16.5 million. It is the fourth largest fancy intense pink diamond ever to come up for auction.
Phillips has been trying to expand its jewelry offerings of late. In May, it appointed Sotheby’s veteran Benoît Repellin as worldwide head of jewelry, based in Geneva.
In August, CEO Stephen Brooks told The New York Times that holding an auction in Geneva is “signaling to the marketplace that we want to be significant in this space.
“Our jewelry business [can] be as big and impactful and successful as our watches business,” he added. “It’s talking to this new audience that we talk to, very much more diverse, very much more sort of younger audience and a global audience.”
(Photo courtesy of Phillips)
