Christie's, the 2014 top auction house for jewelry will launch its major jewelry auctions in NY on April 14 with over 300 jewels. Christie’s had $754.7 million in sales in 2014 compared to Sotheby’s $602.5 million. It will be a great challenge for both to beat these figures in 2015, hinging on major push will come from major fancy color diamonds which in the past have contributed a greater percentage of sales dollars to both auction houses. They are always looking for great pieces to showcase and this year is no exception.

I wanted to bring to your attention 3 pieces which will debut in New York, which are significant to both the auction house and to the market. Below they are in order of valuation by Christie’s.

Our first and top lot by value is a rare 5.29 carat Fancy Intense Purplish Pink VS2 diamond that is a type IIa, valued at between $3.5 million and $5 million (or $661k-$945k per carat). On May 12, 2009, a diamond with exact same weight, 5.29ct, and Fancy Intense Pink was sold for only $387k per carat, making our current stone with its present estimate a lot more valuable.

On the low end of the valuation, it has allowed a “modest” 70% increase over the 6 year period. On the higher end of valuation, it is making a 144% jump in valuation. For some this would still be considered quite modest as we have seen Fancy Intense Pink diamonds sell as high as $1.31 million per carat for a 6.54 carat back on December 5, 2012. This diamond has to sell at 30% more than the high estimate of $5 million in order to break a sub-record for the 5-10 carat category. I am not even excluding this possibility of this occurring simply given the current global conditions, with all of the uncertainties in the markets, both financial, and geo-political. Investors are looking for security, and history shows that Fancy Color Diamonds have kept their value over a long period of time, and have allowed investors to sleep well at night.

Next is a cool 5.04 carat Fancy Gray-Blue VS1 round diamond. This is a true one of a kind for all of its attributes; shape, weight and color. In fancy color diamonds, round brilliant are most desired simply because they the most difficult shape to achieve when we look for color enrichment maximization. This stone is valued between $1.75 million and $2.5 million.

The last item worth highlighting is an amazing 6.57 carat SI1 Fancy Purplish Pink diamond. It is valued between $1.2 million and $1.5 million ($182k-$228k per carat).

The next 3 weeks will be quite exciting, and will most certainly give a direction to where the rest of the year is headed.

What do you think will happen at the Christie’s auction? Will any of these diamonds achieve their estimates?