Christie’s Hong Kong Magnificent Jewels auction brought together many of the ingredients collectors typically chase: a Fancy Vivid Pink diamond by Bvlgari, a nearly 14-carat Kashmir sapphire, exceptional natural pearls, important signed jewelry, and one of the rarest diamond colors on the planet.
Yet when the bidding ended, none of those pieces claimed the top spot.
Not the Fancy Vivid Pink diamond by Bvlgari.
Not the nearly 14-carat Kashmir sapphire.
Not the extraordinary natural pearl necklace.
And not one of the rarest diamond colors on the planet.
Instead, the highest price of Christie’s Hong Kong Magnificent Jewels auction belonged to a jadeite bead necklace.
At first glance, that result may seem surprising. To many collectors and gem enthusiasts, diamonds, Kashmir sapphires, and famous jewelry houses often dominate the conversation. But jadeite has long occupied a category of its own, particularly in Asian markets where the finest examples are valued not only for their rarity, but also for subtleties of translucency, texture, color, and craftsmanship that can take years to fully appreciate.
This particular necklace sold for HKD 200.2 million (approximately $25.5 million USD), making it the top lot of Christie’s Hong Kong Magnificent Jewels sale.
So let’s take a closer look at the necklace, what the laboratory report reveals about its quality, and why collectors were willing to place it above a remarkable field of competing jewels. We will also examine several other standout lots that helped define one of the year’s most closely watched jewelry auctions.
Stick around. we think you’ll enjoy this.
all Images from Chritstie’s Magnificent Gems Auction Catalogue
THE ETHEREAL JADEITE NECKLACE – A MAGNIFICENT JADEITE BEAD AND COLOURED DIAMOND NECKLACE
Estimate: HKD 110,000,000 – HKD 200,000,000
SOLD: HKD 200,200,000 (approximately $25.5 million)
This necklace feaures sixty-one jadeite (Fei Cui) beads measuring approximately 13.7 to 8.8 mm. The clasp is set with one jadeite (Fei Cui) cabochon measuring approximately 11.7 x 15.0 x 7.1 mm, surrounded by round brilliant cut yellow diamonds.
The necklace is accompanied by a HK Jade & Stone Lab report, 2026, no. FC 0085, testing 6 beads, as being from Burma (Myanmar), of natural colour, and Type A – without resin.
Details on the report include:
Hong Kong Jade & Stone Laboratory Limited
“Fei Cui Origin Report”
(翡翠產地報告)
Main Conclusion: Natural Fei Cui – Type A
(天然翡翠 – A玉)
Natural jadeite jade
No polymer impregnation detected
No bleaching detected
Origin: Geographic Origin: Burma (Myanmar)
(產地: 緬甸)
“Geographic origin is an expert opinion based on a collection of observations and analytical data.”
Necklace Description:
Oval-shaped cabochon clasp
Total necklace weight:
791.60 carats including all 61 beads necklace
5 Central Bead Sizes: Approximate bead diameters:
#2 = 13.19 mm
#3 = 13.45 mm
#4 = 13.80 mm
#5 = 13.50 mm
#6 = 13.31 mm
(#1 was recorded as the cabochon at the clasp)
Gemological Properties
Transparency: 半透明 = “Translucent”
Color: 濃綠 = “Intense Green”
Structure: 多晶質 = “Polycrystalline”
Visible Spectrum: 翡翠光譜 = “Natural Fei Cui spectrum”
Magnification: 結晶粒幼細 = “Fine grain texture”
Infrared Spectrum: 沒有發現樹脂 = “No resin detected”
The lab only tested six pieces/components (“Only six pieces tested”), not every bead individually. This is common practice on strands.
Please note that the yellow diamonds have not been tested for natural colour.
Collecting Jadeite Jewellery
Prized for its translucency, jadeite is both a treasured gemstone and a symbol of profound cultural significance, long revered by Asian collectors.
While the necklace may not display the highly “glassy” (semi transparent) transparency associated with the very rarest imperial jadeite masterpieces, the combination of size, color consistency, and matching still places this necklace firmly within the top tier of important jadeite jewelry. The Hong Kong Jade & Stone Laboratory described the material as natural Type A jadeite jade from Burma with an “intense green” color and fine-grained texture — qualities highly valued in the jade trade, particularly in large beads.
What makes a necklace like this exceptional is not simply one extraordinary bead, but the difficulty of assembling more than sixty closely matched jadeite beads of this scale with consistent color, texture, and translucency throughout the strand. Large jadeite beads are themselves rare, and maintaining visual harmony across an entire necklace becomes exponentially more difficult as bead size increases.
Interestingly, jadeite grading language also differs somewhat from the terminology commonly used in Western gemology. In most gem materials, discussions tend to focus on “transparency” — how clearly one can see through a stone. In jadeite, however, laboratories and collectors often emphasize “translucency,” referring instead to the soft diffusion of light moving through the material. That subtle internal glow, sometimes described in the trade as the “water” of jade, is considered one of the defining visual characteristics of fine jadeite.
The report’s use of “translucent” (instead of “transparent) should therefore not be interpreted as a negative assessment. While the necklace may not display the extremely rare semi-transparent, highly “watery” appearance associated with the very finest imperial jadeite bead strands, it nevertheless represents an extraordinary example of large, intensely colored, well-matched jadeite. In jadeite, strong saturation, fine-grained texture, and large bead size often come with some compromise in transparency. Achieving all of those characteristics simultaneously — while also maintaining consistency across more than sixty beads — is part of what makes important jadeite necklaces so difficult to assemble and so highly prized among collectors. – gr
AN EXCEPTIONAL COLOURED DIAMOND AND DIAMOND BROOCH
Estimate: HKD 20,000,000 – HKD 30,000,000
SOLD: HKD 39,540,000 (approximately $5.04 million)
A picture is worth a thousand words. And this picture is mouth watering.
Fancy purplish red oval brilliant-cut diamond of 1.78 carats, surrounded by round brilliant cut near colorless diamonds.
GIA, 2026, report no. 2235924225: 1.78 carat, Fancy Purplish Red colour, SI2 clarity, Type Ia. Remember, in these rare colors, clarity rarely matters. If, and that’s a big “if,” the inclusions are distracting, then maybe they will affect the value/beauty. (The magnificent Winston Red at the Smithsonian is clarity graded I2)
Please note that the red diamond was originally offered in the The Argyle Pink Diamonds Signature Tender™ in 1997
A RARE COLORED DIAMOND AND DIAMOND ‘TROMBINO’ RING, BY BVLGARI
Estimate: HKD 16,000,000 – HKD 25,000,000
SOLD: HKD 25,510,000 (approximately $3.25 million)
Fancy vivid pink cut-cornered rectangular step-cut diamond of 3.17 carats, round brilliant-cut and baguette-cut diamonds, set in platinum, signed Bvlgari, circa 1970. The center is set East-West. Right on trend!
GIA, 2026, report no. 5231637061: 3.17 carats, Fancy Vivid Pink colour, VS1 clarity, Improvable with minor repolishing, Type IIa
Bulgari, 1974 Valuation for Insurance Purposes: In case it’s lost or stolen, you could replace it for $70,000. (That was a lot of money back then.)
AN IMPRESSIVE SAPPHIRE, COLOURED DIAMOND AND DIAMOND ‘FEATHER COLLECTION’ BROOCH, BY CINDY CHAO
Estimate: HKD 1,800,000 – HKD 2,800,000
Price realised: HKD 8,636,000 (approximately $1.10 million)
Just looking at the image on the left, one does not get the sense of how big it actually is. But consider this – the heart shape diamond is 7 carats.
The central gem in Cindy Chao’s feather brooch is a Fancy Light Yellow, modified heart-shape brilliant-cut diamond weighing 7.04 carats. It is surrounded by variously-cut sapphires, round yellow diamonds, rose-cut and round-cut diamonds, all set in titanium, and signed Cindy Chao. (Maybe one day soon we will actually get the total weight of the colored gems that make up the piece – especially on a piece of this size and importance.)
GIA, 2020, report no. 2296037681: 7.04 carats, Fancy Light Yellow colour, VS2 clarity
NATURAL PEARL AND DIAMOND NECKLACE
Estimate: HKD 2,500,000 – HKD 3,500,000
Price realised: HKD 7,874,000 (approximately $1 million)
This is one incredible natural pearl double strand necklace. One hundred fifty-six round natural pearls, all matching in shape, color, luster, and blemish-free surface, measuring from approximately 9.9 to 5.7 mm. The effort alone to make a necklace like this is outstanding, let alone to be able to actually put together a double strand like this. Those who bid to win understood what this necklace represents.
SSEF, 2009, report no. 55156: 156 saltwater natural pearls, drilled,
GIA, 2009, report no. 2115019020: 155 saltwater natural pearls, drilled
DIAMOND RING
When we saw this diamond ring in the catalogue, we just knew this was something gemologically important. The size was impressive, and so was the color. In fact, we were actually expecting the lab report to say “white.” So when we saw “H” (near colorless), we knew to look at the fluorescence… and there it was, “Strong Blue.”
Very Strong Blue fluorescence has been known to make diamonds appear hazy. The Portuguese diamond in the Smithsonian has very strong blue fluorescence and it looks hazy (and bluish) just sitting in the showcase – not under ultraviolet light.
This 21-carat diamond, with its strong blue fluorescence, combined with the near colorless body color, can certainly appear somewhat hazy – and we see it!
Now some people might feel this fluorescence effect is a negative. But we feel that the fluorescence of this diamond not only enhances its color in daylight, but inside, its color improves, as it looks more white (white, not colorless.)
Here is the picture… do you see what we see?
Emerald-cut diamond of 21.00 carats, tapered baguette-cut diamonds, set in platinum.
Accompanied by a GIA report from 1999 (which is old and the grading should be updated), report no. 10609257: 21.00 carats, H colour, VS2 clarity. No clouds.
Estimate: HKD 1,000,000 – HKD 1,500,000
Price realised: HKD 3,683,000 (approximately $470,000)
A SUPERB KASHMIR SAPPHIRE AND DIAMOND RING
Estimate: HKD 12,800,000 – HKD 18,000,000
Price realised: HKD 16,970,000 (approximately $2.16 million)
A somewhat round, aka a “round-ish” brilliant-cut sapphire, weighing 13.95 carats, accented by baguette-cut diamonds, set in platinum and gold, signed Bvlgari.
Gübelin, 2024, report no. 24058037: 13.95 carats, Kashmir, no indications of heating – “near-round”
AGL, 2024, report no. 1139474: 13.95 carats, Kashmir, no gemological evidence of heat – “modified round”
SSEF, 2023, report no. 134015: 13.947 carats, Kashmir, no indications of heating, Appendix letter – “roundish”
We’re not criticizing the round-ish call. In fact, we find it fun.
Near round is how we would generally describe it in writing, but roundish works just fine with us.
And it would not have affected our bid for this gem. Only our budget does that…
DAVID MORRIS COLOURED DIAMOND NECKLACE
Estimate: HKD 680,000 – HKD 880,000
Price realised: HKD 1,270,000 (approximately $162,000)
Here we have a beautiful diamond briolette necklace, strung with Briolette brown diamonds. Items like these are a bit tricky, as briolettes weigh twice as much as you might guess (unless you have handled briolettes). It would have been nice to have been given the carat weight and the number of briolettes. Brown diamond briolettes get no respect…. except from the new owner of this fabulous necklace, of course.
Overall, if there was a theme running through this sale, it was that buyers continue to pay premiums for combinations of rarity, beauty, provenance, and recognized jewelry brands.
Tap here to check out all of the Lots sold at Christie’s Hong Kong Magnificent Jewelry sale.
