Sotheby’s New York Jewels sale made $43.2m with 88% of the lots sold. Gary Shuler describes the highlights:

Both white and colored diamonds brought strong prices,

• led by a Fancy Blue Diamond Ring, Tiffany & Co. that sold for an incredible total price of $2,434,500, reaching far above its high estimate of $500,000.
• The 23 carat Fancy Vivid Yellow Diamond Ring, distinguished by its graceful cushion outline and its fantastic color, was sold for $1,874,500.
• Sapphires and emeralds highlighted the results for colored stones: in addition to the beautiful Kashmir Sapphire and Diamond Ring mounted by Cartier that achieved $1,142,500, two Gold and Cabochon Emerald Rings, circa 1900, both from the same family collection, brought $632,500 and $692,500 respectively, well in excess of their $225,000 high estimates.
• natural pearls surpassed pre-sale expectations to command exceptional prices, especially for the Cartier necklace formerly in the collection of Mrs. Georges Lurcy that sold for $1,314,500, nearly four times its high estimate.”