HONG KONG—For the first time ever, Christie’s Hong Kong jewelry sale, on May 28, trumped each of the house’s other sales in the category worldwide. It brought in $HK468.8 million ($60.1 million), surpassing the $49 million earned in New York in April, the $33 million banked in London in June and the $57 million netted on May 14 in Geneva.

According to François Curiel, the international director of the Christie’s jewelry department, the driving force in Hong Kong was competition among a new class of collectors from mainland China, Hong Kong, Indonesia and Taiwan. “When we first started to sell here, in 1990, most buyers were Americans and Europeans. Now they’re from Asia,” says Curiel. The top earner was a shield-shaped F-color VVS1 diamond that, at 101.27 carats, was the largest ever sold in Asia. A private collector bought the gem—set in a tiara, pictured left—for $HK48.9 million ($6.2 million), just above its low estimate of $HK47 million ($6 million) and approximately $62,000 per carat. The sale achieved a record for a green diamond when a 10.36-carat square-shaped example brought $HK27.2 million ($3.48 million) against an estimate of $HK16 million to $HK24 million ($2.1–3.1 million). And a circular D—colorless—diamond exceeded its estimate of $HK16 to $HK20 million ($2.1–2.6 million), fetching $HK26 million ($3.3 million), a record high $209,000 per carat. Eight of the top 10 lots sold to Asian collectors; one went to an Asian dealer.

"Record-Breaking Bling" originally appeared in the September 2008 issue of Art+Auction. For a complete list of articles from this issue available on ARTINFO, see Art+Auction's September 2008 Table of Contents.