In times of recession, even the elite among us are prepared to suffer losses. Famed auction house Christie’s has certainly noticed changes in what people are paying for diamonds in current economic times. One thing nobody was prepared for, however, was the final bid on the 35.56 carat Wittelsbach blue diamond. When considering that the previous record for a diamond sold at auction was $16.5 for a 100 carat diamond over a decade ago, the final bid of $24.3 million dollars came as a surprise even to the manager of Christie’s.
Francois Curiel, chairman of Christie’s Europe, was the auctioneer for this sale. In regards to the final bid he stated, “In the midst of these challenging times, we were thrilled to achieve an historic price for an historic diamond.” Dating back to the 17th century, this diamond is historic indeed. Prior to the auction, the diamond was offered for public viewing, first at Christie’s in London, and then on a three city tour to Paris, Geneva, and Hong Kong.
The diamond was selected in 1664 by King Philip IV of Spain as a gift for his treasured daughter, the Infanta Margarita Teresa when she became engaged to Leopold I of Austria, son of Maria Anna and Emperor Ferdinand III of Spain. Leopold became the Holy Roman Emperor in 1658, and retained the diamond after his wife’s death in 1673. The diamond was bequeathed to his third wife, Empress Eleonore Magdalena. Magdalena passed the jewel to her granddaughter, Archduchess Maria Amalia.
The diamond stayed in the family until 1722. In this year, it entered the Wittelsbach family when Archduchess Maria Amalia wed the Bavarian Crown Prince Charles Albert. This is when the gem became known as “The Wittelsbach Blue”, or “Der Blaue Wittelsbacher.”
In 1745, the Wittelsbach was mounted for the first time within the insignia of the Order of the Golden Fleece. It was then handed down from one ruler to the next in succession. In 1806, Maximilian IV Joseph von Wittelsbach became the first King of Bavaria. He commissioned a royal crown to be made that prominently displayed the Wittelsbach blue diamond. With the Proclamation of the German Republic in 1918, the Second Reich came to an end, and the jewel made its last state appearance in 1921.
In 1931, Christie’s auctioned a selection of important jewelry from the Bavarian Crown Jewels, which included the Wittelsbach blue diamond. It was purchased in 1964 by a private collector, whose family retained the diamond until the present day and the auction earlier this month. The diamond was purchased by international jeweler Laurence Graff for $24.3 million.
The diamond was mined in India nearly four hundred years ago. At the time, all diamonds to be worn by European royalty were mined in India. This is one of few remaining diamonds that can be traced all the way back to the seventeenth century.
While certain sellers have been greatly affected by the current economic recession, it seems that for Christie’s at least, the jewels are proving to be recession proof. In the first six months of 2008, the famous auction house saw jewelry sales totaling over two hundred twenty five million dollars. It was the best jewelry season ever to be seen at auction for the house, with sales over one third higher than for the same period only one year ago.
The company’s sales increases are due in part to a number of rare and exquisite diamonds that went on sale during the period. Most notably the pear shaped and near flawless 38 carat diamond, which brought in over seven million dollars this past June in London, and the fancy intense blue diamond weighing in at 13.39 carats that sold for almost nine million dollars in Geneva this past May.
While the recession is affecting every sector of society, Christie’s seems to have found a way to beat it. Even with a significant number of unsold items, the auction brought in over twenty seven million dollars. Certainly a vast majority of the total came from the Wittelsbach blue diamond, but the total remains a sign of hope that the recession is starting to get better. Spending is always a sign of better economic times, and the steady increase in diamond sales is giving many people hope that brighter economic times may be just around the corner.