The pandemic amplified the consumers’ appetite for jewellery last year. Even though people were confined to their homes, they found new meaning and value in wearing and flaunting their jewels, as well as purchasing new baubles.
Online jewellery auctions flourished in 2020. It all started off with a Cartier’s Tutti Frutti bracelet being sold for $1.3 million in an online Sotheby’s auction in April 2020. This was quickly overshadowed by more expensive jewels being sold online during the year. There were several new records that were set, and broken during the year.
2020 also saw some major business deals being brokered.
Here’s a flashback at some of the most notable jewellery moments of 2020.
LVMH takes over Tiffany & Co.
After a lot of back and forth, lawsuits and counter lawsuits later, the French luxury brand conglomerate LVMH came to an agreement with Tiffany & Co. and took over the iconic jewellery brand in what was pegged as the biggest luxury brand acquisition ever for $15.8 billion, $400 million less than what was decided upon in the original deal. On January 2, shareholders of Tiffany & Co. approved of the deal. The merger is expected to close early this year.
Sotheby’s auctioned a 102 carat diamond
In October 2020, Sotheby’s Hong Kong auctioned an exceptionally rare 102 carat diamond for a whopping $15.7 million. The stone classified as D color, the highest grading for a white diamond, is placed among the world’s most chemically pure, transparent and symmetrical diamonds. The gem became the first one for its quality to be sold without a reserve in a combined online and offline live auction.
The ring with 7801 diamonds sets a new Guinness World Record
The Divine – 7801 Brahma Vajra Kamalam made it to the Guinness World Records in October 2020 for having the most diamonds in a single ring. It was made by a jeweller from Hyderabad, India, Kotti Srikanth, who owns The Diamond Store by Chandybhai, a unit of the Hallmark Jewellers. The 7,801 diamond-studded ring is inspired from a rare flower indigenous to the Himalayas called Brahma Kamalam.
A ring with 12,638 diamonds breaks the earlier Guinness World Record
Just two months later in December 2020, Renani Jewels, a Meerut-based jewellery company takes over the Guinness World Records title for having the most diamonds in a single ring. The Marigold – the ring of prosperity is studded with 12,638 natural diamonds.
De Beers opens 60,000 sq. ft facility to produce lab-grown diamonds
International diamond miner and retailer, De Beers, completed the construction of its 60,000 sq. ft facility that will make lab-grown diamonds. The construction of the facility, located near Portland city in the US took two years. The company’s lab-grown diamonds are retailed under Lightbox Jewelry, a brand launched in 2018.
View this post on Instagram
Christie’s sold the highest-value jewel ever sold in an online auction
In June 2020, Christie’s sold a Type IIA D colour diamond ring weighing 28.86 carats for $2,115,000. The D-colour VVS1 clarity, Type 11a diamond set on a platinum ring had 31 competitive bids from Asia to America. It became the alrgest D color diamond ever to be offered for sale in an online-only auction. It also set a record for the most expensive jewel sold in an online auction.
View this post on Instagram
Sotheby’s sold the world’s largest vivid purple-pink diamond ever to appear at auction
At their Magnificent Jewels and Noble Jewels auction in Geneva on November 11, 2020, Sotheby’s sold the world’s largest vivid purple-pink diamond to ever appear at an auction. Called The Spirit of the Rose, the jewel was sold for $26.6 million, thus setting a global auction record for a purple-pink diamond.
View this post on Instagram
Stories you may like
Read: these-best-luxury-watches-of-2020
Read: Raniwala 1881’s new jewellery collection is perfect for a royal bridal…
