Red diamond sold for $1.5M

Press, 7 May 1987, Page 19

Red diamond sold for $1.5M

NZPA Reuter New York A mall red one of only three whose . whereabouts are known, was for: SUSBBO.OOO ($1,504,800), a spokesman for Christie’s auction house has said. The red diamond, weighing .95 carats, brought the highest amount ever paid per carat, said Ms Robyn Riley. The rare stone was purchased by Theodore Horovitz, a Geneva-based, wholesaler of jewels, after four other bidders drove, the price up from its opening at $U5275,000 ($470,250), she said. The bidders, two in the auction house and three bidding by telephone, paused briefly at $U5760,000 ($1,299,600) before the final run-up to

the record sale price. :1The red diamond; purchased the stone in 1955 for SUS«,OOO (113,680), she said. W Ms Riley said one other red diamond is housed tn the public Smithsonian, collection in Washington and a second, weighing ai£ imprssive five carats, is; owned by a private collect tor. Two other specimens, she said, have been found but their whereabouts are no longer known. Also sold at the auction were jewels from the estate of the actress Ini grid Bergman, including r necklace of sapphires, dfe. amonds and rubies, which sold for ' SUSBB,OOQ. ($150,480). s