Christie’s Jewels will offer a 28.86-carat D-colour diamond ring at its upcoming online auction in June. The piece, with a pre-sale estimate of around US$1 million to US$2 million, is the highest-valued lot ever offered for sale online at Christie’s. 

The Type IIA diamond of VVS1 clarity will be the star of the June 16 to 30 sale. Other highlights include fine jewellery pieces by Graff and Van Cleef & Arpels, among others.

Encouraged by record online participation and increased level of transactions, Christie’s Jewels has enhanced its online sales calendar to include higher-value property and to offer a new sale each month. 

The auction house said that during the first part of the year, there was an unprecedented engagement from clients participating in online sales from over 150 countries with new registrants as high as 80 per cent for select sales. In particular, strong results were achieved for Jewels Online sales with sell-through rates ranging from 89 per cent through 99 per cent with overall sale totals achieving double their pre-sale estimates.

Rahul Kadakia, international head of Jewelry at Christie’s, remarked, “This year has presented unprecedented circumstances, enabling Christie’s new opportunities through our enhanced digital platform. Year-over-year, we have seen an increase in online participation and the value threshold for transacting online. Recognising greater client confidence, we are proud to announce the highest valued lot ever to be offered for sale in our June 2020 Jewels Online auction.”