Worldwide Chairman of International Jewelry, Sotheby’s, GenevaRegarded as the “100-carat man” for his sales of multiple diamonds of that weight with record-breaking price tags, Bennett has helped make the jewelry department at Sotheby’s the third-largest in terms of turnover. Art+Auction spoke with the British-born, Geneva-based gem master about the transformations he has witnessed in the category during his four decades at the house.How has the jewelry department at Sotheby’s evolved since you joined the house in 1974? The auction houses were completely different in those days, as they had yet to develop the network of international offices and salesrooms we see today [80 offices in 40 countries]. I started in London, where the auction room, in those days, was predominantly filled with buyers from the jewelry trade as there were very few private collectors. It was a pretty quiet sort of event, and furthermore, it was extremely rare for someone to bid by telephone. Today, of course, the audience is completely globalized, with participation last year from 70 countries. I continue to receive bids in the room, of course, but also by telephone and online. The latter has begun to transform the auction room. In fact, the highest lot ever sold online thus far at Sotheby’s was a pair of important pear-shaped Fancy Blue and Fancy Orange Pink diamond earrings totaling $6 million in May 2016. The other thing that has changed dramatically is the way in which we present and market our jewelry. Back in the 1970s, colored illustrations were few and far between when it came to our auction catalogues. Many items were not illustrated at all, leaving some of the jewels on offer to be first exhibited just days before the sale. Now, 40 years later, we carry out worldwide traveling exhibitions of the top lots, our catalogues are glamorous and richly illustrated and researched, and star lots are often given bespoke marketing features, like pristine videos on our website.What in particular has helped to position Sotheby’s as a leader in jewelry? I would say that the sale of the Jewels of the Duchess of Windsor in Geneva in April 1987 was the real turning point. It opened up jewelry auctions to a global public as a result of the huge amount of publicity generated around the auction. It was a truly spectacular sale with that irresistible combination of outstanding royal provenance and spectacular jewelry, some of the greatest creations of the 20th century. It was the first really big theme auction highly covered by the media, and consequently, it set the standard for future auctions. In fact, the demand was so great that we set up the first-ever satellite link between the Geneva salesroom and another salesroom in New York. Elizabeth Taylor even bid while stationed poolside at her Malibu estate. Above all, the Duchess of Windsor sale was the first in a series of highly glamorous jewelry sales that we would present at Sotheby’s in Geneva, with subsequent sales including the collections of Hélène Beaumont, the Begum Aga Khan, Maria Callas, Lily Marinho, and Gina Lollobrigida.Once I became head of jewelry in Europe and moved to Geneva full-time in 1989, I began to take more risks. In 1990, for instance, I offered the largest perfect white diamond ever to appear at auction—a 100-carat D-color flawless pear shape, now known as the “Mouawad Splendour,” which sold for a record-breaking $12,760,000. No one had tried to sell a diamond of such a massive size at auction before. Spurred on by this success, I sold two additional record-breaking 100-carat diamonds in 1993 and 1995, the latter―the Star of the Season―selling for $16.5 million, a sum not to be surpassed for 17 years. During this period, Middle Eastern buyers, principally from Saudi Arabia, were buying in large volume, and by the second half of the ’90s they were joined by Far Eastern buyers, a new and emerging buyer demographic.What steps have you taken to ensure strong client–specialist relations? We are very proud of our long-standing relationships with our clients, helping them not only to buy and sell jewels but also to manage their collections. As auctioneers and specialists, we have also developed a series of jewelry education courses run by my colleague Daniela Mascetti, who, along with myself, co-authored the 2012 retrospective on jewelry at auction, Celebrating Jewellery. We have also engendered the trust of important consignors. In our most recent sale of Magnificent Jewels and Noble Jewels in Geneva, nearly 90 percent of the jewels were consigned from private collections. The specialized sales of “noble jewels” is a category we introduced in Geneva 10 years ago, and it has been a great success, catching the imagination of collectors and helping to confirm Geneva as currently the most important center for jewelry auctions in the world.Over your tenure, there have been countless high-profile sales. What are a few that stick out in your mind? There are so many, it’s difficult to pick just a few! In May of last year in Geneva, we set a new world record for a jewelry auction, with a total of $175 million, which beat the record total we had established just six months before. In terms of standout sales over the years, I would definitely mention again the sale of the Jewels of the Duchess of Windsor, which captured the imagination of the public at large and became a front-page story everywhere. It was a milestone because the world of auctions truly began to enter into the public consciousness. The catalogue for the sale also introduced a new name to the list of jewelry designers, one of the greatest female jewelers of the 20th century, Suzanne Belperron, a designer much admired by the duchess. So it was our great pleasure 25 years later, in 2012, when we offered jewels from the personal collection of Suzanne Belperron, by then a jewelry name highly in demand by collectors worldwide.Another sale that comes to mind for its historical importance, and for me its sheer magic, is that of the Beau Sancy diamond, which we sold in May 2011. Originally purchased by Henry IV for the coronation of his wife, Marie de’Medici, in 1610, it was passed down through the royal families of France, England, the House of Orange, and Prussia and thus was a sort of witness to 400 years of European history. Last, I would mention the Sunrise Ruby, which set a new world record for a ruby― $30 million ―in May 2016. Exceptional and immeasurably rare, the stone bore the most sought-after color for rubies: pigeon’s blood. I must say, it had me transfixed, a justified response to a stone that I’d fittingly deemed the Sunrise Ruby, inspired by the poem by Rumi.Where do you see the greatest potential for growth moving forward? Beyond Geneva, are there any emerging hubs for international jewelry sales? In March of this year, we inaugurated our new office in Dubai with highly successful exhibitions and events, including jewelry. We also recently opened a new office in Mumbai. India has probably the oldest tradition and greatest innate understanding of fine jewels and gemstones, so we are very excited to be expanding our activities there, with many more events and exhibitions to come. Personally, I believe India has the greatest potential to transform the global jewelry market in years to come, as both global and Indian economies continue to expand.In your opinion, what is most in demand when it comes to jewelry today? What are collectors seeking now that they did not seek, or possibly weren’t even aware of, when you first joined Sotheby’s? In the past 30 years, we have seen a sharp increase in demand for colored diamonds, especially pink and blue, as evidenced by the record prices we have been achieving at auction in the past several seasons. For example, in just the past two months we have established not only the new world record for any gemstone, with the $71 million ctf Pink Star diamond, but also the world record for a pair of earrings, at $57 million, with the spectacular Apollo and Artemis pink and blue pear-shaped diamond drops. When I began 40 years ago, colored diamonds were merely considered fascinating curiosities, as opposed to the highly prized collectibles they are considered today. For me, their dramatic rise in value is quite understandable, given their great beauty and immense rarity. To put this in perspective, there is only one mine in the world that consistently produces blue diamonds, the famous Cullinan mine in South Africa. Even there, however, less than one-tenth of one percent of the mine’s diamond production shows any trace of blue. Of those, an infinitesimally smaller percentage are of appreciable size, and those that show the famous vivid blue hue just might wind up under the gavel.
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