Brilliant diamonds an auction tantaliser

An unprecedented offering of diamonds will go under the hammer at Leonard Joel’s final Fine Jewellery sale for the year from 6pm Monday November 28 at 333 Malvern Road, South Yarra.

Suiting budgets from $1000 to $100,000, the diamonds on offer are in a variety of styles and settings, and include numerous examples of what is widely known and accepted as the “ideal cut”.

Perfected by Tolkowsky, the modern round brilliant was developed to give the best light return from the diamond.

The auction has a large section of these starting at 1.0 carat and including such gems as a 2.27 classic engagement ring mounted in a four-claw platinum setting.

This is accompanied by a GIA laboratory certificate stating the colour as D and clarity VS2 and carries a catalogue estimate of $50,000-$80,000.

Another example (catalogue estimate $85,000-$120,000) is a 3.0-carat unset diamond also with GIA certificate stating the colour as D and clarity VVS1.

The auction offers a large number of loose diamonds, giving buyers the freedom to design their own settings or stow them away as investments.

For art deco jewellery lovers, there are several lots worthy of attention including a solitaire diamond ring set with a 5.9-carat transition round brilliant stone in an art deco platinum setting with four extenuating sapphires to each shoulder.

Other art deco items include a pair of earrings each set with a 2.27-carat diamond and a beautiful bracelet with three principal diamonds.

The auction also has several rare large old European brilliant cut diamonds that are bound to turn buyer heads.

Both are well over four carats (4.54 and 4.39 carats respectively) and show incredible scintillation.