Natural Colours

The sense of wonderment continues with two sets of coloured diamonds: intended for a dainty pair of earrings with a sleek contemporary design and a ‘You and Me’ ring, on which three pink and three green diamonds will star in an elegant play on their pear-shaped design. Far less common than white diamonds, coloured diamonds owe their hues to the presence of chemical elements or inclusions that modify their absorption of light. That is why, above and beyond the natural beauty of these exceptional gems, the finesse of their cut plays an important role in revealing the brilliance of their colour.

Another 26.70-carat sapphire featuring the most prized Royal Blue colour completes the corundum family. Also mined from the generous soils of Sri Lanka, it features a transparent blue hue that catches the light through an octagonal shape with a soughtafter symmetry that reinforces the intensity and brilliance of coloured stones. This no less precious vivid red ruby is distinguished by its remarkable 10.06-carat weight and fine purity. Its strong red saturation, size and characteristics make it one of the finest-quality East African specimens. Like the above-mentioned sapphires, its colour is natural and has not been subjected to any heat treatment.

While coloured diamonds – such as the famous ‘Dresden Green’ – were long regarded as the prerogative for monarchs who had them set on royal regalia, coloured diamonds have for several years been enjoying renewed interest among discerning collectors. Green diamonds are still among the rarest, while pink diamonds have seen their value rise due to their eminently feminine shade, as well as because of the recent exhaustion of the Argyle mine in Australia, which for several decades extracted the bulk of pink diamonds in world trade.

The three green diamonds acquired by Caroline Scheufele from mines in Brazil, as well as the three pink specimens from South Africa, are distinguished by their excellent combination of size (the largest in the lot weighed 4.63 carats) and few impurities.