Heritage Auctions enters Hong Kong with untreated Colombian emerald sale

Heritage Auctions is making a pointed first move in Hong Kong: its inaugural combined jewelry-and-timepieces sale there will be led by a Repossi platinum ring centered on a 3.11-carat untreated Colombian emerald, with 2.7 carats of diamonds and a $90,000 reserve. The Fine Jewelry & Timepieces Signature Auction is scheduled for June 15, with a public preview on Sunday, June 14, and Heritage’s calendar currently lists sale #5592 at $938,129 in bids.

The choice of Hong Kong is the real signal. Heritage has spent years building in Asia through auctions in Asian art, coins, currency, pop culture and wine, and this sale folds jewelry and watches into that regional strategy for the first time. Recent market coverage has said buyers from mainland China, Hong Kong and Southeast Asia remain highly active, while Hong Kong jewelry sales have continued to post strong results in 2026. Heritage is not arriving with a broad luxury thesis so much as a specific bet that finely documented stones and branded watches still convert quickly when the right bidders are in the room.

The emeralds tell the story best. Heritage is also offering a larger untreated Colombian emerald, 4.72 carats, set in a platinum ring with two baguette diamonds. Jill Burgum, Heritage’s executive director of fine jewelry, said it is “extremely rare” to encounter a Colombian emerald with no treatment. That matters because emerald clarity enhancement is common, and the absence of treatment can be as important to value as carat weight or color. For collectors who scrutinize paperwork as closely as the stone itself, that detail is likely to be the auction’s sharpest selling point.

Beyond the emeralds, the jewelry selection is built around color and certainty. A necklace with 14.33 carats total weight of padparadscha sapphires and 2.72 carats of diamonds brings a vivid pink-orange note, while a 10.50-carat Burma sapphire ring and an unmounted 3.01-carat fancy vivid yellow diamond widen the range of buyer appetites. Heritage is also offering a diamond ring with a 4.05-carat square-shape center stone and nearly 3 carats of triangular and baguette-cut diamonds, a more classic test of demand for shape and spread.

The watch side is anchored by a platinum Rolex Day-Date ref. 228396TBR with an ice blue dial, baguette-cut diamond hour indexes, a 40 mm case and a 70-hour power reserve. De Bethune and Harry Winston are also in the mix, along with numerous Rolexes, giving the sale the kind of cross-category reach that can help an auction house pull one concentrated room of collectors rather than separate pools of bidders. Heritage’s broader luxury business has already shown momentum this year: its Spring Jewelry Auction passed $9.7 million, the company’s highest jewelry total on record.