Phillips New York jewels sale tops $4.1 million on emeralds, Paraiba tourmalines
Phillips cleared more than $4.1 million as a Colombian emerald necklace led the sale and Paraiba tourmalines drew fierce bidding.
Phillips’ New York Jewels sale crossed $4.1 million, and the result pointed to where serious jewelry money is concentrating now: signed pieces, saturated colored stones, and platinum settings that let the gem do the talking. The June 10 live auction sold 95% of its 113 lots, a strong showing that put a premium on rarity and pedigree rather than size alone.
The top lot was a platinum Colombian emerald and diamond necklace that brought $541,800. Rapaport described the piece as 20 graduated step-cut Colombian emeralds alternating with rows of brilliant-cut diamonds, a construction that gave the necklace both rhythm and heft. It landed inside its estimate range, a sign that buyers were still willing to pay firmly for exceptional color, clean geometry, and the added cachet of platinum, a metal that has moved well beyond bridal into the realm of serious collector wear.
Just behind it, a fancy-intense-yellow diamond ring sold for $258,000, followed by a pear-shaped 5.86-carat Brazilian Paraiba tourmaline pendant necklace at $167,700. A 7.30-carat diamond ring and an 8.08-carat Colombian emerald ring each made $154,800. The results make the market’s preferences plain: vivid color and named origin are doing real work, especially when the stone is set in a form that reads as wearable rather than merely showy.
Phillips had framed the sale around rare gemstones, important diamonds, and signed jewels from houses including Harry Winston, Tiffany & Co., Van Cleef & Arpels, Cartier, Bulgari, and Chaumet, and that curation mattered. Dianne Batista, Phillips’ head of jewels in New York, said before the sale that “the season's auction celebrated the extraordinary beauty and rarity of colored gemstones, with Paraiba tourmalines at the forefront of collector interest.” That prediction held up, with five Paraiba tourmalines ranking among the top lots and signaling continued appetite for the electric blue-green material.
For everyday buyers, the lesson is not to chase headlines but to watch the categories collectors are rewarding. Signed jewels keep their hold because a recognizable house can bolster resale confidence. Colombian emeralds and Paraiba tourmalines keep gaining heat because their color stories are immediate and their finest examples are scarce. Paraiba tourmaline, first discovered in 1989 in Brazil’s Paraíba state and colored by copper, remains one of the clearest examples of how geology can become market power.
The June result also fits Phillips’ recent run in New York. Its June 2024 jewels sale totaled $2.876 million, while December 2025 reached $5.3 million, placing this season’s auction comfortably within a strong band of demand. The message for the secondary market is straightforward: the pieces most likely to stay desirable are the ones with a signature house name, unmistakable color, and a setting that still looks elegant decades later.
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