Bonhams leads Hong Kong sale with 50-carat Colombian emerald necklace

A circa-1950 necklace of seven step-cut Colombian emeralds, totaling 50.00 carats and framed by more than 30 carats of vari-cut diamonds, will lead Bonhams’ Exceptional Jewels and Jadeite sale in Hong Kong. Estimated at HK$4.8 million to HK$5.5 million, the necklace has the kind of visual force that turns an auction catalogue from inventory into theater: saturated green, old-world composition and enough diamond weight to sharpen every line.

That combination matters in a market where Hong Kong collectors continue to reward color with pedigree. Colombian origin still signals the highest echelon of emerald collecting, and the step-cut stones here give the necklace a clean, architectural rhythm rather than a soft, romantic silhouette. It is a period jewel with presence, but also a provenance-rich colored-stone lot built to draw competitive bidding.

The sale, scheduled for May 24, will comprise 148 lots and leans heavily into the categories that have been commanding attention across the top end of jewelry auctions: emeralds, rubies, Kashmir sapphires, spinels, fancy-colored diamonds and signed or period designs. Bonhams’ Head of Sale and Specialist of Jewellery, Katy Lai, called it “a vibrant celebration of colour,” and the lead necklace fits that brief precisely, pairing scale with an unmistakable mid-century sensibility.

The rest of the sale reinforces the same market message. A 16.50-carat Tanzanian red spinel ring carries an estimate of HK$1.8 million to HK$2.4 million, while a pair of unmounted step-cut Colombian emeralds weighing 31.20 and 30.12 carats is estimated at HK$1.1 million to HK$2.2 million. One emerald lot is described as having no-oil status, a distinction that remains important because untreated emeralds are comparatively rare and especially prized when the color is vivid and the clarity requirements are met.

Bonhams’ focus on these stones suggests what is resonating most clearly with serious buyers: not just size, but the right kind of size, backed by origin, condition and a design vocabulary collectors recognize at a glance. In that company, the 50-carat Colombian necklace is more than a headline lot. It is the sale’s clearest statement of value.