Heritage Auctions debuts Hong Kong jewelry and watch sale with rare emeralds
Untreated Colombian emeralds will lead Heritage’s first Hong Kong jewelry-and-watch sale, where bids are already nearing $1 million.
Heritage Auctions will stage its first combined jewelry-and-watch sale in Hong Kong on Monday, June 15, and the lots at the top of the catalogue make the strategy clear: rare stones, signed settings and enough gemological specificity to draw serious Asian buyers. The Fine Jewelry & Timepieces Signature Auction, listed as lot group #5592, already shows current bids near $1 million.
The strongest jewelry lot is a Repossi platinum ring centered on a 3.11-carat untreated Colombian emerald, framed by 2.7 carats total weight of full-cut and pear-shape diamonds, with a $90,000 reserve. Another major emerald ring features a 4.72-carat untreated Colombian stone in platinum with two baguette diamonds, and a $42,000 reserve. Jill Burgum, Heritage’s executive director of fine jewelry, said it is “extremely rare” to encounter a Colombian emerald with no treatment, and that rarity is exactly what gives these rings their charge.
Heritage is also leaning into color stones that remain hard to source at this level. A necklace set with 14.33 carats total weight of padparadscha sapphires and 2.72 carats total weight of full-cut diamonds stands out for its orangey-pink hue, which Heritage ties to chromium and iron and says appears in only a handful of deposits worldwide. Other jewelry highlights include a 10.50-carat Burma sapphire ring, a 3.01-carat fancy vivid yellow diamond with a $70,000 reserve, and a diamond ring centered on a 4.05-carat square stone with nearly 3 carats of triangular and baguette-cut diamonds.
The watch side is anchored by a platinum Rolex Day-Date ref. 228396TBR with an ice blue dial, baguette-cut diamond hour markers, a 40 mm case and a 70-hour power reserve, carrying a $62,500 reserve. Also in the sale are a De Bethune Reserve de Marche ref. DB25 in 18k rose gold and a Harry Winston grand perpetual calendar in 18k yellow gold. Heritage says the Hong Kong auction is being conducted by Heritage Auctions Hong Kong Limited, with lots shipping directly from the Hong Kong office.
The sale lands as Heritage broadens its luxury footprint in Asia, where it has already built traction through auctions in Asian art, coins, currency, pop culture and wine. Heritage said its May jewelry auction topped $9.7 million, the highest jewelry total in company history, a marker that suggests Hong Kong is becoming more than a foothold. It is becoming a serious stage for collectors chasing untreated emeralds, signature houses and the kind of stones that still feel genuinely scarce.
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