Poly Auction Hong Kong Spring Sales Feature High Jewellery and Watches in April

Natural pearls are so scarce today that centuries of over-harvesting have left ocean beds almost entirely depleted of the oysters that once produced them. That scarcity made one lot stand apart at Poly Auction Hong Kong's spring High Jewellery and Watches sale, which opened the house's six-day programme at 11:00 a.m. on April 6 at the fourth floor of Shun Tak Centre.

The High Jewellery and Watches auction was the first to go under the hammer at 11:00 a.m. on April 6, with the Modern and Contemporary Art auction following at 3:30 p.m. the same afternoon. The Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art session took place at 10:30 a.m. on April 7, with Chinese Painting and Calligraphy closing the programme at 11:00 a.m. on April 8. All sessions were held on the fourth floor of Shun Tak Centre, with the preview running from April 3 ahead of the live sales.

The jewellery sale's most discussed piece in provenance terms was an Art Deco Natural Pearl and Diamond Necklace by Tiffany & Co. The extreme rarity of natural pearls stems from their formation being a matter of pure chance, the exceptional difficulty of harvesting, and the near depletion of natural resources after centuries of over-harvesting. What distinguishes this necklace materially is its platinum clasp and graduated arrangement, hallmarks of the Art Deco period between roughly 1920 and 1935, when geometric symmetry governed jewellery design and platinum was the metal of choice for precision settings. A strand like this one cannot be replicated with contemporary natural pearls at scale; the oyster beds that produced the originals are largely gone.

Leading the sale was a Jadeite Bead, Ruby and Diamond Necklace composed of 38 jadeite beads, the largest measuring approximately 14.50 mm, and set with an oval-cut ruby of 1.51 carats and a clasp of multi-shaped diamonds. The necklace measures approximately 59.0 cm in length and is accompanied by a Hong Kong Jade & Stone Lab certificate confirming natural Fei Cui-Type A. Certification matters here: Type A status means the jadeite has not been polymer-impregnated or artificially coloured, distinguishing it from the treated material that dominates lower-tier markets.

A natural yellow diamond also featured in the sale, with natural yellow diamonds accounting for merely 0.1% of global diamond production; despite its rare size, the stone attained a VS1 clarity grade, appearing flawless to the naked eye with pristine transparency. On the watches side, the Patek Philippe Stainless Steel Flyback Chronograph Bracelet Watch with Date, Nautilus Reference 5980/1A-001, led the timepiece offerings.

This season's spring auctions brought together four major categories: Modern and Contemporary Art, Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, Chinese Paintings and Calligraphy, and High Jewellery and Watches. For anyone tracking the secondary market for certified natural pearls and jadeite in the Asia-Pacific region, Poly Auction Hong Kong's spring cycle remains one of the more significant testing grounds for where collector appetite and hammer prices actually land.