Harry Winston

Impressive padparadscha sapphire and diamond necklace | 海瑞溫斯頓橙粉紅色剛玉及鑽石項鏈

VAT applies to hammer price and buyer's premium

Auction Closed

May 16, 05:44 PM GMT

Estimate

460,000 - 730,000 CHF

Lot Details

Description

Property of a Princess

Impressive Padparadscha sapphire and diamond necklace, Harry Winston

海瑞溫斯頓橙粉紅色剛玉及鑽石項鏈

Set with an oval Padparadscha sapphire weighing 37.92 carats, within a brilliant-cut and marquise-shaped diamond frame supporting a pear-shaped diamond weighing 3.72 carats, length approximately 390mm, signed Harry Winston, numbered, case stamped Harry Winston.

Accompanied by a SSEF report 128330, stating that the sapphire is of Malagasy origin, with no indications of heating; together with an appendix letter.

'Padparadscha' designates an extremely rare variety of sapphire displaying a spectrum of pinkish orange to orangy pink colours with low to medium saturation. The colour is caused by trace elements of iron and chromium within the corundum crystal.

The term is derived from the words ‘padma’ and ‘radschen’ meaning ‘lotus’ and ‘flower or blossom’ in the Sinhalese language spoken on Sri Lanka. These Sinhalese words furthermore have an etymology based on the ancient Sanskrit language. In 1915, George Frederick Kunz, the father of modern gemmology, gave the following description of what he called padparasham: ‘It is a most rare and delicate orange-pink hue, the various specimens showing many different blendings of the pink and orange.’

Historically, Sri Lanka or Ceylon was the primary source of Padparascha sapphires, in particular the regions of Ratnapura, Elahera and Kataragama to the south of the island. More recently, Padparadscha sapphires of remarkable quality have been mined in Vietnam, Tanzania and Madagascar.