CaratBulgari sapphire ring carries a HKD 9.5m high estimate
The 9.86-carat cushion Kashmir stone tops 95 lots at Phillips Hong Kong on 29 September. At the high estimate it works out to HKD 963,500 a carat, about $1.2 million for the ring.
Kashmir leads the book. A Bulgari ring centring a cushion-shaped 9.86-carat Kashmir sapphire carries a high estimate of HKD 9.5 million, the top lot of 95 at Phillips in Hong Kong on 29 September.
If you estimate Kashmir sapphire: the reference to carry is HKD 963,500 a carat at the high, not the HKD 9.5 million headline.
If you consign colour to Hong Kong: coloured stones take seven of the ten top estimates in this book.
What this is not: a result. These are catalogue estimates and the sale is 18 days out.
| Lot | Low (HKD) | High (HKD) | High (USD) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bulgari ring, 9.86ct Kashmir sapphire | not published | 9,500,000 | $1.2m |
| Ring, 23.34ct fancy intense yellow VVS1 diamond | 3,600,000 | 4,300,000 | $551,000 |
| Earrings, 7.02ct E VVS2 and 7.04ct F VVS2 diamonds | 3,300,000 | 4,300,000 | $551,000 |
| Ring, 15.50ct Colombian emerald | 2,800,000 | 4,000,000 | $513,000 |
| Ring, 7.45ct Brazilian alexandrite chrysoberyl | 2,300,000 | 3,200,000 | $410,000 |
| Earrings, 12.55ct VS2 and 12.56ct VS1 brown-yellow diamonds | 2,200,000 | 3,000,000 | $385,000 |
| Ring, 13.82ct Burmese sapphire | 2,000,000 | 3,000,000 | $385,000 |
| Ring, Burmese jadeite | 1,800,000 | 2,800,000 | $360,000 |
| Ring, 6.06ct Mozambican ruby | 1,800,000 | 2,800,000 | $360,000 |
| Bracelet, 40 Burmese rubies | 1,000,000 | 2,200,000 | $282,000 |
IColour takes seven of ten
Three diamond lots only. Coloured stones fill seven of the ten highest estimates. The other three are diamond lots.
Two sapphires, one Kashmir. The 13.82-carat Burmese sapphire carries a HKD 2 million to HKD 3 million estimate, below the Kashmir stone on a larger weight.
IIKashmir origin beats weight here
Four times per carat. At the high estimates the Kashmir stone is valued at HKD 963,500 a carat and the larger Burmese at HKD 217,100. That is a ratio of 4.4 to one.
Origin does the work. The heavier stone is the cheaper one per carat in this catalogue. Size is not the variable Phillips has priced here.
IIINo published low on the lead
Only a ceiling. The Bulgari ring is reported with a high estimate and no published low, while the other nine top lots carry ranges.
Fifty percent wide. Those nine ranges average 49.9% wider at the high than at the low, from 19.4% on the yellow diamond to 120.0% on the ruby bracelet.
01What would change this call+
A hammer under HKD 4 million. That would say the Kashmir premium is a catalogue claim rather than a market one, and the per-carat figures above would not survive the sale.
02Why Kashmir carries a premium+
Kashmir sapphires come from a small Himalayan deposit worked out in the late nineteenth century. Supply is therefore fixed and entirely secondary, and the stones are prized for a velvety, evenly saturated blue that laboratories can attribute to origin. A Kashmir report from a recognised laboratory routinely multiplies the per-carat value of an otherwise comparable stone.
03Method · the desk’s arithmetic+
The source is Rapaport's 8 September report, read directly, which itself cites the Phillips website for the lot details and estimates. Phillips' own catalogue page for this sale was not reached: the address could not be found without guessing a sale code, which this desk does not do, so the estimates here rest on one secondary source and that is stated rather than dressed as a two-source check. All per-carat and percentage figures are Carat Capital's arithmetic on Rapaport's HKD figures: 9,500,000 over 9.86 carats is HKD 963,489, rounded to HKD 963,500; 3,000,000 over 13.82 carats is HKD 217,077, rounded to HKD 217,100; the ratio between them is 4.44 to one. The ten high estimates sum to HKD 39.1 million and the Bulgari ring is 24.3% of that total, a share of the total and not a change in it. The nine published ranges widen by 19.4, 30.3, 42.9, 39.1, 36.4, 50.0, 55.6, 55.6 and 120.0 percent from low to high, a mean of 49.9%. USD figures are Rapaport's own and are reproduced, not converted; no exchange rate is asserted here. Archive test, both periods named: Carat Capital's 5 September piece covers Phillips London on 28 September 2026, a watch sale of four Rolex Daytonas; this item covers Phillips Hong Kong on 29 September 2026, a jewellery sale of 95 lots. Different city, date, category and lots, so NEW. No article in the archive carries Bulgari and Kashmir together.
04Sources1 document
Rolex sends 4 one-off Daytonas to Phillips on 28 September
The same house, the same week, the other room: four one-off Daytonas in London.
The trade, filed before the New York open.
Prices, tenders and the one story that moved the industry overnight. Ninety seconds.
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