Carat$55,000 sapphire necklace leads Bonhams California on 24 September
Four sapphires of 3.25 to 5.65 carats sit in the top lot of a sale of more than 200 pieces. Tiffany, Hermes and David Webb fill out the estate names.
The estate end prices. Bonhams sells more than 200 lots in California on 24 September. A multicoloured sapphire and diamond necklace carries the top estimate at $55,000, with four sapphires between 3.25 and 5.65 carats.
If you buy estate goods: this is the band a shop can actually restock from, not a trophy sale.
If you price signed pieces: a David Webb bangle at $25,000 to $35,000 is the comparable.
What this is not: a market. Five lots do not set an estate price level.
| Lot | Principal stones | Estimate |
|---|---|---|
| Multicoloured sapphire and diamond necklace | Sapphires of 3.25, 3.32, 4.56 and 5.65 ct | $55,000 |
| Gem and diamond suite, three pieces | 36.85 ct emerald, 33.75 ct ruby, 26.85 ct sapphire | $35,000-55,000 |
| Pearl and sapphire necklace and bracelet | 4.90 ct sapphire, 7.50 ct diamond | $30,000-50,000 |
| Diamond line necklace | 37.70 ct total | $25,000-35,000 |
| David Webb panther bangle | 1.10 ct diamond | $25,000-35,000 |
IThis is the restocking band
Five figures, not seven. The whole published top five sits between $25,000 and $55,000. A shop buying estate goods can bid in that band; it cannot bid in Hong Kong's.
Signed names carry it. Tiffany, Hermes and David Webb appear among the makers. A signature is what lifts an estate lot above the melt and stone value beneath it.
IIWeight is where the value hides
One suite, 97.45 carats. The three-piece gem suite holds 36.85 carats of emerald, 33.75 of ruby and 26.85 of sapphire, and is estimated at $35,000 to $55,000.
Diamonds price lower. A line necklace of 37.70 carats carries $25,000 to $35,000, under $1,000 a carat at the top of the range.
IIIWhat the preview does not say
No sale total. Bonhams publishes no aggregate estimate for the 200-plus lots, and the five named are a selection made for the trade press.
01What would change this call+
A hammer well above $55,000 on the top lot, with the suite following. That would make this a coloured-stone result rather than an estate-restocking sale, and the reading of it as a trade buying band would not hold.
02How an estate lot is estimated+
A house estimating estate jewellery starts from the intrinsic value of the stones and metal, applies a discount for the cost of breaking the piece up, then adds a premium for the maker's signature, the period and the condition of the mount. Unsigned pieces tend to be estimated close to intrinsic value, which is why a signed bangle carrying little diamond weight can be estimated alongside a necklace holding thirty-seven carats.
03Method · the desk’s arithmetic+
Estimates, carat weights and the lot count are Rapaport's, published 2 September 2026, reporting Bonhams' Fine Jewelry: California sale of 24 September 2026. The 97.45-carat figure is the sum of the suite's 36.85 carats of emerald, 33.75 of ruby and 26.85 of sapphire, computed by Carat Capital; the source gives them separately and also lists 5.85 carats of diamonds in the same suite, which is excluded from that sum. The under-$1,000-a-carat reading on the line necklace divides $35,000 by 37.70 carats and is Carat Capital's arithmetic. Rapaport publishes a single figure for the top lot rather than a range, and no aggregate estimate for the sale, so neither a low estimate nor a sale total is stated.
HK$20m ruby earrings lead Sotheby's Hong Kong sale on 17 September
The other September sale, in Hong Kong, where the top lot is estimated forty times higher.
The trade, filed before the New York open.
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