Onassis Diamond Sold for $7.1M
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
A pear-shaped diamond that had once been owned by the late Christina Onassis sold Wednesday at Christie’s International in London for $7.1 million.
The 38-carat D-color diamond had been estimated at $3 million to $4 million, Christie’s said. The price includes auction fees. The gemstone was sold to a buyer on the telephone.
It was part of a collection of more than 40 pieces of jewelry being sold by the Onassis family.
A Carl Fabergé semiprecious stone Buddha with a moving head, tongue, and arms fetched $2.5 million with fees. It was bought by Moscow collector Alexander Ivanov, who was in the room bidding, and who spent $17.7 million on a Fabergé egg last year.
The circa-1900 Buddha, which was kept by Onassis’s Greek ship-owner father, Aristotle, had been expected to fetch $650,000, Christie’s said.
