Bulgari Pink: a 24-Carat Diamond at Christie's Geneva

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A 24-carat pink diamond set by Bulgari in 1950s Rome and a family collection built around the great jewellery houses meet at Christie’s Geneva on 10 November, where the hand that set each stone counts as much as the stone itself.

For more than seventy years, the jewel that now heads Christie’s autumn sales in Geneva has remained in private hands. The Bulgari Pink, an emerald-cut diamond of 24.00 carats graded Fancy Intense Pink, has passed through generations of a European noble family and has never before been offered at auction, according to Christie’s. On 10 November, it closes the Magnificent Jewels sale at the Four Seasons Hotel des Bergues as lot 613, estimated at CHF 10,000,000–15,000,000.

A few hours earlier, in the same rooms, Christie’s offers a collection with a different kind of history. Exceptional Jewels & Objects of Elegance: A Connoisseur’s Collection gathers nearly 300 jewels, gems and precious objects, assembled for the most part over the last four decades by a family of collectors, with some pieces from earlier generations, as Christie’s describes it. Read together, the two sales follow the moment a gemstone becomes a jewel, and the houses whose hands decide what it will be: Bulgari in post-war Rome, Van Cleef & Arpels with its hidden settings and transformable designs, and David Morris in London.

A Diamond Set in Rome

The stone’s credentials are written in its GIA report of 2024: 24.00 carats, Fancy Intense Pink, natural colour, VVS2 clarity, strong orange fluorescence and Type IIa, a category that Christie’s describes as representing fewer than 2% of gem-quality diamonds. The report is accompanied by two further letters from GIA, one attesting to the diamond’s rarity, the other a Golconda letter, and Christie’s press office describes the stone as most probably originating from the Golconda mines.

The ring is catalogued as a work of the 1950s: the emerald-cut diamond is framed by tapered baguette-cut diamonds in platinum, signed Bvlgari and kept in its Bulgari case. The family’s own account begins before the ring, with the stone itself. According to the Christie’s press release, family lore holds that the rough diamond was acquired in India during the 1950s by the present owner’s great-grandfather and later entrusted to Bulgari, where it was transformed into the ring seen today. The ring has kept its original mounting, so the diamond reaches the saleroom as the jeweller set it. Christie’s has no documentation of the commission beyond the signature and the case: the ring’s own marks are its record.

Lot 613, 'The Bulgari Pink', Bulgari coloured diamond and diamond ring, 1950s, Fancy Intense Pink emerald-cut diamond of 24.00 carats — Lot 613, ‘The Bulgari Pink’, Bulgari coloured diamond and diamond ring, 1950s, Fancy Intense Pink emerald-cut diamond of 24.00 carats. Image courtesy of Christie’s.

The city around that commission was changing quickly. According to Bulgari’s own heritage pages, the house’s ties with the cinema grew through the 1950s and 1960s, when Hollywood productions came to Rome to film at Cinecittà and their stars shopped at the Bulgari store on Via Condotti. The most famous of those clients arrived a little later: Elizabeth Taylor came to Rome in 1962 to star in Cleopatra, and Bulgari recalls that in her memoir she called the shop “one of the biggest advantages” of working there. The Bulgari Pink belongs to the decade before the Taylor years, when, in the words of the Christie’s press release, the Roman jeweller “was emerging as a destination for some of the world’s most discerning collectors and patrons”.

A Second Bulgari, in a Collector’s Hands

The Connoisseur’s Collection is offered in two parts: 123 lots in a live auction at noon on 10 November, and a further group online until 17 November. Its jewels, gems and objects span more than two hundred years, from eighteenth-century gold boxes and Art Deco vanity cases by Cartier to contemporary creations by Van Cleef & Arpels, Graff and David Morris, and Christie’s expects it to realise between US$20 and 25 million. Angela Berden, head of sale and senior jewellery specialist at Christie’s Geneva, describes it in an article published by Christie’s as reflecting “the family’s unwavering commitment to excellence, guided by a deep appreciation of style, rarity and craftsmanship”. In the same article, she adds: “The family pursued only the finest gemstones and the most exceptional creations.”

That search for the stone first runs through a second jewel signed by the Roman house. The Bulgari ‘Trombino’ ring (lot 109) is set with a cabochon ruby of 14.38 carats, which an SSEF report of 2026 identifies as Burmese, with no indications of heating and a moderate amount of oil in its fissures, framed by baguette-cut and round diamonds in yellow gold. It is estimated at CHF 600,000–1,000,000. For a collector, the report’s two statements are read together: the absence of heat and the declared degree of oil both bear on how such a stone is valued. Within a single day, Bulgari thus appears in two roles: as the jeweller to whom a family, by its own account, entrusted its diamond in the 1950s, and as the maker of a jewel that another family chose for its collection.

Lot 109, Bulgari, ruby and diamond 'Trombino' ring, Burmese cabochon ruby of 14.38 carats — Lot 109, Bulgari, ruby and diamond ‘Trombino’ ring, Burmese cabochon ruby of 14.38 carats. Image courtesy of Christie’s.

Van Cleef & Arpels: Jewels Designed to Change

At the heart of the collection is a group of mystery-set jewels by Van Cleef & Arpels. The technique, patented in 1933 according to the house’s own chronology, sets precious stones “in such a way that the metal becomes invisible”, each stone cut individually to slide into a concealed framework. Christie’s catalogue essay places its invention in the years when Renée Puissant, daughter of Alfred Van Cleef and Estelle Arpels, was artistic director of the house, working alongside the designer René Sim Lacaze.

The centrepiece is the ‘Oiseau Mystérieux’ brooch of 2006 (lot 123), a bird of paradise whose plumage is mystery-set with calibré-cut rubies among baguette-cut and round diamonds. It was acquired from Van Cleef & Arpels in the year it was made, comes with the house’s certificate and was shown in the exhibition Van Cleef & Arpels à Genève, 50 Ans d’Histoire à Genève in 2013–2014. The bird can also change shape: its tail is detachable and interchangeable with a more elaborate one, so that the brooch measures 11.2 cm or 14.7 cm, depending on the version worn. It is estimated at CHF 500,000–800,000.

Lot 123, Van Cleef & Arpels, ruby and diamond 'Oiseau Mystérieux' mystery-set brooch, 2006 — Lot 123, Van Cleef & Arpels, ruby and diamond ‘Oiseau Mystérieux’ mystery-set brooch, 2006. Image courtesy of Christie’s.

The principle reaches its fullest form in the ‘Louvre’ necklace (lot 119), set with diamonds and orangy yellow diamonds. Its pendant can be removed, and its central flower detaches to be worn as a brooch or exchanged for other floral brooches from the same collection, among them the sapphire ‘Pivoine’ and the ruby ‘Fuchsia’ (lot 122). “This innovative design enables the owner to alter the jewel’s colour, character and visual rhythm,” says Angela Berden in Christie’s article. Here, the change is part of the design itself, foreseen by the jeweller and left to the wearer to complete.

Lot 119, Van Cleef & Arpels, diamond and coloured diamond transformable 'Louvre' necklace — Lot 119, Van Cleef & Arpels, diamond and coloured diamond transformable ‘Louvre’ necklace. Image courtesy of Christie’s.

According to Christie’s catalogue essay, the word “transformable” first appears in the house’s archives in 1928, describing a diamond and emerald sautoir that could become a bracelet; the Passe-Partout and the Zip later carried the idea further. The estimates hold a small paradox: the ‘Louvre’ necklace is estimated at CHF 200,000–300,000, while the mystery-set ‘Fuchsia’ that can sit at its centre is estimated at CHF 320,000–500,000. In a jewel designed to be recomposed, the most valuable element is the one its owner chooses to add.

Lot 122, Van Cleef & Arpels, ruby and diamond 'Fuchsia' mystery-set clip-brooch — Lot 122, Van Cleef & Arpels, ruby and diamond ‘Fuchsia’ mystery-set clip-brooch. Image courtesy of Christie’s.

Two Pinks, Two Houses

One of the diamonds that Christie’s places at the head of the collection answers the Bulgari Pink across the day. It belongs to a ring by David Morris, the house established in London in 1962 that opened its first boutique on Conduit Street, according to its own history. The diamond, an emerald cut of 14.63 carats, was graded by GIA in 2026 as Fancy Orangy Pink, natural colour, VVS1 clarity, and sits between triangular-shaped diamonds in white gold. The ring (lot 104) is unsigned and comes with a David Morris certificate of quality issued in 2011, the year it was acquired from the house. It is estimated at CHF 1,300,000–2,100,000.

Lot 104, David Morris, coloured diamond and diamond ring, Fancy Orangy Pink emerald-cut diamond of 14.63 carats. Image courtesy of Christie’s.

Set side by side, the two rings read as a lesson in how a pink diamond is graded and valued. Both stones are emerald-cut. The Bulgari Pink is larger by more than nine carats and carries a grade of Fancy Intense Pink with no secondary hue, where the David Morris stone is described as orangy pink; the Bulgari Pink’s estimate is between seven and eight times higher. Behind the figures lie two different moments in which a stone became a jewel: a diamond that, by the family’s account, was entrusted to a Roman jeweller in the 1950s, and one chosen from a London house’s own creations more than half a century later. The two rings also record their makers differently: the Bulgari Pink carries the Bvlgari signature and its original case, while the David Morris ring is unsigned and its attribution rests on the house’s own certificate.

The Stone and the Hand

One jewel in the Magnificent Jewels sale makes the opposite case. Lot 562 is a cushion-shaped sapphire of 23.72 carats, which a Gübelin report of 2026 identifies as Kashmir, with no indications of heating, accompanied by an information sheet on unheated sapphires and an appendix attesting to its rarity. Its mounting is reduced to a frame of baguette-cut diamonds in platinum, leaving the colour of the stone to carry the jewel on its own. It is estimated at CHF 1,250,000–2,000,000.

Lot 562, Sapphire and diamond ring, Kashmir sapphire of 23.72 carats. Image courtesy of Christie’s.

René Lalique makes the case from the other side. His Art Nouveau set of necklace, pendant and ring (lot 566, CHF 50,000–70,000) is built on a glass intaglio and brown enamel, set with diamonds and signed Lalique. A pair of JAR earrings (lot 580, CHF 80,000–130,000) uses carnelian and onyx cameos, with orange garnets and diamonds in gold, blackened platinum and silver.

Lot 566, René Lalique, Art Nouveau glass, enamel and diamond necklace, pendant and ring. Image courtesy of Christie’s.

Lot 580, JAR, pair of multi-gem earrings with carnelian and onyx cameos. Image courtesy of Christie’s.

Between the Kashmir sapphire and the Lalique glass lies the question that runs through both sales: how much of a jewel belongs to the stone, and how much to the hand that set it. The Bulgari Pink holds both answers. Its diamond carries a GIA letter attesting to its rarity, yet it reaches Geneva in its original 1950s mounting, signed Bvlgari and still in its case, and it will be offered on 10 November as a jewel, not as a loose stone.

Exceptional Jewels & Objects of Elegance: A Connoisseur’s Collection – Part I (lots 1–123), 12pm CET; Magnificent Jewels Including the Bulgari Pink (lots 501–613), 4pm CET. Christie’s, Four Seasons Hotel des Bergues, Geneva, Tuesday 10 November 2026. On view from 5 to 10 November.