Tutti Frutti Treasure Triumphs at Christie's

Lower jaw-drop alert, jewelry hounds! I've been trolling auction results again. I know. The first step is admitting you have a problem. BUT - if I went on a diamond diet, who would bring you face to face with the likes of THIS amazing creature?

What is this explosion of Art Deco decadence, you ask? It's a Cartier 'Tutti Frutti' bracelet - and those are real diamonds designed in the shape of an undulating vine, with real emerald bead leaves and real ruby flowers and berries.

Ain't it just diVINE?

The Tutti Frutti jewelry category emerged after Jacques Cartier designed this staggering little number called the 'Hindu Necklace" for one of America's richest women, Daisy Fellowes, in 1936.

How do you know it's Tutti Fruiti? Look for precious gemstones or cabochons in the shape of flowers, berries and vines. Look for diamonds. Don't look at the price tag.

The Tutti Frutti bracelet at the top of the post went for a cool $1,880,332 yesterday - the highest price at auction for a Tutti Frutti jewel. So you might want to look into a winning lottery ticket, a pig flying or hell freezing over if you want to grab one for your own collection.

HOWEVER. In typical Insider style, I gawk at the gazillionaire gems and come down to earth with fun fruity styles with 'mere mortal' price points.

Who doesn't love these Tutti Frutti-inspired treasures on Jewelry.com? C'mon! Click on any image for more info - and get in touch with your inner fruitcake!

Christie's to Auction Elizabeth Taylor's $150 Million Jewelry Collection

Jewelry hounds? This is one of those times when I wish I had a few $mil burning a hole in my pocket. OK. That's not an 'uncommon' thought, but the news that Christie's is auctioning Elizabeth Taylor's jewelry collection is sending my blingy consumption habit into orbit!

Yes, it's true. People.com reports the famed auction house will be putting Dame Liz's baubles on the block - and yes, the stash includes all of her 'big hits' - including Taylor's rumored favorite, The Krupp Diamond(!!!)

Christie's declined to comment on the story, and there is no word yet if the proceeds will benefit Elizabeth Taylor's charity, The Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation - but you can be sure jewelry lovers the world over will be pushing the paddle hard to get their paws on a little piece of jewelry perfection.

In the meantime, I'm loving all of the jewelry-related tidbits that keep trickling out as the world mourns the loss of an icon. Lorraine Schwartz (famed red carpet jeweler and friend of Taylor's) told People that magnificent gems were a natural part of Taylor’s day-to-day life.

“People always gave her gifts … it was something that she learned to love.” And she took great care of them, too. “She [had] collections and collections, and rooms. She [knew] where every single piece was. [It was] amazing.”

In fact, Schwartz remembers receiving a phone call one morning in 2003 after Taylor had taken a fall. “She was like, ‘I don’t feel good, my hair is dirty but I’m wearing my bracelet,’” she recalls. “I mean, fabulous."

Blue Diamond Rocks The Auction Block

Huge diamond alert! Christie's held their "Jewels: The New York Sale" yesterday, and the famous Bvlgari Blue Diamond wasn't just their top seller at a whopping $15.7 million - it broke the price-per- carat barrier to boot!

What a little over-achievor...

"A world record price was achieved on Oct. 20 for The Bulgari Blue, a much-celebrated stone that came up for sale at Christie's for the first time in almost 40 years," said Rahul Kadakia, head of jewelry for Christie's Americas in a release.

The jewel was purchased in Rome in 1972 for $1 million and was given as a gift from the collector to his wife to celebrate their first son's birth, according to Christie's.

How could I have left $15 million diamonds off my Jewelry Gift Guide for New Moms? The horror.
 
Do ridiculous diamonds give you 'the giddys' too? Scratch the itch with me by gawking at yet another blue beauty - this one fetched more money than any stone at auction. Ever!

Hyperventilating. It's the world's worst cologne.

Christie's Auctions $5 Million Diamond

I've got one doozy of a 'lower jaw drop' alert, jewelry lovers. Christie's reports that the storied 'Evening Star' diamond recently sold for a whopping $5.4 million, the latest in a line of remarkable diamonds to dazzle at auction.

According to a press release, the 39-carat, D color diamond from India's famed Golconda mines was snatched up by an anonymous buyer, paying $138,000 per carat for the diamond dubbed the "Evening Star" because its previous owner liked to wear it out at night.

How charming for them.

The icy rock was part of Christie's "Magnificent Jewels from a Distinguished Private Collector" sale, held Thursday in New York.

The sale of the "Evening Star" comes on the heels of the record-setting $10.8 million sale of "The Vivid Pink" diamond Dec. 1 in Hong Kong and the $7.7 million sale of the 32.01-carat D-flawless Annenberg Diamond in October.

"The diamond market continues to show remarkable strength despite the volatility of the financial world," Rahul Kadakia, head of jewelry at Christie's New York, said in the release.

Indeed.

My question is: who wears these things in the light of day? Don't you have to have a body guard brigade following your every move? Or is it something these folks will just keep in a showcase for or a vault somewhere for their own personal enjoyment (which would be a crying shame)?

What would you guys do with a rock that size? Weigh in!

Rare Pink Diamond Sets Auction Record

Hold on to your haute couture, jewelry hounds. One whopper of a diamond just entered the hands of a lucky (and filthy rich) bidder on Tuesday.

A rare, 5-carat pink diamond was auctioned off by Christie's Hong Kong for a record $10.8 million, putting some shine back into the world's rare and large stones market.

The stone, of a "vivid pink" hue and considered near perfect but not quite flawless, triggered brisk bidding with a final price that smashed the previous record set 15 years ago in Geneva for a 19.66-carat stone that sold for $7.4 million. The pink gem's per-carat price of $2.2 million was also the highest ever paid for any diamond at auction, Christie's said.

"No stone has ever been sold for $2 million a carat, we were used to ... a million dollars a carat for colored diamonds but never 2 million," Francois Curiel, Christie's Europe chairman told Reuters. "This is an absolute record that is not going to be broken for a while I believe."

But the famed Wittelsbach Blue Diamond still holds the record as the world's most expensive jewel ever sold at auction, fetching a mere $24 million last year. Just a drop in the proverbial bucket, right?

Pink diamonds have always been coveted by the rich, the famous and we mere mortals alike. Click here to see which celeb dazzled their loved one with a pink diamond engagement ring for the ages - not quite 10 carats, but a keeper nonetheless.