The Trombino: How a 5.30 ct Blue Diamond Ring by Bulgari Made £6.2 Million
A signed Bulgari ring from the 1960s, a natural blue diamond and a laboratory report: the three things that came together in 2013.
On 24 April 2013, a Bulgari Trombino ring set with a 5.30 ct fancy deep blue diamond sold at Bonhams, New Bond Street, London, for £6,201,250 including buyer's premium. GIA graded the cushion-shaped stone as natural colour, VS2 clarity.
The result
On 24 April 2013, at its Fine Jewellery sale in New Bond Street, London, Bonhams sold lot 118, a Bulgari ring set with a blue diamond of 5.30 ct, for £6,201,250 including buyer's premium. Bonhams catalogued it as an important fancy deep blue diamond Trombino ring of about 1965.
What it was
The centre stone is a cushion-shaped diamond, set horizontally, graded by the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) as Fancy Deep Blue, natural colour, VS2 clarity, in a report dated November 2012. It sits in a Bulgari Trombino mount of the mid-1960s with brilliant-cut and baguette-cut diamonds, and the ring is signed Bulgari. Trombino means "little trumpet" in Italian, after the flared shape of the mount that Bulgari used for important single stones in that period.
Why it reached that figure
Colour. Natural blue diamonds are among the rarest of all coloured diamonds, and Fancy Deep is one of the strongest grades GIA gives to a blue stone.
A laboratory report. A GIA report confirming natural colour answers the first question every buyer of a coloured diamond asks.
The maker and the period. A signed Bulgari piece from the 1960s, still in its original mount, carries design and provenance appeal that an unsigned setting does not.
What it tells collectors
The lesson applies far below this level. With signed jewellery, keep the piece in its original mount, and keep boxes, pouches, receipts and certificates together. With coloured stones, a report from a recognised laboratory is part of the jewel. A smaller stone with colour, a report and a maker's signature can attract more interest than a larger one with none of them.
If you own a signed or coloured-stone piece and want to know more about it, we offer free valuations from photographs.
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About Mozeris Fine Antiques
Mozeris Fine Antiques is a dealer in fine jewellery, watches and silver, with offices in Mayfair, London, and Braintree, Essex. We buy and sell, and offer free valuations. Visits are by appointment.
Price as published by Bonhams, including buyer's premium. Mozeris Fine Antiques is not connected with Bonhams or Bulgari. No auction-house images are used; the photograph shows a piece from our own stock.
