Episode 149 Part 2: The “100-Carat Man” Reflects on Four Decades at Sotheby’s

What you’ll learn in this episode:

• How David earned the nickname the “100-carat man” for selling some of the most expensive jewels in history
• What type of buyers are interested in eight-figure gems
• How David got the opportunity to write “Understanding Jewelry” with Daniela Mascetti
• Why the most incredible jewelry may be off the beaten path
• Why 18th century jewelry is so rare, and why people have refashioned old jewelry throughout history

About David Bennett

Regarded internationally as a leading authority in the field of precious stones and jewelry, David Bennett is best known in his role as Worldwide Chairman of Sotheby's Jewelry Division, a post he held until 2020, after a brilliant 42 years career at Sotheby’s. During his prestigious career David sold three of the five most expensive jewels in auction history and as well as seven 100-carat diamonds – earning him the nickname the ‘100-carat man’.

David has also presided over many legendary, record-breaking auctions such as the Jewels of the Duchess of Windsor (1987), The Princely Collections of Thurn und Taxis (1992) and Royal Jewels from the Bourbon-Parma Family (2018).

Among the many records achieved during his career as an auctioneer is that for the highest price ever paid for a gemstone, the CTF Pink Star, a 59.60ct Vivid Pink diamond which sold for $71.2 million in 2017, and the world record for any jewelry sale where he achieved a total of $175.1 million in May 2016.

David was named among the top 10 most powerful people in the art world in December 2013 by the international magazine Art + Auction. In June 2014, Swiss financial and business magazine Bilan named him among the top 50 “most influential people in Switzerland”.

David Bennett is co-author, with Daniela Mascetti, of the best-selling reference book Understanding Jewelry, in print since 1989. They have also co-written Celebrating Jewelry, published in 2012. In 2021, David and Daniela launched a unique website showcasing their unparalleled experience and knowledge in the field of jewelry.

David Bennett grew up in London and graduated from university with a degree in Philosophy, a subject about which he is still passionate, alongside alchemy and hermetic astrology.

Additional Resources:

Website:

https://www.understanding-jewellery.com/

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/understandingjewellery/

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/UnderstandingJewellery

Twitter:

https://twitter.com/UJewellery_

LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/company/19192787

Photos:

Transcript:

Whether you know his name or not, David Bennett is responsible for some of the most significant jewelry auctions in history. Before retiring from Sotheby’s in 2020, David sold the Pink Star, the most expensive gem ever sold at auction, and whopping seven 100-carat diamonds. He’s also the co-author of the jewelry bible “Understanding Jewelry” with his colleague Daniela Mascetti. He joined the Jewelry Journey Podcast to talk about his new business with Daniela; what it was like to handle some of the world’s most precious jewels; and why he thinks gemstones hold incredible power. Read the episode transcript here.

Sharon: Hello, everyone. Welcome to the Jewelry Journey Podcast. This is the second part of a two-part episode. Today, my guest is David Bennett, who you may be familiar with. He coauthored with Daniela Mascetti what is often referred to as the Bible of the jewelry industry, and that is the ubiquitous book, “Understanding Jewelry.” David spent his 40-year at the international auction house Sotheby’s. When he left, he held the position of Worldwide Chairman of International Jewelry. He’s a veteran of gemstones and is often called the “100-carat man” because of his multiple sales of hundred-carat diamonds at record-breaking prices. Welcome back.

So, you have hidden gems. Now, are the hidden treasures, the hidden gems, the ones you say, “We think this is a great piece of jewelry,” are those available for people to buy?

David: Yeah, not through us. Basically, we’re offering to be the eyes for collectors. Let’s say in London at a certain resale, we might find a great piece of 1925 Cartier. We’ll photograph it and write what we think about it. It’ll be an appraisal, as it were. This is what you wouldn’t see if you went down the main streets. I think in London the most important resales of collectible jewelry are of the 19th century, early 20th century jewelry. Our offices are not at street level, only shop fronts. We hope at least it’ll be used to appeal to collectors from the Far East who, if they arrive in London or Geneva or Paris, don’t quite know where to go. 

Daniela is an excellent lecturer and a great jewelry historian, so she’s been doing these online courses. For example, one recently was on Art Deco. We’re going to be offering those. That’s the other rung, the other important part of Understanding Jewelry, the website we want to do. It’s an education thing as well, not because it’s just education, but also because I think the more you know about something, the more interesting it becomes. You could have some very beautiful jewelry, but the more you know about it, the more interesting it becomes. When you’re wearing it, you know more about it. Does that make sense?

Sharon: Yes, it makes a lot of sense. She is an excellent lecturer. I took the Art Deco class online, and I’m looking forward to more of your educational classes.

David: Absolutely, yeah.

Sharon: You mentioned that when you started out in the auction world, it wasn’t collectors or private individuals who came; it was people in the trade, and they’d break up the jewels and that sort of thing. Why did it change? How did it change? What happened?

David: This is back in 1974 with the first sales in London. It’s difficult to imagine now, but there was absolutely no market for 1930s jewelry. If you had big, 1930s diamond bracelets, believe it or not, they were sold and immediately broken up. The stems were taken out and reused, very often poor or bizarrely. The cushion-shaped diamonds in the set were then recut. It’s a modern brilliance. Everything changes. Nowadays people will pay premiums for the old stems and of course, as you know, 1930s jewelry is very, very sought after now.

Sharon: Yes, it’s very hard to find, the 30s. You can find some 40s and of course 50s, but not the 30s. So, what changed?

David: It changes all the time. It happens. This is not something new. In the 19th century, jewelry was being broken up and redesigned all the time. Up until about the 1840s, all the gold had to be reused because they weren’t finding gold—you had the California Gold Rush and then South Africa and everywhere else. In fact, it’s been estimated that something like 90 or 80 percent of the gold in use in 1800 had been in use since Roman times. The other thing is that jewelry is set with stones that are very hard, very durable. Gold doesn’t oxidize. It can be melted down very easily into this basal moss. So, all of this made it very susceptible to being remodeled and restyled. 

In the 19th century, this was happening all the time. If you were a fashionable lady in the 1850s, you wouldn’t want to wear, if you could avoid it, an 1830s or 1820s brooch because it would be out of fashion. Everything was in check. This is, of course, very good news for the jewelers who were reusing things, but it made jewelry from before that period much rarer. 18th century jewelry is really, really rare. Diamond jewelry is as rare as hen’s teeth, but most of it, if you think about the great 18th century diamond jewelry, is in the Kremlin from the Catherine the Great period, even though they sold most of it. The Soviets sold it in the 1920s. 

The point I’m trying to make is that refashioning and redesigning jewelry is nothing new. In the 20th century, the phenomenon I was watching was the grand jewelry. When you think about it, by the end of the decade—I’m talking about the 1970s—Art Deco jewelry was already becoming collected, so they weren’t breaking them up anymore; they were trying to keep them. But who knows how many bracelets and jewels from that period disappeared. That was from the 1930s to the 1980s, about 50 years. 

What we’ve noticed is that the gap between when something is out of fashion and then becomes a classic and returns to fashion has become shorter and shorter. Nowadays people are talking about how desirable 80s jewelry is. It is shortening. So, I think there’s still a lot of room for new collectors to decide where they would like to position themselves. By the mid-90s, there was only one buying public; she was in the Middle East before the fortunes being made from the oil industry. It’s significantly changed the whole look of jewelry, and it started at the end of the 70s. In 1970, you’d walk around Place Vendome in Paris, the great address, and see the great French jewelry. Everything in the windows would have been in platinum and diamonds and so forth, but by the end of the decade, you wouldn’t really see platinum and diamonds; everything would be in yellow gold, which the Middle East likes. There would be colored stones. It would be very colorful. There was a mad scramble during the 70s and 80s to redesign everything for this new market, which had very clear ideas about what they wanted. 

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