NEW YORK — Patti Wong is on an airplane about 150 days a year.
The chairman of Sotheby’s China and Southeast Asia has homes in London and Hong Kong, and works with high-profile collectors of art, wine and jewelry across the world. Now she has taken on the additional role of chairman of Sotheby’s Diamonds, a new retail venture launched this month.
The enterprise seeks to offer Sotheby’s customers rare diamond jewelry at retail in partnership with The Steinmetz Diamond Group, the Geneva-based Diamond Trading Co. siteholder that provides exceptional stones, both loose and set in jewelry. The collection will be sold at Sotheby’s headquarters here and in London, and will travel on trunk shows that will take place at Sotheby’s locations worldwide.
While retail is a departure for Sotheby’s, which holds about 30 jewelry auctions in New York, Hong Kong, Geneva, St. Moritz, London, Amsterdam, Paris and Milan every year, Wong believes it’s a perfect fit for clients who want high-quality diamond jewelry and instant gratification.
“Our inventory is alive,” said Wong, who is constantly on the hunt for treasures for her clients, whether they are searching for a large Asscher-cut diamond for investment purposes or a suite of large, vivid yellow diamonds.
Providing personal attention is not unusual for Wong. Prior to becoming chairman, she spent the last five years as head of Sotheby’s private client service department in London, where it was her mission to get her clients whatever they desired, whether a jewelry auction was coming up or not.
“We now have open access to [Steinmetz’s] stock,” said Wong. “We choose what we think are the best. The access to the best diamonds is unrivaled.”
For Wong, diamonds are objects of scientific fascination, though she doesn’t wear many herself.
“I’m personally not a big jewelry wearer,” she said. “It’s all about the gemstones.”
Wong studied engineering at the Haddington School in England and economics at the London School of Economics, and the combination of science and business enables her to offer her clients a deeper understanding of the value of a particular stone and its rarity.
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“Take colored diamonds, for example,” Wong explained. “Colored diamonds are an oxymoron. It’s because of the boron [metalloid element] in the earth that makes a blue diamond blue.”
The first collection includes rare colored diamonds, like fancy pinks, fancy deep purplish pinks, deep blues and vivid yellows.
Sotheby’s Diamonds doesn’t focus solely on loose stones. The company has hired Chanel Jewelry alum Marc Auclert as head of jewelry in Europe and Asia for Sotheby’s. Auclert, who is based in London, has overseen designs such as a circular pavé diamond pendant with a pear-shaped stone set within, and stiletto earrings that convert from a smaller daytime style with pear-cut diamonds to megawatt sparklers with additional stones. The brand also has called upon designers such as Christian Tse and Lorenz Bäumer to contribute to the line.
Executives would not divulge sales projections for the collection, which retails from $50,000 to upwards of $16 million. Wong, however, said the “projections have been thrown out the window,” as prior to the launch the company already has doubled its forecasts in private sales, which are in the neighborhood of “tens of millions.”
According to company executives, there is already interest in the collection’s most important piece to date: a 101.41-carat flawless, D-color, pear-shaped diamond hanging from a pavé-set black diamond necklace. The piece was designed by the Los-Angeles based Tse and sells for $16 million.
Sotheby’s holds the record for the highest selling price of diamond jewelry at auction, with the $16.5 million sale in 1995 of the “Star of the Season,” a 100.10-carat pear-shaped diamond.
“Diamonds are a natural first [important] purchase,” said Daryl Wickstrom, managing director of Sotheby’s global auction division, who wants to reach new consumers, not just Sotheby’s clients.
All in all, Sotheby’s Diamonds is partly a relief for Wong, partly added stress.
“With auctions, it’s about luck and timing,” she said. “It’s a great moment when two people are ready to make an exchange at the same time. It’s very exciting. We want a happy ending. When something is sold [at auction], we say, ‘Oh good, I wanted him to have it.’ This complements our auction business.”
But now, when a client calls from Shanghai, St. Moritz or Caracas with interest in a particular piece, Wong, who has a husband and three-year-old child at home, gets on the next flight.