Fine wine hits record

A case of French wine fetched a record price this week as springtime auctions of fine jewellery, luxury watches and wines in Geneva marked a return to top price selling, auctioneers said.

An unnamed Asian private buyer snapped up the six bottles of iconic 1961 Hermitage La Chapelle for SFr109,250 (€77,469) at Christie's, during sales in the Swiss city that outstripped estimates.

"A new world auction record per bottle has been set by a rare case of the great Hermitage La Chapelle 1961 wine, sold for SFr109,250 against a low estimate of 60,000 francs," said David Elswood, international director of wine for Europe and Asia at the auction house.

"Two anonymous lady bidders won several of the highlights, contradicting the idea that the wine market is dominated by gentlemen," he added.

Overall sales of fine jewellery, watches and wine by Christie's this week surged by more than two-thirds compared to last year to SFr62.9 million (€42.1 million). "Demand for stellar examples rivalled that seen at the height of the market, which very much seems to have returned en force," said François Curiel, head of Christie's Switzerland.

A fancy intense blue diamond ring sparked a bidding battle at rival Sotheby's, as three unidentified bidders sent the price up to a record for its type - $8.03 million equivalent to $1.05 million per carat.

Sotheby's garnered nearly SFr60 million of jewellery sales this week, well above pre-sale estimates that had ranged down to about 37 million francs.

David Bennett, chairman of jewellery for Europe and the Middle East, said there was "enormous appetite throughout the world for jewels and gemstones of the very best quality".

Big spenders already marked their return at the international contemporary art sales in New York this week.

A late self-portrait by "pope of pop" Andy Warhol sold for a record $32.5 million on Wednesday, more than twice as much as expected.