For connoisseur-collectors of exquisite diamond jewelry, London offers unparalleled choice. From the Bond Street jewelry quarter to the luxury emporiums of the West End, such as Harrods and Harvey Nichols, as well as the summer auction sales and Masterpiece Fair, London is an unrivalled source of extraordinarily rare diamond jewelry for the ultra-wealthy. A reporter who visited Harry Winston on New Bond Street, recently glimpsed a ‘one-off’ sapphire and white diamond pendant for 7.5 million pounds (8.6 million euros). In Bond Street, where rents are the highest in the UK, jewelry suites can sell for several million euros each at jewelers such as Graff, Moussaieff, De Beers and Chatila. Here, the buyers are sophisticated connoisseur-collectors, who visit London from around the world.

«While London remains a vibrant shopping destination, it will continue to be a leading hub for fine jewelry buyers,» said Keith Penton, Head of Christie’s London jewelry department. He was speaking after Christie’s staged its Important Jewels auction in London on last June, at which an Art Déco diamond and coral jabot pin by Cartier sold to a telephone bidder for a hammer price of 175,000 pounds (200,000 euros), seven times its pre-sale estimate. «It was fresh to the market, extremely well designed, beautiful and rare,» Penton said. Kristian Spofforth, Head of Sotheby’s sale department in London, said: «The finest things in the jewelry trade, including rare diamonds, are often found on display in the retail outlets, exhibitions and jewelry auctions in London and we had two particularly rare and fine Cartier pieces on the front and back of our June auction catalogue which achieved over 400,000 pounds (456,000 euros) between them.»