«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.»