The big apple's big carats
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"No one wants to be lectured to. If you are on a journey to see different and beautiful things such as the important pieces I have, then I will explain the pieces to you," he says.
He used two diamond-studded Cartier Belle Epoque bows of varying prices to illustrate how he would educate a client.
On the surface, the older one from 1904 with more than 900 diamonds and a total weight of more than 40 carats would seem more expensive than the other from 1913, with about 700 diamonds and a total weight of 30 carats set in rock crystal. But the latter has been in three major museum exhibitions in the past six years and will be on loan to the Denver Art Museum next year (at the same exhibition the Rothschild necklace will be shown). To connoisseurs, the importance of the necklace extends beyond the maker and exhibitions.
"Hong Kong is the only market where women can come in and decide to buy a $2 million piece without asking their spouse's permission," Siegelson says.
"Their tastes are also changing from merely large stones to old Indian Jewelry and Golconda diamonds."
He exhibited a 61.5 carat golden antique cut Golconda diamond (La Splendeur Doree/The Golden Splendor) at the Hong Kong Fair, and sold a large, jewel-studded ivory elephant objet d'art which looked Indian but was really Japanese.
Siegelson likes to say that his business goes "beyond a certificate" (of authenticity) and that doing something well based on trust, taste and the strong reputation of selling only the best are what attracts and keeps his customers loyal. Everything he offers will stand and has stood the test of time - proof that their importance in the past is just as signifiant today as in the future. He believes that a well-made item of jewelry is like a well-made piece of furniture.
But, he always tells clients, documentation and provenance aside, before buying anything, "Most of all, you have to love it!"
