A number of spectacular sales of fancy colored diamonds helped push jewelry sales at Christie's International to a record high of $426.4 million for 2010, a 56% increase over the auction house's global jewelry sales for 2009.

In October 2010, Christie's sold the Bulgari Blue – a 10.95-carat Fancy Vivid triangular-cut blue diamond, set in a ring along with a 9.87-carat white trilliant-cut diamond – for $15,762,500. This set a new per-carat price ($1.4 million) for a blue diamond.

The next month, Christie's Hong Kong knocked down the Perfect Pink diamond ring – a 14.23-carat rectangular-cut pink diamond with a color grade of Fancy Intense Pink – for over $23 million, a per-carat price of $1.6 million, making it the most expensive jewel ever sold in Asia.

Antique jewelry also performed well at Christie's auctions in 2010. A 9.20-carat ruby from the Dukes of Portland collection sold for over $3.3 million in London, while the Portland Pearls diamond and pearl brooch fetched $2.4 million.

"With many new buyers in Europe, the US, and Asia actively participating at a high level, competition has become more intense than ever for rare jewels and gems of the highest quality," Christie's said in a press release. The auction house also noted that jewelry collectors from mainland China had become a "formidable force."