Sotheby’s, one of the world’s oldest auction houses, reports strong and continuing growth in the sales and interest in high quality diamond jewelry.  Despite the world’s economic downturn, high society has been increasingly investing in fine jewelry auctions.

Sotheby’s reports that they are expecting another record breaking sales at it Monday auction in Double Bay, Austrailia.  “The level of interest we’ve had in this auction is the highest ever,”  says Hamish Sharma, Head of Jewelry at Sotheby’s Australia.  He goes on to state, “Telephone and absentee bid registrations are tracking well ahead of what we’ve had in the past and I’m pretty confident we’ll have our best ever result.”

Featured in the upcoming auction is a Bulgari diamond necklace, estimated at $550k, along with other fine pieces from Cartier and Tiffany & Co.  These great “investment” opportunities are receiving great interest as these items can sell for “up to 80 percent off what the retail price would be”

With Australia’s recent economic growth and rising upper-middle and upper class populations, many young professionals are seeking out great bargains in precious stone and metal jewelry.  “It becomes a memento of their achievements but in a few years they’ll also have quite a nice little nest egg that they’ve had the pleasure of using and owning but that has also helped create them some assets,” Sharma explains.

With Sotheby breaking their company record with $1.4 million in sales at the Melbourne auction last April, they set their sights on continuing the streak this Monday.