Phillips, an auction house founded in 1796, boasts a long history, but its legacy is only a few hundred years old, making it a distant competitor compared to Sotheby's and Christie's. It wasn't even considered a peer to these giants. In Europe and the United States, it was typically regarded as a second-tier auction house, at best. However, everything changed in 1999. In November of that year, the owner of the renowned luxury brand "Aiyowei" purchased the auction house for £70 million and merged it into Aiyowei, the world's largest luxury group.
Taking advantage of scandals surrounding the two leading auction houses, the new owner invested heavily in Phillips. Rather than focusing on antiques, which he knew would never rival the inventory of Sotheby's and Christie's, he pivoted towards Impressionist oil paintings, contemporary art, and furniture.
Jiang Hai's primary goal was to utilize this opportunity. After making a phone call in the evening and arranging a meeting for the following day, Jiang Hai felt a sense of relief. Everything was set to unfold the next morning.
The following day, he arrived at Phillips' office carrying a backpack.
"Hello, may I help you?" a receptionist greeted him as he entered.
"Hello, I made an appointment yesterday. My name is Jiang," he replied.
"Mr. Jiang? Your appointment is at 9 a.m. It's almost time. Please allow me to take you to the third reception room to wait. I'll notify Manager Zhang to come down." The receptionist smiled and nodded before escorting Jiang Hai to a VIP room. After offering him a cup of tea, she left. Moments later, a man in a suit entered. He appeared to be about 40 years old and carried himself with confidence. As soon as he saw Jiang Hai, he smiled.
"Mr. Jiang? I'm Zhang, the account manager for the Imperial Capital office of Phillips Auction House. How can I assist you?" The middle-aged man extended his hand for a handshake.
"I've brought a batch of gems for identification," Jiang Hai explained, shaking the man's hand.
Zhang's expression remained unfazed. "Of course, no problem. However, as our auction house operates with costs, we do charge a fee for appraisals," he explained, sitting across from Jiang Hai.
"I understand. I just need to know the pricing structure," Jiang Hai replied. He had already done some research. Auction houses primarily make money through appraisals, as the auctions themselves are infrequent, but lucrative when they occur.
"There are two options for appraisal fees at our auction house," Manager Zhang explained. "One is a 1% handling fee based on the value of the item being appraised. If your collection is worth thousands or tens of thousands, this is the appropriate choice. The second option is a fixed fee of 2,000 yuan per item." Zhang smiled as he looked at Jiang Hai.
"Understood. I'll go with the fixed fee," Jiang Hai decided after a brief pause. He wasn't sure of the value of the items he had, but if any turned out to be valuable, the second option would be more worthwhile. Confident in the quality of his gems, Jiang Hai made his choice.
Zhang didn't hesitate, stepping out to bring in two individuals—one appeared to be a middle-aged man who looked like a master jeweler, and the other was likely an apprentice. After brief introductions, Jiang Hai laid out the stones he had collected in the cave.
In total, Jiang Hai had 213 unbreakable stones from the cave. Since he didn't have enough money to appraise them all at once, he hoped at least some would prove valuable. If not, he could always sell a batch and reappraise them. He wasn't ready to use them for anything else yet. These stones had to be worth something.
The two appraisers set up their equipment, and Jiang Hai began placing stones on the coffee table for evaluation.
"This is just natural crystal, not valuable," the man said after inspecting the first piece. "This large one is worth about 3,500 yuan."
Jiang Hai sighed. He had suspected as much. Crystals had been more valuable in the past, but now that they could be artificially manufactured, their value had dropped. His piece, with its high purity, might have fetched a higher price if it weren't so common.
"It looks like I was too optimistic," Jiang Hai muttered to himself. As the appraiser moved through the stones, the majority of them were identified as natural crystals, each valued at around 2,000 yuan. This covered the cost of the appraisal fee, at least.
However, just as Jiang Hai was starting to feel numb to the process, the appraiser suddenly exclaimed, studying one of the gems with increased intensity. After a few minutes of examination, he looked up at Jiang Hai.
"You're lucky. This isn't a natural crystal, but a natural sapphire. It's about ten carats in size and worth around 1.2 million yuan." Jiang Hai froze for a moment. This alone made the appraisal fee worthwhile.
After thinking for a while, Jiang Hai put the crystals back into his bag and pulled out the remaining 132 stones, which were still unclassified. The appraiser smiled faintly but didn't comment. He had a job to do, and his commission depended on the number of gems appraised.
He earned 1,500 yuan in commission for every 2,000 yuan appraisal, so he worked with focused attention. As he worked through the remaining stones, 121 turned out to be natural crystals.
The larger stones were mostly crystals, with only a few actual gemstones among them. In total, after reviewing 130 stones, the appraiser found only nine real gems. The most valuable of these was a 12.37-carat ruby worth an estimated 2.3 million yuan.
There were two smaller rubies, which could sell together for around 500,000 yuan. Three emeralds were worth roughly 1.6 million yuan. Two sapphires, worth 400,000 yuan together, brought the total value to 1.6 million yuan. Finally, the remaining gemstones—two aquamarines and one golden-green gem—each weighed 50 carats, totaling 1 million yuan.
In all, the total value of the gems came to 7 million yuan. While this was a far cry from the tens of millions Jiang Hai had hoped for, it was still a considerable sum.
As the appraiser continued to inspect the remaining pieces, Jiang Hai silently congratulated himself on the profitable trip.
However, when the last gem was appraised, the appraiser's eyes widened. He stared at it for an unusually long time—nearly half an hour—before instructing his assistant to bring in additional equipment.
Soon, the assistant returned with an assortment of machines, and the appraiser began testing the gem meticulously. An hour and a half later, the appraiser remained silent, holding the gem in his hand.
"Is something wrong?" Jiang Hai asked, surprised by the appraiser's focused demeanor.
"No, there's no problem. But if everything checks out, Mr. Jiang, you may be very rich," the appraiser said, his voice filled with awe. He held the gem—a pink six-sided stone about the size of four thumb nails—with a mixture of reverence and excitement.
"Rich? Well, I've made a modest fortune already. Those gems are worth over 7 million yuan," Jiang Hai laughed, trying to keep things in perspective.
"No, this gem alone puts all those others to shame," the appraiser replied, his eyes gleaming. "I'm 99.99% sure that this is a pink diamond. The four Cs are all exceptional. It weighs 31.6 carats. Do you know what the going rate for this kind of diamond is? The price per carat is 380,000 USD!"
Jiang Hai was struck speechless. "380,000 USD per carat? So, 31.6 carats would be… 12 million USD?" His mind reeled as he processed the appraiser's words.
"No, it's worth more than that. This isn't just any pink diamond; this is a complete pink diamond. A 31.6-carat flawless pink diamond. The price should be at least twenty times higher!"
Jiang Hai was left in stunned silence, his mind racing. "Wait, give me a moment… I need to process this…"