NEW YORK, NY.- Daryl Wickstrom, International Managing Director of Sotheby’s Jewellery & Watch Divisions, today announced the appointment of David Bennett to the newly-created position of Worldwide Chairman of Sotheby’s International Jewellery Division.

Mr. Wickstrom commented: “David Bennett has led Sotheby’s jewellery sales in Europe to an incredible list of historic results over the course of his four decades with the Company. He is celebrated and respected throughout this field for his impressive scholarship, extensive knowledge of jewellery and precious stones, and consummate skills as an auctioneer. Sotheby’s global sales of jewellery are experiencing some of the fastest growth among the many collecting categories we offer, and in this new global role David will help design and implement a strategy for the continued expansion and development of this critical arm of our business. With the support of a network of jewellery experts that is unparalleled in the auction market, led by Lisa Hubbard, Chairman North & South America, Sotheby’s Jewellery, Quek Chin Yeow, Chairman Asia, Sotheby’s Jewellery, and Patti Wong, Chairman of Sotheby’s Diamonds, the Company stands in a unique position to serve our rapidly-expanding client base.”

Mr. Bennett said: “Sotheby’s jewellery sales are in an excellent position to experience continued growth beyond our recent record results, which culminated in 2014 with our highest-ever annual total of more than $600 million in sales. Our client base is constantly expanding – buyers from more than 74 countries participated in our auctions last year in New York, Geneva, Hong Kong and London, with a quarter of all bidders participating in a Sotheby’s auction for their first time. I look forward to working with Lisa, Chin Yeow, Patti, and our international senior specialist team to continue building an exciting, diverse and innovative jewellery business that serves both new and established collectors and influential members of the trade on a global basis."

During his tenure, Mr. Bennett has presided over many record-breaking sales, including the “Graff Pink” that set the current auction record for any diamond and any jewel when it sold for $46.2 million in November 2010, as well as an extraordinary seven 100+ carat diamonds. He has been instrumental in presenting many of Sotheby’s most iconic jewellery auctions, including the Jewels of the Duchess of Windsor (1987), the Princely Collections of Thurn and Taxis (1992), and the collections of Ava Gardner, H.H. Begum Sultan Mohamed Shah Aga Khan, Maria Callas, Gina Lollobrigida and, most recently, Dimitri Mavrommatis.

Under Mr. Bennett’s leadership, Sotheby’s Geneva has presented many jewels of supreme historical importance, among them the legendary “Beau Sancy”, a diamond that had once graced the collection of Henry IV of France, and the magnificent emerald and diamond tiara formerly in the collection of Princess Katharina Henckel von Donnersmarck. He is the co-author, with Daniela Mascetti, of the celebrated reference book Understanding Jewellery, in print since 1989, and Celebrating Jewellery (2012).