THE biggest briolette-style diamond ever sold at auction, Qianlong period vases and a painting by the modern Chinese artist Zhang Daqian helped lift Christie's International's Hong Kong spring sales.

The five days of events that ended on Wednesday raised HK$3.2 billion (US$418 million), the auction house said in an e-mailed release yesterday. The sales showed the continued buying power of Asian clients, even as China's expansion is slowing from the pace that turned it into the world's No. 2 economy.

"The market has most definitely recovered since last year," said William Qian, a London-based dealer of ceramics who bid unsuccessfully for a Qianlong (1736-1795) blue and white Sanskrit-inscribed bell that sold for HK$15.6 million, 12 times its estimate of HK$1.2 million.

The bell was part of a sale from the estate of Y.C. Chen, one of the most respected dealers of Chinese art, in which all 68 lots sold, including the most expensive, a pair of iron-red Qianlong famille rose vases for HK$43.6 million, on Wednesday.

The highlight of Tuesday's jewelry sale was the 75.36-carat, water-drop-shaped diamond necklace that sold for an auction record of HK$86.1 million for a briolette-style gem.