Hot on the heels of its successful Geneva jewelry sale in May, Christie’s is gearing up for a Magnificent Jewels live auction in New York on June 11, coinciding with a Jewels Online event June 4–13.
The live auction promises an extraordinary display from esteemed collections of global luminaries of the 20th century, spanning the elite of American society to icons of Italian cinema. Leading this lineup are jewels owned by socialite Sunny von Bülow and her daughter Ala, presented by Christie’s as “Beauty in Design: Magnificent Jewelry From the Collection of Sunny Crawford von Bülow and Ala von Auersperg Isham.”
The highest-value lot in the von Bülow collection is a carved emerald, ruby, and diamond necklace by Van Cleef & Arpels (pictured at top), with an estimate between $200,000 and $300,000. The signed, circa 1965 necklace is in 18k and 14k yellow gold and features a hexagonal carved tablet emerald surrounded by marquise and pear-shape rubies, with round and marquise-cut diamonds on the pendant and necklace.
Another prominent collection in the sale comes from Fritz and Lucy Jewett, Bay Area arts patrons and philanthropists, including most notably a platinum ring with an 18.31 ct. emerald-cut sapphire flanked by triangular diamonds, estimated at $150,000 to $250,000. Christie’s will also auction pieces from the collections of Jeanette Edris Rockefeller and Margaret Thompson Biddle. At the heart of the sale is the Eden Rose, a 10.2 ct. flawless pink diamond expected to fetch between $9 million and $12 million.
Christie’s says the upcoming New York auction will feature an exquisite variety of colored diamonds, pristine colorless diamonds, stunning gemstones, and vintage signed pieces from renowned houses including Bulgari, Cartier, Tiffany & Co., and Van Cleef & Arpels, along with a small selection of designer evening bags with distinguished provenance, including Italian movie star Silvana Mangano and the Duchess of Windsor (Wallis Simpson).
Items in the Magnificent Jewels sale will be on display June 6 through 10 at Christie’s New York.
(Photos courtesy of Christie’s)
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