Displaying items by tag: brooch

In 1943, the Allied team known as the Monuments Men were instrumental in recovering roughly 3,500 artworks that were confiscated by the Nazis during World War II and stashed hidden in salt mines for the intended purpose of going toward Adolf Hitler's proposed Führermuseum in Linz.

Among those artistic treasures were about 250 of the finest jewels, decorative objects and paintings collected by Austria’s Baron and Baroness Alphonse and Clarice de Rothschild, which include an Art Deco emerald and diamond brooch that the Baron gave the Baroness on their 25th wedding anniversary.

A mystery worthy of the one of the great writer’s own books reached its conclusion in Bonhams Jewelery sale in Knightsbridge.

Setting the room buzzing with excitement, bidders in the room, on the telephones, and online competed for Christie’s diamond brooch and three-stone diamond ring, pushing the prices ever higher. The ring, originally estimated at £3,000-5,000, sold for £21,875 (including buyer’s premium), and the brooch, estimated at £6,000-8,000, sold for a whopping £27,500 (including buyer’s premium).

The two pieces were long thought to be lost, having been mentioned as family heirlooms by Christie in her autobiography, but their whereabouts were unknown.

The Louvre’s new outpost in Abu Dhabi, which is slated to open in December 2015, will showcase highlights from its collection during an exhibition in France in May. “Birth of a Museum” will include over 160 objects and will give visitors a glimpse of the museum’s impressive collection as well as demonstrate the project’s cultural and architectural significance.

Louvre Abu Dhabi’s collection, which includes everything from ancient to contemporary artworks, has been gradually growing since 2009. “Birth of a Museum” will present a rare Greek archaic sphinx, an Italian brooch from the 5th century AD, and paintings by Edouard Manet, Rene Magritte, Paul Gauguin, Pablo Picasso, and Cy Twombly. A similar exhibition was held in Abu Dhabi from April 22 through July 20, 2013, at a gallery on the island of Saadiyat, close to where construction for the new museum is underway.

Louvre Abu Dhabi, which was designed by the French architect Jean Nouvel, aims to be  a place of conversation between civilizations and cultures. Works on view will be drawn from French collections as well as the museum’s own holdings.

“Birth of a Museum” will be on view at the Louvre in Paris from May 2 through July 28.

On April 16, Christie’s Magnificent Jewels Sale in New York fetched a total of $60.6 million. The top lot was a pair of round, D-color internally flawless diamonds, weighing 22.60 and 22.31 carats, which brought $8.6 million. The two-session sale featured more than 250 jewels.

The auction included the collection of animal welfare advocates Riki and Jerome Shaw. All of the proceeds from this portion of the sale, which totaled $8.6 million, were donated to cage-free animal shelters. Highlights from the Shaws’ collection included a 6.1-carat, rectangular-cut fancy intense pink diamond ring by Harry Winston, which netted $5.8 million and a Burmese ruby and diamond ring that fetched $1.3 million.

The Magnificent Jewels auction also included the private collection of Kathleen and Martin Field, which garnered over $6 million. The lot included a 20.10-carat rectangular-cut, D-color, VVS1 diamond by Harry Winston that sold for more than $2.4 million and a 42.88-carat rectangular-cut Colombian emerald and diamond brooch by Harry Winston that realized over $1.3 million.

Christie’s next Magnificent Jewels auction will take place on May 14 in Geneva. The sale will feature The Blue, the largest flawless vivid blue diamond in the world, as well as The Ocean Dream, the largest vivid blue-green diamond in the world.

Christie’s Geneva will offer the jewelry collection of Hélène Rochas, wife and muse of the late fashion designer Marcel Rochas, on November 12, 2013 as part of its Magnificent Jewels auction. The 18-piece collection includes a ruby brooch by Van Cleef & Arpels (estimate: $190,000-$255,000), a rare leaping tiger brooch by Rene Boivin (estimate: $190,000-$255,000) and a pink topaz, aquamarine and diamond bangle by Verdura (estimate: $127,000-$190,000).

Rochas, who passed away in 2011, also maintained an impressive art collection that included works by Edouard Vuillard, Wassily Kandinsky and four portraits of herself by Andy Warhol. In 2012, Christie’s Paris organized a sale of her art holdings, which ended up breaking four world records.

Besides Rochas’ collection, the jewelry sale will include pieces once belonging to Bolivian tycoon Simón Iturri Patiño. Highlights include an emerald and diamond necklace by Cartier London (estimate: $7 million-$10 million) and a cushion-shaped F-color diamond ring of 32.65 carats by Chaumet (estimate: $2.2 million-$2.8 million).

On December 5, Sotheby’s in New York will help cosmetics executive, Leonard Lauder, auction off jewelry that once belonged to his wife, Evelyn, and mother Estée. The collection is worth at least $13.4 million and includes a 47.714-carat heart-shaped yellow diamond with connections to the Duchess of Windsor, a Van Cleef & Arpels brooch featuring a pair of ruby tulips and diamonds, a flawless 6.54-carat fancy intense pink diamond ring by Oscar Heyman & Bros, and a 22.16-carat platinum and diamond ring from Graff.

Part of Sotheby’s Magnificent Jewels auction, the proceeds from the 35 pieces will benefit the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, an organization founded and championed by Evelyn Lauder. Additional pieces from the collection will be offered in New York as part of the Important Jewels auction in February 2013, also sold to benefit the Research Foundation. Leonard Lauder, chairman of The Estée Lauder Company and acting chairman of The Breast Cancer Research Foundation said, “We are pleased to be partnering with Sotheby’s for this important auction. Each piece of jewelry is unique and very special.”

 The auction comes at a time when high-end jewelry has been outperforming most of the art market. Buyers and collectors continue to seek recession-proof assets and have turned to quality jewelry designed by big names such as Bulgari and Van Cleef & Arpels for stable investments. Sotheby’s said its jewelry sales were up 19% this year.