A dive into history through jewels. This is also the auction of Sotheby’s Magnificent Jewels and Noble Jewels scheduled for Wednesday 11 November in Geneva. In addition to numerous vintage jewels and great Maison such as Van Cleef & Arpels and Cartier or Blugari, the auction house also offers for sale a series of pieces that have a fascinating origin.
For example, the emerald and diamond set that belonged to Manuel de Guirior y Portal, 1st Marquis de Guirior, lieutenant general of the Royal Navy, viceroy of New Granada and Peru, who was born in Aoiz in the ancient kingdom of Navarre, on 21 March 1708. Born into an illustrious Navarrese family, his parents were Don Carlos de Guirior Erdozain and María Josefa del Portal. An eighteenth-century necklace with diamonds and emeralds is not a jewel that you see every day.
To underline the offer of jewels of noble origin is also a beautiful pair of natural pearls, set in a pair of sparkling diamond earrings attributed to Cartier, from the collection of Sarah Baillie-Hamilton, born Sarah Cook (1903-1995). Born in Montreal in 1903, she met George, the Earl of Haddington, when she was working as aide-de-camp to the Governor General of Canada. Or a Cartier necklace that was part of the collection of Henriette Hélène, say Elly, Porgès, marquise de la Ferté-Meun (1878-1946), married to Eugène, marquis de la Ferté-Meun (1870-1946), daughter of Jules Porgès (1839-1921) and Anna Wodiamer.
The auction also features a large representation of art deco jewelery signed by the Maison Mauboussin, founded in 1827 by M. Rocher, in the midst of French political instability and colonial conquests. In 1878, Jean-Baptist Noury, M. Rocher’s successor, received a medal in recognition of his work at the Exposition Universelle de Paris which established the firm’s solid reputation. Under the guidance of George Mauboussin, the interwar period is characterized by exoticism, which is reflected in the selection and quality of Mauboussin’s gems: jade from the East, pearls and coral from the Middle East. Federico Graglia
