Jewels to know: they are those of Marianne Ostier, a historical signature of high jewelery ♦
Sotheby’s time ago, between a blue diamond and big Maison jewelry, has also sold some pieces signed by Marianne Ostier in New York. Who does not know the history of jewelry, perhaps, does not know who was this woman artist, one of the few greats of the last century. She has had a busy life. In the Thirties she studied art and jewelry design in Vienna. Then, she married Oliver Ostier, the third generation of Austrian jewelers, who worked for the Habsburgs. In 1939 she moved to New York and opened a shop on Fifth Avenue. With her jewelry has conquered a large celebrity host, as Julie Nixon, Ingrid Bergman and Maharani of Jaipur. Yet she has only worked for 30 years: when her husband died, she closed the boutique.
There remain, however, a lot of her jewels, that Marianne wanted be in accord to shape and complexion of the clients face. The pieces have an elegant style and original and today are particularly sought after. Those sold by Sotheby’s, for example, come from the extraordinary collections of Mamdouha and Elmer Holmes Bobst. The most valuable piece is a diamond tiara (estimate: USD 30-50000) designed by Ostier for jeweler Oesterreicher of Vienna, who later changed his name to Ostier Inc in New York. The jewel was built in 1938, on the occasion of the marriage of the King and Queen Geraldine Zog I of Albania. Another outstanding piece is the Galaxy brooch, circa 1955 (estimate: 45 to 65.000 dollars), with a swirl of spiral diamonds, depicting the formation of the universe. Federico Graglia
