Put together the collections of Helen Hay Whitney, Estée Lauder, Evelyn H. Lauder, Marlene Dietrich and Grand Duchess Vladimir of Russia. Result: Sotheby’s New York auction of Magnificent Jewels reached $44.1 million. This performance by Sotheby’s brings its 2014 jewelry auction total to $597.5 million, a new record for the company’s sales in this category. And one auction in London still remains to be concluded.
Helen Hay’s necklace. The New York auction was highlighted by a gold, platinum and diamond necklace given to Helen Hay, the famous poet and philanthropist, on the occasion of her marriage to Payne Whitney in 1902: an event that made headlines at the time. The necklace has four diamonds ranging from F to H in color, and weighs 27.48, 15.53, 13.08 and 8.91 carats. The jewel was sold for $3.2 million (estimate ranged from $2.5 million to $3.5 million). All seven jewels in the sale that belonged to Helen Hay Whitney were sold for a total of $4.8 million.
Lauder Precious. Also up for sale were jewelry from the collections of Estée Lauder, founder of the cosmetics company, and Evelyn H. Lauder, wife of Estée’s son, Leonard Lauder. Lauder jewelry sold for $3.9 million, with more than 80 percent of the pieces above estimate. Among the 32 pieces from Evelyn H. Lauder’s collection, sold to benefit The Breast Cancer Research Foundation, was a rare Tutti Frutti bracelet by Cartier, circa 1928. Seven bidders competed for the piece, which ultimately sold for $2.1 million, an auction record for a bracelet of this type. Among the 10 pieces from the Estée Lauder collection, sold to benefit the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation, was a pair of fancy brown-yellow diamond earrings by Van Cleef & Arpels, which sold for $233,000.
The Jewels of the Tsars. A platinum pendant, with an emerald and a diamond, that originally belonged to the legendary collection of Grand Duchess Vladimir of Russia was sold for $1 million. It has an adventurous history: it was smuggled out of Russia by an English friend of the Duchess after the Tsar’s abdication in 1917 and the Bolshevik Revolution. The emeralds then passed to a daughter and granddaughter of the Duchess, to be acquired at auction at Sotheby’s Geneva in 1987 by Princess Gloria von Thurn und Taxis.
La collezione di Marlene Dietrich. Sei offerenti hanno gareggiato fino all’ultimo per aggiudicarsi il bracciale della grande attrice: 14 carati, con tre colori di oro e lapislazzuli di Cartier, datato circa 1940. È stato venduto per 179 mila dollari (la stima era di 20-30mila). Il bracciale è stato un regalo a Marlene di un amico di lunga data, Erich Maria Remarque, autore di Niente di nuovo sul fronte occidentale. Federico Graglia
