The 18th century diamond necklace, formerly in the collection of the Marquess of Anglesey, was the jewel that attracted attention at the Sotheby’s auction in Geneva. The exceptional jewel sold for $4.8 million, more than double its initial estimate. Sotheby’s reports that the bidding war for the jewel lasted over seven minutes. The winner is anonymous.
The necklace is composed of 500 diamonds and weighs over 300 carats. The diamonds are likely from the legendary mines of Golconda, India. An extraordinary piece of jewelry from the Georgian era, composed of three rows of diamonds finished with a tassel of diamonds at each end. Such an important and historic ancient jewel could only have been created for the royal family or a high-ranking aristocrat, probably the French or English court. The diamond jewel belonged to the Marquesses of Anglesey, a leading Anglo-Welsh aristocratic family with close ties to the British royal family in the early 20th century. In 1937, Marjorie Paget, Marchioness of Anglesey (eldest daughter of Henry Manners, 8th Duke of Rutland), wore the jewel to the coronation of King George VI, along with the famous Anglesey Tiara. She was photographed wearing her coronation robes and the diamond jewel by renowned society photographer Cecil Beaton. In 1953, her daughter-in-law attended the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II wearing the same set of family jewels. The 7th Marquess of Anglesey parted ways with the piece in the 1960s.
While there have been countless achievements worthy of celebration, the Anglesey Jewel stands out as one of a kind. From the moment we laid eyes on it, the entire team was mesmerized by its beauty, its history, and its timelessness. Travelling with it around the world, the awe it inspired was universal. The electricity in the saleroom was palpable and it will be one of my fondest memories being on the phone, helping to find its new home.
Andres White Correal, President Jewellery Europe and Middle East, Head of Noble Jewels
Also sold were the jewels from the collection A Tsar’s Treasure: Ferdinand of Bulgaria (1861-1948). With 114 lots, spanning almost a century of history of the illustrious family of Tsar Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, the collection is a magnificent testament to Tsar Ferdinand’s exquisite taste, cultivated by his mother, Princess Clementine of Orleans, daughter of the last French king Louis-Philippe I, herself an avid collector of jewellery.
We are incredibly proud of the results achieved in our carefully curated Magnificent Jewels sale today in Geneva. The sale showed confidence in the market for both white and coloured diamonds. Pink diamonds performed particularly well, with the top lot of the sale being a 12.52 carat Fancy Orangy Pink diamond ring, which sold for CHF 2.8 million, over five times its low estimate. We also saw strength in coloured gemstones, with some spectacular results for sapphires, including an eye-catching sapphire and diamond bracelet by Van Cleef & Arpels which almost doubled its low estimate to reach CHF 612,000. We were delighted to see natural pearls retain their appeal with all of our lots selling for high prices. Similarly, designer jewellery was also well represented in the sale, with strong results for all pieces from the Art Deco period to contemporary designers such as JAR. Highlights from the stunning single-owner Archaeological Revival jewellery collection also achieved fantastic results, proving that museum-quality jewellery truly does have a place in contemporary collections.
Jessica Wyndham, Head of Magnificent Jewels, Sotheby’s Geneva
Overall the sales reached a combined total of $30.7 million, fueled by over 330 bidders from around the world, with a clear predominance of bidders from Europe, followed by North America and Asia. For the record: the auction participants were mostly under 50 years old (60%) with 28% of all bidders under 40. Ultimately, the vast majority of sales were secured by private buyers based in Europe (just 50%) followed by the USA and Asia (23% and 17% respectively). Across all sales, over 96% of all lots sold achieved final bids within their low and high estimates or above, with a staggering 83% of all lots in the Royal & Noble sale exceeding their high estimate.
