Tutti i frutti Archives | gioiellis.com

Queen Victoria’s jewels at Sotheby’s auction

Published on February 25, 2021

Gioielli da lutto appartenuti alla regina Vittoria

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Years pass, but the British nobility continues to exert a charm that encourages the many television series, from Downton Abbey to The Crown. Or it manifests itself with an interest in auctions of objects and jewels linked to the English court. An example of this is the auction to be held on 24 March, at Sotheby’s, in London. The sale will offer fine pieces from two legendary families, with over 350 lots ranging from jewelry, furniture, paintings, sculptures, Chinese art, silver, ceramics and art objects.

Patricia Edwina Victoria Mountbatten nel giorno del matrimonio con il marito, John Knatchbull

Precious goods from the second Countess Mountbatten of Burma, great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria, and also great-granddaughter of the last Russian tsarina, first cousin of Prince Philip and daughter of the last viceroy of India of Great Britain, will therefore be on sale. And, as well, third cousin of Queen Elizabeth. Patricia Edwina Victoria Mountbatten, born in 1924, was known and remembered for her “unwavering perseverance and seductive sense of humor” during her lifetime in the heart of the British cultural establishment. Patricia then married John Knatchbull, seventh Lord Brabourne. She passed away in 2017.

The auction, among the many precious objects, also includes Queen Victoria’s mourning jewels. The value, in this case, is given above all by history. Always wore in black, for the death of her husband Alberto in 1861, the queen wore mourning brooches, buttons and pendants. Jewels that, in the various intersections of the family tree, have reached Countess Mountbatten. They consists of an onyx and pearl button with a miniature portrait of Princess Alice, an agate and pearl pendant with a lock of hair engraved “from grandma VR” and an enamel and diamond cross brooch, with a heart of onyx in the center with the word Alice under a crown. The fourth jewel is an agate and diamond pendant, commissioned by Prince Albert himself shortly before his death, to commemorate Queen Victoria’s mother, Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, Duchess of Kent.

In any case, the auction also offers other types of jewelry for sale. For example, a series of art deco jewels All Fruits. The style, which emulated multicolored gems from India (her father, Lord Mountbatten, was the last viceroy) had a special place in the heart of the countess. Countess Mountbatten’s necklace features a crown of carved rubies, emeralds and sapphires accented with diamonds and sapphire pearls. Also art deco is a 1929 bracelet with octagonal links in rock crystal, diamonds and emeralds for sale by Hennell, a jeweler who at the time was the British rival of Cartier and Boucheron.

Among the jewels, there are also two diamond brooches considered unisex: a Maltese diamond cross, a symbol of protection, and a circular brooch, also set with diamonds in a wave pattern. They were a gift to countess by her father, Louis Mountbatten.

Bracciale con cristallo di rocca, smeraldi e diamanti by Hennell

Spille croce di Malta e onde con diamanti donate da Louis Mountbatten

The Sotheby’s super auctions are back, here is the calendar

Published on April 23, 2020

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Bracciale Tutti i Frutti di Cartier, circa 1930

All the economy’s activities, hibernated by the coronavirus, return to (almost) normal: even the jewelery auctions. Sotheby’s has unveiled its new season of jewelry auctions, with dates re-adjusted from the pre-coronavirus calendar. Traditional auctions, often considered a critical factor for the market, follow a series of successful online sales. The results achieved in the last five weeks have been facilitated by Sotheby’s long-term omnichannel strategy, i.e. sales both with auctions in physical locations and via the web.

Unprecedented times are often a catalyst for change, crystallising pre-existing trends and accelerating innovations. In the past few weeks, we have seen the jewellery market further completing its digital revolution: our online sales realised some of their best performances ever, with many new and young collectors from around the world joining. It is also very clear that people are now confident in buying and selling important jewels online. As we look forward to welcoming jewellery lovers back to our salesrooms and exhibitions, we are excited to push ahead with innovative formats in the coming months, starting with the single-lot online sale of a sensational Tutti Frutti bracelet by Cartier at the end of this month.
David Bennett, world president of Sotheby’s jewelry division

Cartier bracelet: April 24-28
The new season begins with an unprecedented single-lot online auction, with a sensational Tutti Frutti bracelet with embedded gems, diamonds and enamels made by Cartier in the 1930s. Estimated between $ 600,000 and $ 800,000, this Art Deco jewelry masterpiece comes from an American collection. The bracelet is set with old European cut diamonds, emeralds, rubies and carved sapphires, as well as emerald pearls, cabochon and emerald sapphires, calibrated cut onyx and black enamel. The jewel is signed Cartier, numbered 1604; about 1930.

Magnificent Jewels – New York, June 9
It is the auction that was scheduled for April: it will present a series of important colored and white diamonds, significant precious stones and vintage and contemporary jewels of the most sought-after houses. Highlights include an exquisite 3.67 carat deep blue diamond ring (approximately $ 2.5-3.5 million, pictured left), a stunning Kashmir sapphire and a 1960s Cartier diamond bracelet (estimate of about 750,000 – 1 million dollars) and a rare Cartier coral bracelet from the 1930s from the Ganna Walska collection (about 80,000 – 120,000 dollars).

Anello con diamante blu intenso da 3,67 carati

Paris Joaillerie – June 10th
Paris will celebrate the return to live auctions with a sale of 278 lots led by treasures of the French avant-garde, including a sumptuous 1930s gold and diamond Barbare necklace by Suzanne Belperron (lot 253, estimate 80,000-140,000 euros). Sotheby’s in Paris will also pay homage to the Parisian jeweler Mellerio, a Maison that has turned 407 years and is the oldest in the world, with the sale of 25 pieces created in the last 30 years of the last century. The salient lots include a necklace of emeralds and diamonds, with a 19.76 carat drop emerald cabochon (lot 169, estimate 20,000-40,000 euros).

Collana Barbare in oro e diamanti degli anni Trenta di Suzanne Belperron

Magnificent and Noble Jewels – Geneva, June 30th
Reprogrammed from the original date of May 12, the flagship auction will illuminate Lake Geneva with a series of important diamonds and precious stones selected for their rarity and quality, including Il Diamante Dell’Alba, an exceptional intense intense yellow diamond that weighs 100.52 carats (estimate of around 3-5 million dollars). Among the signed treasures that will be offered on June 30, Cartier lovers will certainly have fun with a beautiful coral and diamond brooch and a splendid pair of clips with diamond from the 1930s, and a diamond bracelet.

Diamante giallo intenso intenso di 100,52 carati

Magnificent Jewels – Hong Kong, 10 July
Originally scheduled for April, the sale will feature jadeite and colored diamonds, along with iconic designer pieces, such as the Van Cleef & Arpels Zip bracelet-necklace.

Collana-bracciale Zip di Van Cleef & Arpels

Cartier’s Résonances

Published on October 16, 2017

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Cartier, anello in oro bianco, diamanti bianchi e un carbonado al centro

Résonances, a stunning series of high jewelery by Cartier ♦︎
The Cartier’s high jewelery virtuosity continues with Résonances. There are not reverberating sounds, but colors, shapes, and volumes. The collection was showed in a gala in New York with Carey Mulligan, Sofia Coppola, Diane Kruger, Martha Stewart, Sofia Boutella, Jason Wu, Fernando Garcia e Laura Kim, Arthur Elgort, Jessica Hart, David Neville and Gucci Westman, Jill Kargman, Nicky Hilton Rothschild, Carolyn Murphy and so on, after an exclusive London club to present a new round of exceptional pieces, of those who go directly in the historical collections. But why are Résonances? The explanation is simple, are the echoes of the very history of the French Maison, one of few which resides in the Olympus of jewelery. The many creations that have marked Cartier’s life in the jewelery come back, in short, not as replicas, but as ideas that offer the opportunity to present a series of pieces of great visual impact. Great diamonds, screaming emeralds, rubies, but also less common stones such as rubellite, peridot, or the rare sugilite.
Resonances are, for example, those of the style Tutti i Frutti, with a bracelet in which the stones are carved just in the form of more, raspberries, pineapple. Or the echoes of the 1920s are in the diamond tiara and a sumptuous cabochon emerald in the center. There are also large necklaces, such as platinum collar with white diamonds, two stones fancy yellow and pearls. Or the Indian style resonances, with the Bangalore necklace, with sapphires, rubies and diamonds cut to pearls or delicate leaves. But, like in other Cartier jewelery collections, every piece has a story behind it. Or resonances. Giulia Netrese

Anello in oro bianco con diamanti e rubini

Bracciale Eclosion in oro giallo, oro bianco, tormalina intagliata, onice, diamanti, rubino, rubellite

Cartier, bracciale Eurythmie in oro rosa, lapislazuli e diamanti

Collana Bangalore in oro bianco con perline di zaffiro, rubino, smeraldi, diamanti e pietre intagliate

Collana Ecume in platino con diamanti bianchi e fancy yellow briolette

Collana della collezione Résonances con diamanti

Diadema con diamanti e grande smeraldo cabochon

Bracciale-orologio Serpent in oro giallo, con lacca, granati, spessartiti e diamanti

It’s a spinel record

Published on September 25, 2015

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Lo spinello Hope, circa 50 carati, venduto per 1,5 milioni di dollari

Hope is the spinel record. The large stone octagonal cutting was sold by Bonhams for almost one and a half million dollars, or 30 thousand dollars per carat, the highest price ever achieved. And to think that a few years ago was sold for 122 thousand dollars, now it has increased almost tenfold value. Spinel Hope, weighing 50.13 carats, is set into griffe with brilliant-cut diamonds, mounted in silver and gold. It can be also a brooch, a pendant, part of a larger gem. Surely, however, this gemstone auctioned by Bonhams has a long history behind it (found here: https://gioiellis.com/vendita-lo-spinello-hope). But in the auction there were also other interesting pieces. Tutti Frutti bracelet by Cartier, Art Deco, was sold for 700 thousand dollars. A bracelet of Suzanne Belperron “Torsade” of 1932, he was beaten for nearly two and a half times its estimate: 250 thousand dollars, a figure that has surprised many. A jewel that, instead, it was not placed, with a even bigger surprise, was an emerald ring signed Van Cleef & Arpels: was estimated 190-230mila euro. Other results: a ring with a natural pearl was sold for 314mila dollars. A pair of earrings from Cartier Art Deco period, diamond, 1925 have made 204mila dollars. A pearl necklace with sapphires and diamonds called 213 thousand dollars. Federico Graglia