The Royal Jewels of the Latest White-Glove Christie’s Sale 

The Christie’s New York Magnificent Jewels sale was an auction for the ages. All 138 lots at the June 17 event found buyers, making it a “white glove” sale that totaled $87.7 million — a record for a various-owner Christie’s jewelry auction in the Americas. The top 15 lots each fetched more than $1 million.  

Some of this was expected, as the sale featured royal jewels from Europe and India, an exceptionally large and rare Ceylon sapphire, and private collections with signed pieces from prestigious jewelry houses.  

The top lot was also the most anticipated: the 10.38-carat Marie-Thérèse Pink diamond, which sold for nearly $14 million — double its high estimate. The modified kite brilliant-cut, fancy-purple-pink, S1-clarity diamond has a storied history: It is reputed to have belonged to French Queen Marie Antoinette, and it passed through French, Bavarian and Austrian imperial and royal families before its recent sale. In addition to the gem’s royal provenance, the ring’s setting is the work of contemporary jewelry royalty: JAR. 

The number-two lot was the Blue Belle, a 392.52-carat, unheated Ceylon sapphire with a cushion modified mixed cut. It fetched $11.3 million. The provenance of this gem was well-documented until 1937, when it apparently disappeared for several decades.  

The sapphire — one of the world’s largest — first surfaced as a rough in 1926 and had a “highly prized peacock-blue color and excellent clarity,” according to Christie’s. It belonged to Sri Lankan gem and jewelry firm Macan Markar before British motor magnate Lord Nuffield acquired the gem in 1937, reportedly with plans to give it to Queen Elizabeth (later the queen mother) at her coronation. Instead, it sold privately and passed through several owners before appearing at Christie’s Geneva in 2014.  

Today, the sapphire is the centerpiece of an 18-karat-white-gold necklace with a cascade of round and oval diamonds.

Mughal splendor 

Besides those star lots, “private collections and superb jewels were met with enthusiastic and competitive bidding,” reported Rahul Kadakia, the auction house’s international head of jewelry. The hits continued with three gem-set necklaces of historic Indian Mughal provenance, all of which flew past their high estimates. 

The first featured five carved Colombian emeralds — three hexagonal and two pear-shaped — with a total weight of approximately 1,178.50 carats. The largest emerald, which weighs some 470 carats, carries the inscription “Ahmad Shah Durr-i Durran,” the name of the leader who founded the Durrani Empire in Afghanistan and northwest India. The piece fetched over $6.2 million, more than double its high estimate. 

Adorning the second necklace, which sold for more than $5.5 million, were four Colombian emeralds totaling nearly 800 carats, a drop-shaped spinel bead, a baroque ruby bead, and baroque natural pearls. The third necklace was a three-strand piece with spinels and natural pearls, comfortably exceeding its high estimate at just over $3 million. Eight of its spinels were inscribed stones in the Mughal tradition of commemorating respected leaders by carving their names in gems.

Private victories 

Among the private collections was a group of approximately 26 jewels from the estate of New York philanthropist Anne Hendricks Bass, including pieces by Van Cleef & Arpels, Bulgari, and Cartier, and 11 jewels by JAR. Every piece but one beat its high estimate, and the group of jewels totaled more than $8.8 million.  

One of the top lots in this group was a pair of Van Cleef & Arpels diamond pendant earrings that fetched nearly $2 million. There was also a sapphire, emerald and diamond JAR necklace that went for five times its high estimate at $1.5 million. 

A collection of jewels from another New York philanthropist, Lucille Coleman, achieved a total of $7.4 million. The top lot was a mystery-set Van Cleef & Arpels brooch with rubies and diamonds, which scored almost $1.6 million — more than twice its upper estimate.

Main image: The auction’s top lot, a JAR ring containing the 10.38-carat Marie-Thérèse Pink diamond, which fetched nearly $14 million. (Christie’s)