Van Cleef Necklace Zips Past High Estimate at Heritage

A necklace from Van Cleef & Arpels’s Zip collection more than doubled its high estimate at the latest Heritage Auctions jewelry sale, bringing in $507,000.

The piece, which bears approximately 13 carats of round, square and emerald-cut sapphires, as well as 6.10 carats of diamonds, had been estimated to fetch up to $200,000 at the December 4 sale of jewelry, handbags and other valuables belonging to philanthropist Susan Morrow. Proceeds from the sale, which saw a 100% sell-through rate, will benefit the Susan Morrow Legacy Foundation for ovarian cancer research, Heritage said last week. In total, the auction brought in $1.7 million.

Other items that performed well at the auction included a Van Cleef & Arpels Magic Alhambra necklace with 488 diamonds weighing a total of 16.93 carats. That piece achieved $125,000, skyrocketing above its $60,000 upper presale price tag. A Graff ring featuring an emerald-cut, 6.25-carat, G-color, VS2-clarity diamond brought in $115,625, while another ring, bearing a radiant-cut, 6.11-carat, fancy-intense-yellow, SI1-clarity diamond surrounded by white diamonds, garnered $81,250.

The sale also comprised several other jewelry items by Van Cleef & Arpels, Bulgari, David Webb, and Graff, as well as watches by Cartier, Rolex, and Piaget. A collection of Judith Leiber handbags saw a record-setting result.

The auction total was the highest Heritage has ever recorded for a single-owner sale in the luxury-accessories category, it noted.