Sotheby's to Offer Rare Emerald and Diamond Tiara, 11ct Fancy Intense Pink

The von Donnersmarck emerald and diamond tiara is expected to fetch $5.3-$10.6 million at Sotheby's May sale

(IDEX Online News) - Lot 443 is the headline item of Sotheby's Geneva May 17 sale of Magnificent Jewels & Noble Jewels. The emerald and diamond tiara offered by a private collector was commissioned for a princess, and is now on sale with an emerald-cut fancy intense pink diamond weighing 10.99 carats.

Sotheby’s describes the tiara as a crown of foliate and floral inspiration, the base is set with a central row of eleven larger cushion-shaped diamonds, each set between pairs of muguets, above a line of laurel leaf motifs and surmounted by festooned ribbons, pierced and millegrain set throughout with rose and brilliant-cut diamonds, surmount by a row of eleven polished pear-shaped emeralds. The emeralds, totaling approximately 500 carats, graduated in size from the center, each emerald drilled and held in diamond set cusp motifs, the nine largest tipped by rose diamonds, mounted in silver and gold, later detachable tiara fitting.

The mouthful description is followed by a hefty estimate: 4.6-9.2 million Swiss francs, or $5.3-$10.6 million. The tiara is understood to have been commissioned by Count Guido Henckel von Donnersmarck in 1897 as a gift to his second wife, Katharina Wassilievna de Slepzoff. The tiara had passed by direct descendent until it was auctioned by Sotheby's Zurich in 1979.

With less of a story, but with a higher estimate is the 10.99 carat fancy intense pink, set in a platinum ring shouldered with triangular stones, is estimated at 8.3–14.8 million CHF ($9.5-$17 million), or $864,000–$1.55 million p/c. The VS1 clarity stone is a Type IIa diamond.

Another high price diamond that buyers will have a chance to bid on is a D / IF cushion- cut diamond weighing 16.53 carats set in a Graff ring. Sotheby’s estimate is 1.38-2.3 million CHF ($1.6-$2.6 million).

An unusual item is a fancy vivid blue SI2 diamond weighing 2.39 carats, estimates at 1.285-1.85 million CHF ($1.5-$2.1 million), or $617,000-$889,000 p/c.

The sale also includes fine jewels of noble provenance, a wide array of white diamonds and colored gemstones including Kashmir sapphires and two important Burmese rubies. In addition, there is a broad selection of period jewels, among them, 50 jewels by Cartier, nearly 40 creations by Van Cleef and Arpels, and a group of jewels by JAR.