Christie's to Sell Three Private Collections, alongside 9.51-ct Mellon Blue
November 03, 25
(IDEX Online) - Christie's Geneva is to offer gems from three private collections at its Magnificent Jewels auction next week, alongside the 9.51-carat Mellon Blue diamond, which carries a $30m high estimate.
The first, A Splendid Casket of Ancestral Jewellery, features magnificent rubies from the Victorian era, inherited by the British aristocrat and philanthropist Helena Violet Alice, Third Countess of Stradbroke, who died in 1949.
The collection includes a ruby and diamond star brooch that she wore at the coronation of Edward VII in 1902, with an estimate of $1.4m to $2m.
The second is The Rainbow Collection, comprising over 300 natural unmounted stones of varying cuts and carats, spanning the full chromatic spectrum: red, blue, green, yellow, orange, pink, and grey, assembled by Eddy Elzas, known as the King of Colored Diamonds. Estimate $2m to $3m.
The third is A Private JAR Collection, the second-largest JAR collection ever to appear at auction, featuring 25 pieces by the Paris-based designer Joel Arthur Rosenthal.
Highlight is the 8.68-carat fancy purplish-pink natural color diamond ring with a $2.5m to $3.5m estimate.
All three collections, together with a 65.46-carat Burmese Royal Blue sapphire and diamond brooch (estimate $2.6m to $3.8m) and the iconic Mellon Blue, will be offered for sale on 11 November.
The Mellon Blue, which belonged to the late horticulturalist and philanthropist Rachel Lambert (Bunny) Mellon, set an auction record when it sold at Sotheby's New York for $32.6m in November 2014, shortly after Mellon's death, aged 104.
Pic shows the the 8.68-carat fancy purplish-pink natural color diamond ring by JAR.