Auction house Sotheby’s Dubai is accustomed to hosting remarkable items, but its present display of jewellery is in a different league even to its own vaulted standards.
A selection of pieces ahead of three different sales are currently on display until Wednesday. One is a jewellery sale that will take place in New York. Another is Treasures of Time, a private collection of impeccable Patek Phillipe watches dating back to the 1940s that will be up for sale in Geneva on November 10, while the third is the Rare and Noble Jewels sale, of magnificent jewellery going under the hammer on November 13, also in Geneva.
Included in the display are gems from the personal collection of Tsar Ferdinand of Bulgaria (1861-1948), which includes bracelets, cufflinks and tie pins, many with coloured gems. There is an elegant tie pin, decorated with five different colours of diamonds, including a beautiful pear-shaped blue-grey diamond weighing 2.08 carats. It is considered an important piece and experts estimate it will fetch between 450,000 Swiss Francs and 600,000 Swiss Francs (Dh1,907,784 and Dh2,543,713).
There is also a historical sapphire, ruby and diamond bracelet, circa 1880, of three fleur-de-lys motifs, set with cushion-shaped, oval and circular-cut rubies and sapphires, with a sale estimate of 26,000 Swiss Francs to 42,000 Swiss Francs (Dh110,144 to Dh177,936).
Also on display is a diamond and sapphire brooch, made by Faberge, circa 1909. Made as a 'knotted' circle of gold, with a bar set with the stones, it was created for the Russian imperial family and has an estimated value of $6,000 to $8,000, (Dh22,035 to Dh29,380).
The centrepiece of the exhibition, however, is a long "scarf" of white diamonds that dates back to the late 18th century. Given how little jewellery from this period survives – most were broken up and remade as tastes changed – this necklace is exceptional for multiple reasons.
Its shape is highly unusual. Made as a 670mm straight strip of diamonds, it comprises three rows of old cushion-shaped and circular-cut white diamonds that end in a pair of old cushion-shaped diamond tassels. It is made using different-sized diamonds to create depth, and hinged to emulate the drapery of fabric, for a trompe-l’œil effect.
Described by Andres White Correal, chairman of Sotheby's jewellery as “a sublime survivor from the opulent court life of the Georgian era,” this remarkable piece was once owned by the Marquess of Anglesey and has appeared at two British coronations. In 1959, it was part of The Ageless Diamond Loan exhibition in London, alongside many famous aristocratic diamond jewels including pieces owned by Queen Elizabeth II.
Designed to be worn draped around the neck with no fastening, the necklace's own weight holds it securely in place. It also comes with another possible link to royalty.
While impossible to verify, the necklace may – in part at least – be linked to the ill-fated French queen Marie Antoinette, and the notorious “Affair of the Diamond Necklace” incident that began her downfall.
The incident was believed to have taken place between 1784 and 1785. Antoinette was accused of refusing to pay for a diamond necklace she had allegedly ordered while, in reality, she declined to buy a necklace someone else had made. However, already unpopular it helped turn public opinion against her further and set in motion an uprising that would end the French monarchy a few years later.
Given the size, weight and age of the necklace in the Sotheby's sale – and how rare and expensive such diamonds were at that time – it is not inconceivable that some of the stones from the Anglesey necklace may have originated from the necklace linked to Antoinette.
Although it is impossible to verify, the Anglesey necklace is in its original 18th-century setting, with approximately 300 carats of diamonds set in silver backed with gold. With or without the link to the French monarchy, the necklace is regarded as historically significant, and Sotheby's has set an estimate of between 1,600,000 Swiss Francs and 2,200,000 Swiss Francs (Dh6,783,679 and Dh9,327,559).
Alongside, there is also a collection of archaeological revival jewellery made by Giacinto Melillo (1846-1915), who was considered one of the masters of replicating ancient techniques.
Included is a gold necklace, circa 1870, that is almost an exact reproduction of a necklace from the fifth century BC found in Puglia. Made as circle of gold chains, from this hang golden acorns, heads of Silenus, lotus flowers and floral motifs. It has an estimate of 18,000 to 26,000 CHF (Dh76,312 to Dh110,218).
The selection of watches from the Treasure of Time sale include some of Patek Philippe's rarest and most important references, as well as early A Lange & Sohne watches, and rare Vacheron Constantin chronographs.
All from one private collector, the sale includes a 1948 Patek Patek Philippe watch in pink gold. With Reference 1518 – considered a landmark in watchmaking as the world’s first serially produced perpetual calendar chronograph – this exceptionally rare piece has an estimate of 1,500,000 Swiss Francs to 3,000,000 Swiss Francs (Dh6,360,214 to Dh12,720,428).
