Suite of Impe­r­ial Jew­els to be sold at Sotheby’s Geneva Novem­ber 15, 2011

This suite of impe­r­ial jew­els will be sold by Sotheby’s in Geneva on Novem­ber 15, 2011. Accord­ing the auc­tion house, this is likely the most impor­tant parure of antique col­ored dia­mond jew­els to come into the auc­tion mar­ket in the last fifty years. The gems and the parure have a fas­ci­nat­ing back story: the dia­monds may have orig­i­nally belonged to Peter the Great’s wife, Cather­ine, who made them a peace offer­ing dur­ing the Pruth River Bat­tles in 1711. The jew­els then became a part of the Ottoman Treasures.

And speak­ing of trea­sures: tick­ets to view Dame Eliz­a­beth Taylor’s jew­els went on sale yes­ter­day. This is one exhi­bi­tion that will prob­a­bly be worth the cost of the ticket. The show is about unadul­ter­ated glam­our, which
doesn’t exist in the world now as we know it, for bet­ter or worse.

Stopped in at a press pre­view of Miriam Haskell’s spring col­lec­tions last week. Their stock-in-trade col­lec­tion of flo­rals was done in a neu­tral palette of soft gold, beige or off-white pearls, and topaz crys­tals — lovely, although I’m not sure how they will play against the boldly col­or­ful baubles pre­viewed on the run­ways that will surely entice edi­tors and con­sumers alike. A sec­ond, more con­tem­po­rary col­lec­tion reminded me of the Char­lie Chap­lin still from MODERN TIMES — cir­cles inter­lock­ing like gears and wheels and accented by large cit­rine or smoky topaz paste gems. Even the backs of these pieces were beau­ti­fully fin­ished — a MH hallmark.

Char­lie Chap­lin in MODERN TIMES

For those who love Boivin and Belper­ron as I do, Christie’s Paris is sell­ing a few amaz­ing lots on Novem­ber 24^th. The bracelets below, with their bright emer­ald and pink-violet palettes and their mix of tex­tures and stone cuts, are right on cue for the com­ing 2012 spring sea­son — and yet they were made dur­ing the 1930s. Just the love the way the big gems are soft­ened by the broad yet ele­gant curvi­lin­ear edges that embrace them with­out impos­ing on their proud, angu­lar geom­e­try. What do you think?

Boivin/Belperron cour­tesy of Christie’s Paris