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Suzanne Belperron (1900-1983) is arguably one of the most important jewelry designers of the 20th century. The upcoming Sotheby's auction in Geneva on May 14, 2012 will feature 50 lots from her personal jewelry collection.

This unprecedented sale features the most significant group of jewels by Belperron ever to appear on the market. This collection includes some of her most celebrated designs and also very intimate items which illustrate her unique style and creative virtuosity.

Belperron learned jewelry design at the House of René Boivin from 1921 to 1931, and when she left, she took not only her design experience, but some say, perhaps a few of Boivin's designs as well.

It is unclear whether Belperron stole Boivin designs or whether Boivin continued making Belperron’s designs after she left but one thing is clear - Belperron developed her own personal jewelry design style in the decades that followed, and built an international reputation that continues to grow.

When the Duchess of Windsor’s jewelry was auctioned in 1987, only 5 of 16 Belperron pieces were tentatively identified. Asked once why she never signed her work, Madame Belperron replied: “My style is my signature.”

Here are some examples of Belperron's work from a recent Christie's auction. Sotheby's does not have the catalog for the upcoming auction yet, but I'm sure it will be on their site very soon.

One of my favorite passtimes is  to browse the offerings at Sotheby's Auction house.  The prices are too rich for my blood, but I can still dream, can't I?

On May 17, 2011 Sotheby's will have another auction of what they describe as their "Magnificent Jewels" in Geneva. Austria. The highlight of the auction is the magnificent Emerald Tiara featured here. The piece is the most valuable emerald and diamond tiara to have appeared at auction in over 30 years.

For more information on this fabulous piece, the chairman of Sotheby's has prepared an online video which can be accessed on this page of the Sotheby's site. (To those of you who view this blog at your workplacce, be prepared - the video has some music playing.) The video is very informative and worth the time to view it. It discusses the history of the jewels in the crown and other aspects of the piece and previous owner.

To view other listings in the auction, please visit their online e catalogue to get a glimpse of more magnificent jewels.

According to Sotheby's auction house, Jewels that stand the test of time are typically characterized by great stones or great design.  This April, in New York, this theory will be put to the test as their Magnificent Jewels sale will be held, which will feature many such jewels, including an array of white diamonds and period Cartier designs offered from a distinguished family collection.

Collectors will find top quality precious gemstones of every color including an exceptional Colombian emerald mounted by Harry Winston, a beautiful Burma ruby set in a 1920's Chaumet brooch, and a lively Burma sapphire certified "royal blue". Complementing such remarkable gems, the sale this April also features beautiful signed jewels made by leading jewelry designers both past and present.

As a whole, the jewelry offered in New York this April will spark the imagination of collectors seeking quality and rarity in diamonds and colored stones, as well as the breadth of period and signed jewels that can only be found at auction.

You can view the online E catalogue of the jewelry to be auctioned on this page of the Sotheby's website.

Sotheby's Auction House recently auctioned 20 pieces of jewelry from the collection of the Duchess of Windsor. This collection was part of a fabulous collection of jewelry which was first sold for record amounts in the 1980s.

Once again, records were set. The panther bracelet shown herer was the highlight of Sotheby's sale of 20 pieces which raised £31 million, more than seven times the pre-sale estimated amount.

The panther bracelet itself set a new record. The hammer price of this fabulous onyx and diamond bracelet was a staggering £4.5 million ($7.036 million dollars ). At this price this bracelet is the the most expensive bracelet to ever be sold at an auction. It also set a record for a single piece of Cartier jewelry.  I knew the bracelet would do well when I first featured it in a recent blog posting, but that amount exceeded anything I could have imagined.

If auction proceeds are any indication, it appears that many people still can't resist a true love story.  It is no wonder that the jewelry fetched such a high price, since the collection celebrates the famous story of the king who gave up his throne for the woman that he loved.    The king abdicated in 1936 to become the Duke of Windsor and marry American divorcee Wallis Simpson.  

I've never been one to pay too much attention to news about watches. I have an old Timex that I wear all the time and see no reason to change it.

've never had a fondness for wearing fancy watches, but I know that many people love to change their watches to suit their moods.

Even so, I just couldn't skip over the latest watches sold at Sotheby's in their Important Watches and Clocks Auction which ended recently. The page of listing results will tempt even the most meager watch wearer like me. It was filled with some real beauties such as the ones below:

 

 

 

 

With final hammer prices in the range of $10,000 to $266,000 for the ones I have featured, I still won't be wearing them, but at least I can drool over them!

My husband is English, so I have a fondness for royal news, particularly when it is jewelry related.

Any royal watcher will be well aquainted with the famous love story of Wallis Simpson and Edward VII, heir to the British throne.

The jewels of Wallis Simpson, The Duchess of Windsor, were first offered for sale in 1987. They originally sold for $50 million, with the proceeds going to the Pasteur Institute. The proceeds from the spectacular sale are reported to be a world record for an auction of a single owner's jewelry collection in the 20th century.

It is no wonder that the jewelry fetched such a high price, since the collection celebrates the famous story of the king who gave up his throne for the woman that he loved. The king abdicated in 1936 to become the Duke of Windsor and marry American divorcee Wallis Simpson.

The Windsors were enthusiastic jewelry collectors. They commissioned pieces from Cartier and other makers during their courtship in Britain and married life in the Bahamas and France.

Fast forward twenty-three years. Sotheby's will again be offering twenty pieces formerly in the Collection of the Duchess at their November 30th auction in London.Sotheby's has a fabulous video on their website showing the original sale.

They also have a catalog showing highlights of the collection. Here are a few of my favorites: 

Christie's made auction history this past Wednesday evening in New York when The Bvlgari Blue Diamond, the largest triangular-shaped Fancy Vivid blue diamond ever to appear at auction, sold for $15.7 million. The auction results made this diamond the top jewel sold at auction thus far in 2010.

The stunning stone, which is mounted as a two-stone diamond ring, was designed in the 1970s by the legendary house of Bvlgari in Rome, and it was the star lot of Christie’s major Jewels: The New York Sale on October 20.

The diamond has an sentimental history. It was offered for sale by a private European collector who has kept the ring in his family for almost 40 years. The gentleman had originally purchased the ring at Bvlgari's flagship boutique on Via dei Condotti in Rome in 1972, as a gift for his wife in celebration of the birth of their first child, a baby boy - thus the blue color.

The final sale price in 1972 was about $1 million US. Quite an appreciation in price over the 40 years!

I've been on vacation in Maine for the last few weeks.  It was great to get away and recharge my batteries. 

Today's incoming email notified me of Fellow's and Sons upcoming auction, so it gave me a great topic of my back to work blog post!  The company is located in Birmingham, Uk and is  one of my favorites.  They periodically have auctions of moderately priced vintage and antique jewelry items with a bit of an emphasis on gold jewelry and cameos.

Their next antique and modern jewelry auction has a fabulous centerpiece featured item.  They have procured this fabulous vintage Boucheron brooch with an estimate of £12,000 - £18,000 - quite unusual for their normal estimates.

The piece is a real stunner. It is a diamond brooch, from about 1955, in the form of two stylized leaves with an inner central curve of baguette cut diamonds and outer claw set round brilliant diamonds. The border is set with three old European/round brilliant diamonds surrounded by scattered pear and baguette cut diamonds. One tapered hoop is hinged allowing the two sections to be detached and form double clips. Estimated total diamond weight 19.50cts.

The auction will take place on Thursday, the 2nd of September. For more details of the auction, please visit this page of the auction web site. They also have online bidding available.

The House of Boucheron is French family dynasty founded by Frederic Boucheron in 1858. Four generations of the Boucheron family helped the brand become a worldwide leader in the High end jewelry market. Kudos to Fellow's and Sons for getting this lovely piece to auction!

It appears that even auction houses take summer vacations!  I've been looking to see what fine jewelry will be on the auction block in the next month or so and the pickings are slim.

However,I did find one jewelry auciton that Bonham's and Butterflields will be holding on July 27, 2010 in Oxford, UK. Browsing through their auction catalog showed a long list of mainly gold jewelry with a few pieces which feature diamonds.   I am always looking for unusual pieces, though, which might really appeal to my readers and found a few to my liking.

The auction will showcase 391 jewelry items plus an additional 53 watches Here are some of my favorites:

Do you love Native American Jewelry?  If so, Bonhams and Butterfields auction house is the place to be on June 7, 2010. The well known auction house will conduct a wonderful auction with Native American jewelry, as well as baskets, pots and blankets from private collections, estates and institutions being featured.

The lots come from an Atlanta collection, from private collections and estates in Arizona, New Mexico, Oregon and California, and from a Washington State museum.

Some of the highlights will be fine quality early pieces of Southwest silver and turquoise jewelry from the Barbara Breitbart collections as well as items such as the Sheldon bracelet shown here.

You can view the online catalog of lots to be offered here, and the site also has a wonderful press release about the sale on this page of the website.