A Historically Important 18thCentury Diamond Necklace with Possible Link to Marie-Antoinette’s Affair of the Necklace Exceeds All Expectations to Fetch Over 4.3 Million CHF/4.8 Million USDAfter Over A 7 Minute Bidding Battle

White Glove for the Entirety of the Royal and Noble Salewith All Lots Sold Achieving More thanTwice its EstimateAnd Stunning Results for the Magnificent Jewels Salewith Coloured Gemstones, Exceptional White Diamondsand Revival Jewellery in High DemandBoth Jewels Sales Totalover27 MillionCHF/ 30 Million USD

Geneva, 13 November–After weeks of growing anticipation, Sotheby’s Royal and Noble’s top lot, a rare andhighly important 18thcentury diamond necklace, formerly in the collection of the Marquess of Anglesey, has created a sensation by selling for4,260,000CHF/ 4,837,060 USDagainst an estimate of 1,600,000 -2,200,000CHF, so more than twice its low estimate.In a packed auction room, sevenwould-be buyers entered a fierce bidding battle that lasted over seventensed minutes. The anonymous winning bidderis now in possession of perhaps one of 2the most talked about necklaces of theyear –an extraordinary pieceof jewellery history emerging miraculously intact from an important private Asian collection,which made its first public appearance in fifty years when it was unveiled by Sotheby’s in London earlier in September.

This spectacular antique jewel is an incredible survivor of historyboasting500diamonds and weighing over 300 carats of likely Golconda diamonds from the legendary Golconda mines in India. Astunning piece of jewellery from the Georgian era, composed of three rows of diamonds finished with a diamond tassel at each end, such an important and historic antique jewel could only have been created for royalty or a high-ranking aristocrat at one of the glittering courts of the ancient régime –most likely the French or English court. Its precise origin story is not recorded,and existing evidence points to several possibilities, one of which being the Affair of the Necklace and its diamonds, some of which may have been used in the necklace sold today. It is known however that the diamond jewel belonged to the Marquesses of Anglesey, a leading Anglo-Welsh aristocratic family with close ties to the British Royal family in the early 20thcentury. In 1937, Marjorie Paget, Marchioness of Anglesey (eldest daughter of Henry Manners, 8thDuke of Rutland), wore the jewel to the coronation of King George VI, together with the famous Anglesey tiara. She was immortalised wearing her coronation robes and diamond jewel by the renowned society photographer Cecil Beaton. In 1953, her daughter-in-law attended the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II wearing the same ensemble of heirloom jewels. The seventh Marquess of Anglesey parted with the piece around the 1960s. In 1976, it was exhibited in the Bicentennial Exhibition at the American Museum of Natural History, before being acquired by an important private collector where it has remained ever since.

“The extraordinary results of today’s sale represent Sotheby’s Royal and Noble Jewels sales at their apex. With yet another white glove auction, these sales demonstrate the lasting power of provenance. They also show the power of the Sotheby's Worldwide Jewellery team, the only one dedicated to enshrining the legacy of these important collections. Meticulously collected over generations, A Tsar's Treasure provided an intimate glimpse into one of Central Europe's most important royal families, and one of the greatest jewellery collectors of the 19th and 20th centuries. While there were innumerable results worth celebrating, as a career highlight, the Anglesey Jewel stands sans pareil. From the moment we laid eyes on it, our entire team was transfixed by its beauty, its history, and its timelessness. Travelling with it around the world, the awe it inspired was universal. The electricity in the sales room was palpable, and it will be one of my fondest memories to have been on the phone, helping to find its new home.
Andres White Correal, Chairman Jewellery Europe and Middle East, Head of Noble Jewels

This edition of Sotheby’s Royal & Noble sale was the first to includes lots from various owners, alongside the single owner sale A Tsar’s Treasure: Ferdinand of Bulgaria (1861-1948), one of the most important collections of royal and noble jewels from the courts of central Europe ever to come to auction. This prestigious single owner salecontinues the story of the highly successful single owner sale ‘Vienna 1900: An Imperial and Royal Collection’, held at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Geneva on 6 and 7 November 2023.With 114 lots, spanning nearly a century in the history of the illustrious family of Tsar Ferdinand of Saxe-Cobourg-Gotha, this collection is a magnificent testimony to Tsar Ferdinand’s exquisite taste, nurtured by his mother, Princess Clementine of Orleans, daughter of the last French King Louis Philippe 1er –herself an avid jewellery collector.

Earlier in the day the Magnificent Jewels Sale witnessed strong bidding throughout, with many lots achieving multiples of their high estimates. The sale wasdominated by beautiful, mostly vintage jewels from private collections, many appearing for the first time at auction. The highly curated sale primarily featureda treasure trove of iconic and original creations by the most sought-after makers such as Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels, Tiffany, Bulgari and JAR among many others, as well as a selection of spectacular diamonds.