Rediscovered Royal Viennese Jewels Sell for $10.7m
November 12, 23
(IDEX Online) - A white glove sale of Viennese imperial and royal jewelry that was rediscovered earlier this year in a German bank safe sold for a total of $10.7m at Sotheby's Geneva.
All 207 lots were sold, achieving more than three times the overall pre-sale low estimate.
Sotheby's described the collection as extraordinary, "spanning two centuries of European history charting the fates, fashions and fancies of central Europe's most prominent royal families - a collection unseen to the public for nearly a century".
A number of pieces were created by Emil Biedermann, one of Austria's finest court jewelers and Kochert, which is still trading today.
Highlight of the auction was a natural pearl and diamond devant-de-corsage, which sold for $1.15m. A natural pearl and diamond brooch by Emil Biedermann, circa 1865, sold for $956,000.
More than 82 per cent of lots sold above their high estimate, among them a tiara, a necklace three stud set that fetched $98,000 - over 25 times its high estimate.
Pics, courtesy Sotheby's, show (left) a natural pearl and diamond devant-de-corsage which sold for $1.15m, and (right) a natural pearl and diamond brooch that sold for $956,000.