14.63ct Orangy Pink Diamond Could Fetch $2.6m

(IDEX Online) - A 14.63-carat fancy orangy-pink diamond ring valued at up to $2.6 million will lead an auction of almost 300 Art Deco jewels and objects at Christie's Geneva in November.

The single-owner collection was assembled over four decades by a private family of collectors and includes jewels by Van Cleef & Arpels, Cartier, Graff and David Morris, as well as Art Deco vanity cases and 18th- and 19th-century gold boxes.

The David Morris ring with the orangy-pink diamond (pictured) is estimated at $1.6 million-$2.6 million. Further details of the diamond have yet to be released.

Christie's says the collection is expected to realize more than $25 million. It includes specialist techniques such as enamel work, laque burgate and gemstone marquetry, some of which are rarely practiced today.

Christie's will offer 123 pieces in a dedicated live auction, Christie's Exceptional Jewels & Objects of Elegance: A Connoisseur's Collection, at the Hotel des Bergues in Geneva on November 10, with a further 152 jewels offered online from November 5-17.

At the heart of the collection is a group of Van Cleef & Arpels Mystery Set jewels featuring sapphires and rubies. Eight pieces are included, led by a ruby and diamond Oiseau Mysterieux clip-brooch, estimated at $600,000-$1 million. The brooch was acquired directly from the Paris jeweler in the early 2000s, according to Christie's.

The Mystery Set technique, patented by Van Cleef & Arpels in 1933, mounts gemstones without visible prongs, creating an uninterrupted surface of color.

Among the other major jewelry highlights is a pair of Graff cushion-shaped emerald and diamond earrings, each weighing more than 17 carats, estimated at $900,000-$1.5 million.

A Bulgari Trombino ring set with a 14.38-carat Burmese ruby is estimated at $700,000-$1.2 million, while a pair of Van Cleef & Arpels sapphire and diamond earrings, featuring sapphires weighing 20.60 and 18.99 carats, is estimated at $600,000-$800,000.

The collection also has a distinctive Art Deco component, with Cartier cases dating from the 1920s onwards. The designs draw on influences including Chinese lacquer work and Japanese decorative arts and feature mechanisms, hinges and fitted interiors.