90-carat Briolette of India diamond necklace by Harry Winston
Courtesy of Sotheby’s
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The late billionaire collector Heidi Horten’s jewelry, worth a total of US$150 million, will be auctioned across a series of sales at Christie’s starting in May.
This will mark the most valuable jewelry collection to come to auction, surpassing the collections of Elizabeth Taylor and Qatar royal family member Sheikh Hamad Bin Abdullah Al Thani, Christie’s said.
The Taylor collection, consisting of 80 lots, sold for US$116 million at a Christie’s auction in December 2011 in New York. The sale of Al Thani’s collection, with nearly 400 pieces, achieved more than US$109 million at Christie’s, also in New York, in 2019. Those are the only two jewelry collections to achieve more than US$100 million, Christie’s said.
Heidi Horten wearing the Briollette of India
The Heidi Horten Foundation
Born and raised in Vienna, Austria, Horten began collecting jewelry and works of art during her first marriage with Helmut Horten, owner of department stores and supermarket chains in Germany during World War II. In 2020, she reportedly commissioned a report that found her ex-husband had benefited financially from the Nazi state through grocery stores confiscated from Jewish owners.
After her husband died in 1987, she began building her private collection of modern and contemporary art, focusing on works by artists such as Pablo Picasso, Marc Chagall, Andy Warhol, Jean-Michel Basquiat, and Damien Hirst.
She died last June at the age of 81, just 10 days after opening her eponymous museum of modern art in Vienna. Forbes estimated her net worth at US$3 billion.
Proceeds from the jewelry sale will benefit the Heidi Horten Foundation, which was established in 2020 and provides support to the museum, as well as medical research and other philanthropic causes.
“This is a historic moment for Christie’s to have the privilege of offering one of the world’s finest and most important jewelry collections originating from Europe,” Anthea Peers, president of Christie’s EMEA, said in a news release. “Furthermore, to witness a philanthropic effort of this scale is as rare as it is remarkable.”
Fancy pink diamond of 20.06 carat
Courtesy of Sotheby’s
The more than 700-piece collection combines vintage and modern designs from the leading jewelry houses of the world, including Boivin, Bulgari, Cartier, Kochert, Tiffany, Harry Winston, and Van Cleef & Apparels.
Highlights include a 25-carat, ruby-and-diamond ring by Cartier, estimated between US$15 million and US$20 million; a 90-carat Briolette of India diamond necklace by Harry Winston, originally sold by Cartier in 1909, estimated in the region of US$10 million; and a three strand natural pearl necklace with a cushion-shaped, 11-carat pink diamond clasp, also by Harry Winston, estimated to sell for between US$7 million and US$10 million.
A select of 400 jewels will be auctioned at two live auctions on May 10 and 12 in Geneva. The first online auction of the remainder will run from May 3 through 15 and a second online-only auction will be held in November, Christie’s said.