Christie’s will be selling the Cartier Tiger collection – which consists of a brooch and bracelet that was once belonged to the Duchess of Windsor – at its Magnificent Jewels auction in Geneva on 11 November.
The set was created in the 1950s with both pieces taking the form of tigers featuring onyx, diamonds and emeralds.
According to Christie’s, the jewellery was a “highlight of 20th century jewellery design”, and it was estimated that it would sell for a price of between US$1.8 million (AU$2 m) and US$2.5 million (AU$2.8 m).
The collection’s value has arguably been enhanced by the fact it was once owned by Wallis Simpson – the wife of former King of England, Edward VIII. King Edward famously abdicated the throne to marry the twice-divorced American socialite.
Other jewellery pieces belonging to Simpson have exceeded auction sale expectations in the past. As previously reported by Jeweller, Sotheby’s sold a 30-piece collection in December last year for AU$1.13 million – more than $200,000 above the estimated selling price.
The Cartier brooch and bracelet currently belongs to Sarah Brightman who was given the pieces as a gift from her former husband, musical theatre composer Andrew Lloyd Webber.
Rare Rolex makes its mark
In addition, one of the earliest-known Rolex Sea-Dweller watches (Ref. 1665) is also expected to make headlines when it hits the auction block later this month.
The stainless steel diver’s chronometer watch – previously owned by Philippe Cousteau, the son of famous French undersea explorer Jacques Cousteau – will be part of Antiquorum Auctioneers’ Important Modern and Vintage Timepieces sale in New York on 30 September.
According to Antiquorum, the watch’s serial number places it “in the era of Single Red Sea-Dwellers [watches], of which only six are known to exist”.
While Cousteau was said to have accompanied his father on many expeditions, he was also well known in his own right as a prominent documentary filmmaker and the co-developer of the first underwater breathing apparatus.
Antiquorum estimated the watch would fetch between US$100,000 (AU$111,933) and US$150,000 (AU$167,900).
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