The collection of natural pearls that Kelly and Calvin Klein put up for the Sotheby’s Magnificent Jewels auction in Manhattan –formerly from the collection of the Duchess of Windsor–brought in $4.82 million, well above the high estimate of $3.1 million.
Both the single-strand natural pearl and diamond necklace from Cartier and the natural pearl and diamond pendant (also Cartier, circa 1950), sold to a single private European collector for $3.625 million and $505,000, respectively. The pair of black and white natural pearl and diamond Van Cleef & Arpels ear clips, circa 1957, sold for $690,600 to a sole unique buyer.
Other noted pieces sold at auction, unrelated to the Kleins’ collection, included a pair of diamond pendant Harry Winston earrings that went for $3.961 million, nearly double the $2 million high estimate, and a historic Franklin Delano Roosevelt Victory Clock (a personal gift from Pierre Cartier in 1934), which not only sold for $1.609 million, above its $1 million high estimate, but set a new record for a Cartier clock at auction.
The overall sale brought in a total of $49,827,926, a significant increase from the high estimate of $37.4 million, and set a new record as the highest total ever for a jewelry sale at Sotheby’s New York.
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