Sotheby's to offer 197.8-carat Romanov sapphire at Geneva auction

Exceptional jewels once belonging to royal families will be offered at auction by Sotheby's in Geneva next Wednesday, including a spectacular 197.8-carat Romanov sapphire associated with the Russian imperial court, AFP reports.

The deep-blue Ceylon sapphire, measuring approximately 3.5 cm by 3.5 cm, "entered the Romanov collection in the mid-19th century, although the gemstone itself is much older," said Andres White Correal, head of Sotheby's jewellery department, CE Report quotes AGERPRES.

"When the Bolshevik Revolution took place in 1917, it was among the jewels placed on a list for sale and somehow made its way from the Bolsheviks to Cartier," he explained.

The sapphire was purchased in 1927 by Polish-born American opera singer Ganna Walska, who was also an avid jewellery collector. It reappeared at auction in 1971 and again in Geneva in 1992, before Cartier's workshop created its current setting in 2015: a diamond-encrusted bracelet.

According to Sotheby's, the Fersman Catalogue of Russian Crown Jewels, compiled between 1924 and 1926, reveals that the sapphire, which had been set by Fabergé in a diamond mounting, was originally presented as a brooch.

The cushion-cut sapphire is an exceptional gemstone, estimated to sell for between 850,000 and 1.7 million Swiss francs (approximately EUR 926,000 to EUR 1.85 million).

Among the other royal jewels featured in next Wednesday's auction is a diamond tiara created by the Mellerio jewellery house and first presented at the 1862 International Exhibition in London.

Two years later, it was purchased by Antoine d'Orléans, Duke of Montpensier, who gave it to his daughter, Marie-Isabelle d'Orléans, on the occasion of her marriage to Philippe d'Orléans, Count of Paris and claimant to the French throne, according to Sotheby's.

Decorated with motifs inspired by the meander pattern, also known as the Greek key, the tiara was subsequently passed down through generations of the d'Orléans family.

In 1921, Ferdinand d'Orléans, Duke of Montpensier, married a Spanish aristocrat who kept the tiara until her death in 1958. The jewel subsequently disappeared before being rediscovered by Sotheby's in a private collection in Germany, Andres White Correal revealed.

The tiara is estimated to fetch between 300,000 and 500,000 Swiss francs.

Another remarkable piece in the auction is a spectacular transformable jewel created by Cartier in London in the late 1930s for Mary Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire.

Decorated with Australian black opals featuring green, blue and red reflections, the piece can be worn as a necklace, tiara or brooch.

The Duchess of Devonshire wore it at the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953. Its estimated value is between 780,000 and 1.1 million Swiss francs.

Photo: Sotheby's / X