Auction

HISTORIC RUSSIAN DIAMONDS GO ON AUCTION IN GENEVA

Two of the largest auction houses in the world, Christie’s and Sotheby’s, are holding their rare jewel auctions this week in Geneva – and both showcase Russian diamonds with magnificent history.

 

Christie’s begins its auction season on November 15 at the luxury Four Seasons Hotel des Bergues on Lake Geneva, while Sotheby’s Magnificent Jewels and Noble Jewels begins a day later, November 16, across the road at Hotel Beau Rivage.

 

Among Sotheby’s lots is a diamond parure once owned by Russian empress Catherine I. It was given to her by her husband, Czar Peter the Great, who led Russia until his death in 1725.

 

According to Sotheby’s, in 1711, Catherine was worried that a raging conflict with the Ottoman Empire posed an existential threat to Russia and ordered to draft a peace treaty overnight. Without telling him, she sent the peace proposal and all the jewels she was travelling with to the Ottoman Sultan Ahmed III. The Sultan accepted, the truce was given, and the Russian empire lived to see another day. The parure featuring Catherine’s diamonds is expected to sell for $3 to 5 million.

 

Sotheby’s is also offering a diamond necklace with a detachable clasp owned by Empress Catherine II (Catherine the Great), who ruled Russia from 1762 to 1796. It is similarly valued at up to $5 million.

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