The first auction of Heidi Horten’s jewelry, which drew controversy and publicity over her Nazi-era fortune – raked in $156 million, “well above its $139m low estimate,” IDEX Online reports. Horten was an Austrian billionaire and art collector, and the widow of businessman Helmut Horten.
She inherited a fortune from Helmut Horten, “who bought department stores from Jewish businessmen under duress in 1930s Germany,” according to a report in IDEX Online. He died in 1987, and Heidi Horten’s personal fortune was estimated at $3 billion. She died in June 2022, aged 81.
The auction did extremely well despite two highlight items falling short: the 25.59-carat Sunrise Ruby, which sold for $14.6 million (lower than its low estimate of $15.7 million); and the 90-carat “Briolette of India” diamond, which sold for $7 million (lower than its low estimate of $10 million).
Last week, the World Federation of Diamond Bourses (WFDB) urged Christie’s to contribute a significant portion of the total proceeds to charities that support the welfare of Holocaust survivors, as well as initiatives for commemoration and education. Christie’s has since announced that it would donate a “significant portion” of the commission, instead of the proceeds, to Holocaust research and education.
