subject: An Auction Of The Royal Diamond Bracelet Broke Record At Sotheby's Sale [print this page] The biggest highlight of Sotheby's sale was the onyx panther diamond bracelets owned by Wallis Simpson, which was sold for 4.5 million pounds $9.23 million)Tuesday, an auction record both for a bracelet and a Cartier item.
This was the highlight of Sotheby's sale of 20 pieces owned by the late Duke and Duchess of Windsor which raised a total of 8.0 million pounds, twice the expected amount.
The next biggest lot of the night was a ruby, sapphire, emerald and diamond flamingo clip, also by Cartier, which fetched 1.7 million pounds, above the high estimate.
According to reports David Bennett, chairman of Sotheby's jewelry in Europe and the Middle East, said the sale's success was also due to the broader gem market.
He was reported saying that from the fortnight they have established both a new world record price for any gemstone with the sale of the 24.78 carat 'Graff Pink' for $46 million and a new world record total for a jewelry sale at $105 million.
The King Edward VIII, renounced his claim to the British throne in 1936 to marry the American divorcee, showered her with gifts of diamond jewelry throughout their courtship and marriage.
There was Another Cartier bracelet with cross pendant commemorating a series of events in Simpson's life including an assassination attempt on the king and her own appendectomy, was sold for 601,000 pounds.
After Edward's abdication, the couple were given the titles of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor and left Britain, living abroad for the rest of their lives.
The 20 lots are just a fraction of the original "Jewels of the Duchess of Windsor" collection, which was sold soon after Simpson's death in 1986.
Still the most valuable single-owner jewelry sale ever, the collection sold for 31 million pounds, more than seven times the pre-sale estimate.
