At the beginning of April 2014, Sotheby’s Hong Kong Magnificent Jewels and Jadeite Spring Sale brought in a total of $106.6 million from the auctioning of a number of exquisite pieces of jewelry, breaking a few records in the process. One of the event`s highlights was the purchase of The Hutton-Mdivani Necklace by the Cartier Collection.
The stunning necklace comprises 27 large jadeite beads of splendid color, with diameters ranging from 15.4 mm to 19.2 mm. It once belonged to the famous socialite Barbara Hutton, daughter of retail tycoon Frank W. Woolworth, who gave her the beautiful necklace, mounted by Cartier with a beautiful ruby and diamond clasp, as a wedding gift when she first got married in 1933 to Prince Alexis Mdivani.
Cartier eventually managed to outbid seven others in the room and on the phone but the fierce competition drove the price up to over twice as much as Sotheby’s estimated. The final cost of the necklace was a staggering $27.44 million.
[Extravaganzi]
