Sotheby's Geneva Luxury Week

GENEVA, SWITZERLAND - NOVEMBER 7: The rare, historic and highly important 18th century jewel, formerly in the collection of the Marquess of Anglesey (estimate CHF 1,600,000 - 2,200,000) is displayed during the Sotheby's Geneva Luxury Week press call on November 7, 2024 in Geneva, Switzerland. Sotheby's unveiled this morning a selection of its top lots, representative of its Luxury Sales week in Geneva which officially opens tomorrow. The unveiling showcased pieces from Sotheby's four main Geneva Luxury Live Sales this autumn, namely the Important Watches taking place on Sunday 10th November, the main bi-annual fine watches sale; Treasures of Time, a single owner sale featuring some of the rarest Patek Philippe watches seen in decades also held on the 10th November; the Magnificent Jewels sale which will take place on Wednesday morning, 13th November followed by the much anticipated Royal & Noble Jewels sale later that afternoon. Among the outstanding lots, the most talked about so far this year and the top lot of the Royal and Noble Sale is the rarest and historically most important 18th century diamond necklace formerly in the collection of the Marquess of Anglesey. This necklace may have links via its incredibly rare Golconda diamonds to the infamous Affair of the Necklace which precipitated the fate of Queen Marie-Antoinette. The necklace is estimated between 1.6 M 2.2 M CHF. The selection also includes a large number of pieces of jewellery formerly in the collection of Tsar Ferdinand of Bulgaria which have never been seen in public before, including a tie pin (estimate 1.6 M 2.2 M CHF) displaying four impressive coloured diamonds. (Photo by Robert Hradil/Getty Images for Sotheby's)