Sotheby’s launches new sales in Paris

Art Déco jewels offer at Sotheby’s

Sotheby’s announces a new sale dedicated to Jewellery and Watches in Paris this autumn. This new date in the auction calendar, entitled Joaillerie Paris, will coincide with a double-anniversary this year for Sotheby’s in France: the auction house’s 50 years on French soil, and 20 years in the historic Galerie Charpentier.

To mark the occasion, we will present Jewels and Watches from the late 19th and 20th century, alongside a small selection of contemporary creations, thus combining the emblematic with the original. Among the designs on offer will be pieces by France’s most illustrious jewellery houses such as Boucheron, Boivin, Cartier, M. Gérard, Sterlé, Van Cleef & Arpels and Chaumet, including jewels set with important diamonds, Kashmir sapphires and Burmese rubies.

The new sale will also highlight two celebrated French stars, and their admiration for Cartier: we will offer several Art Déco jewels from the collection of star dancer and fashion icon Zizi Jeanmaire, as well as an evening bag given by actor Alain Delon to his longtime co-star and partner, New Wave muse, actress and director Mireille Darc, in the 1960s.

The world of 20th-century ballet and dance in France is deeply intertwined with the work of two artists: Zizi Jeanmaire, star of the music hall, and Roland Petit, a choreographer and dancer who constantly reinvented his style and visual language.

In his words, “Dance, in all its sophistication, must also be the reflection of its time; its vocabulary is precise, and so all that is needed is to add today’s spirit to its violence and its technicality, and to take a different approach to the way it is taught. We have long since left behind the 19th century, so – without forsaking the 20th century and its geniuses - let us contemplate the future.”

Selected jewels in the collection celebrate the principles and the development of the Art Déco style, among them this ladies’ watch by Cartier from Rose Repetto, Roland Petit’s mother (estimate : €10,000 – 15,000) and a diamond, platinum and rock crystal brooch from 1920 (estimate : €4,000-6,000). Among other jewels offering a glimpse into the history of jewellery design are a diamond, ivory and aventurine clip, mounted by Cartier (estimate: €10,000 – 15,000) and aring adorned with a 6.25-carat Ceylon sapphire (estimate: €6,000 – 8,000) both created in the mid-19th century.

The sale on October will also present a vermeil evening bag adorned with sapphires and diamonds which was a gift from Alain Delon to his longtime partner Mireille Darc in the 1960s. The French actress was fond of carrying this charming accessory with her when she went to the opera, and it is characteristic of Cartier’s designs of the time. The motif featuring radiating lines perfectly complement its shape, and the clasp is set with a cabochon sapphire and brilliant-cut diamonds (estimate: €7,000-10,000).