NEW YORK – Following on the heels of Christie's blockbuster $118 million jewelry auction in Hong Kong earlier this week and establishing a new record for the most valuable jewelry auction ever held in Asia, Christie's is pleased to announce highlights of its upcoming sale of Important Jewels on June 16 in New York. This annual pre-summer event caps the spring season of Christie’s worldwide jewelry auctions and features over 200 lots, including a diverse array of colored and colorless diamonds, rare gemstones, and signed designer jewels. Estimates range from $8,000 up to $5 million, and the total sale is expected to achieve $18 million.
From modest beginnings in 1946 in Detroit, Michigan, Mrs. Margaret Adderley Kelly (pictured left), her husband, the late William R. Kelly and their son, Mr. Terence E. Adderley, shaped Kelly Services, Inc. into a Fortune 500 company that now employs over 550,000 people globally. The iconic “Kelly Girl” became a household name by 1957, synonymous with high-quality temporary employees. Philanthropy was a cornerstone of her life and many organizations benefitted from her immense generosity. In addition, jewels and fine gemstones were one of Mrs. Kelly’s greatest passions that she collected with the discerning eye of a great connoisseur. The breadth of the collection was a testament to her love for the exceptional, rare, and beautiful. On June 16, Christie’s is proud to offer The Magnificent Jewels of Margaret Adderley Kelly, highlights of which include an Art Deco diamond pendant necklace suspending a D-color, Internally Flawless diamond of 16.24 carats (pictured page one) and The Kelly Sapphire: a Kashmir sapphire of 21.71 carats, by Cartier (pictured page one).
DIAMOND AND GEMSTONES HIGHLIGHTS
In keeping with Christie's strong track record of presenting the most exceptional colored and colorless diamonds and precious gemstones for sale, the top lot of the June 16 auction is an impressive cushion-cut K-color diamond of 80.73 carats (pictured below).
SIGNED JEWELS
Signed creations by world-renowned design houses such as Cartier, Graff, Tiffany & Co., and Van Cleef & Arpels continue to command strong prices at Christie’s jewelry auctions around the world. Each of these esteemed firms has their own signature style of design and craftsmanship, making their jewels unique and highly sought-after among collectors and connoisseurs – and also very likely to retain or increase in value over the long term.
Coming Soon
CHRISTIE’S JEWELS ONLINE
JUNE 11 – 25, 2015
WWW.CHRISTIES.COM/ONLINEONLY
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About Christie’s
Founded in 1766, Christie’s is a world-leading art and luxury business. Renowned and trusted for its expert live and online auctions, as well as its bespoke private sales, Christie’s offers a full portfolio of global services to its clients, including art appraisal, art financing, international real estate and education. Christie’s has a physical presence in 46 countries, throughout the Americas, Europe, Middle East, and Asia Pacific, with flagship international sales hubs in New York, London, Hong Kong, Paris and Geneva. It also is the only international auction house authorized to hold sales in mainland China (Shanghai).
Christie’s auctions span more than 80 art and luxury categories, at price points ranging from $200 to over $100 million. Christie’s has sold 8 of the 10 most important single-owner collections in history, including the Paul G. Allen Collection—the most valuable collection ever offered at auction (November 2022). In recent years, Christie’s has achieved the world record price for an artwork at auction (Leonardo da Vinci’s Salvator Mundi, 2017), for a 20th century artwork (Andy Warhol’s Shot Sage Blue Marilyn, 2022) and for a work by a living artist (Jeff Koons’ Rabbit, 2019).
Christie’s Private Sales offers a seamless service for buying and selling art, jewellery and watches outside of the auction calendar, working exclusively with Christie’s specialists at a client’s individual pace.
Recent innovations at Christie’s include the groundbreaking sale of the first NFT for a digital work of art ever offered at a major auction house (Beeple’s Everydays, March 2021), with the unprecedented acceptance of cryptocurrency as a means of payment. As an industry leader in digital innovation, Christie’s also continues to pioneer new technologies that are redefining the business of art, including use of hologram technology to tour life-size 3D objects around the world, and the creation of viewing and bidding experiences that integrate augmented reality, global livestreaming, buy-now channels, and hybrid sales formats.
Christie’s is dedicated to advancing responsible culture throughout its business and communities worldwide, including achieving sustainability by reducing our carbon emissions by 50% and pledging to be net zero by 2030, and actively using its platform in the art world to amplify under-represented voices and support positive change.
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