This jewelry collection is set to shatter auction records
Amarachi Orie, CNN
The auction of the late Austrian billionaire Heidi Horton’s jewelry collection is expected to break the record set more than a decade ago by the late actress Elizabeth Taylor.
In 2011, Taylor’s gems racked up nearly $116 million at auction, with her admirer Kim Kardashian shelling out $64,900 for three Lorraine Schwartz bangles.
However, more than 700 jewels owned by Horton, who was also an art collector, are estimated to fetch more than $150 million in total in a series of auctions at the Four Seasons Hotel des Bergues in Geneva and online in May and November, according to auction house Christie’s.
Billed as “the largest and most valuable” private jewelry collection ever to come to auction, Christie’s said it is expected to “eclipse” the 2011 Elizabeth Taylor Collection and the 2019 Maharajas & Mughal Magnificence auctions, which are the only two jewelry collections to achieve more than $100 million.
The pieces include a 90-carat “Briolette of India” diamond necklace by Harry Winston, a ruby and diamond Cartier ring that is “pigeon blood” in color, a series of modern and decades-old Bulgari creations, and items from other luxury names such as Tiffany and Van Cleef & Arpels.
“The World of Heidi Horten is the collection of a lifetime,” said Rahul Kadakia, Christie’s international head of jewelry, in a press release. “From Bulgari to Van Cleef & Arpels, from a small personal memory piece to the Briolette of India, this is a collector’s dream.”
“Building from extraordinary early pieces she acquired in the 1970’s and 1980’s, Mrs. Horten continued to grow and curate her sophisticated collection, eloquently combining vintage and modern designs from the leading jewellery houses of the world that today represent some of the finest examples ever to come to market,” Kadakia added.
Christie’s said the proceeds will go to The Heidi Horten Foundation, which supports The Heidi Horten Collection, the museum she established in Vienna, Austria, before her death, as well as medical research, child welfare and other causes.
“This is a historic moment for Christie’s to have the privilege of offering one of the world’s finest and most important jewellery collections originating from Europe,” said Anthea Peers, president at Christie’s EMEA, in the release.
Horten had a net worth of around $3 billion when she died in June last year, according to Forbes. She inherited $1 billion from her first husband, German businessman Helmut Horten, after he died in 1987.
Horten was introduced to the allure of beautiful objects from a young age as her father was an engraver. Her love for jewelry and art deepened after her marriage, according to the auction house.
She went on to possess an array of decorative, modern and contemporary artworks, some of which are housed in her museum.
Helmut Horten accumulated wealth through his purchases of Jewish businesses sold under duress during the Nazi era, said Christie’s. The auction house said it plans to make a “significant contribution” from its auction proceeds to an organization advancing Holocaust research and education.
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