Sotheby's To Offer Pauline Karpidas's Jewelry Collection In December New York Auction

(MENAFN- USA Art News) Sotheby's will host a dedicated live evening auction in December in New York featuring pieces from Pauline Karpidas's extensive jewelry collection. The sale, titled“Pauline Karpidas: The Jewelry Collection,” comprises 70 lots and will be preceded by a public exhibition opening on December 2.

The upcoming auction follows successful sales from Karpidas's broader collection. London auctions in September 2025 generated $137 million, establishing new records and making the series the most valuable single-owner auction ever held in Europe. Two years prior, a sale of works from her Hydra residence brought in $37.6 million.

Highlights of the jewelry collection include unique creations commissioned directly from artists and designers such as JAR and Suzanne Belperron. Other notable pieces feature retro jewels by Boucheron, Van Cleef & Arpels, Jacques Lacloche, and Trabert & Hoeffer-Mauboussin, alongside Art Deco items by Cartier and rare colored gemstones collected globally by Karpidas. The top lot is a classic JAR ring with colored diamond and chalcedony, estimated at $2.5 million to $3.5 million.

Among the offerings are several distinctive pieces by Suzanne Belperron, known for her avant-garde sculptural and organic forms, including an aquamarine and diamond necklace/brooch estimated between $150,000 and $250,000. Works by Joel Arthur Rosenthal (JAR), a designer Karpidas supported early, also feature prominently. These include a floral pendant necklace estimated at $250,000 to $350,000 and a sapphire and diamond necklace estimated at $200,000 to $300,000.

Karpidas's eclectic taste extends beyond the avant-garde to historical pieces. An 18th-century sapphire and gem-set reliquary cross, formerly owned by Cardinal Francesco Martelli (who served as apostolic nuncio to Poland and Latin patriarch of Jerusalem from 1706 until his death in 1717 ), is estimated at $80,000 to $120,000.

Some jewels in the sale were acquired by Karpidas at historic auctions. Two items, a circa 1945 Seaman Schepps rock crystal bracelet (estimated at $50,000 to $70,000 ) and a Verdura amethyst and diamond brooch with ear clips (estimated at $20,000 to $30,000 ), were purchased from Sotheby's 1988 sale of jewelry and watches from the Andy Warhol estate. Additionally, a pair of Cartier ruby boule bead earrings and a matching ring (estimated at $100,000 to $150,000 ) were acquired from Sotheby's 1987 sale of the Duchess of Windsor's jewels.

Oliver Barker, chairman of Sotheby's Europe, commented that the lots offer“less a collection of jewelry than a portrait of Karpidas herself.” He described them as“Fearless in scale, bold in color and exuberant in spirit, these are jewels that make no attempt to whisper.” Quig Bruning, Sotheby's global head of jewelry, told Observer that Karpidas“has always had an extraordinarily clear sense of what speaks to her, and that instinct runs through both her art and her jewelry: bold design, unexpected juxtapositions, color, wit, and above all, imagination.” Bruning added,“You see that especially in the sculptural jewels of JAR and Suzanne Belperron, which share an affinity and a DNA with the avant-garde and Surrealist art she collected. The media may be different, but they belong to the same visual language.”

We previously reported:

Pauline Karpidas's jewelry collection is set to be auctioned at Sotheby's New York, with a pink diamond ring estimated at up to $3.5 million.

Source: Observer Arts

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