New York – A yellow diamond weighing more than 133 carats will headline Sotheby’s Magnificent Jewels sale in New York on 5 December.
The 133.03 carat fancy vivid yellow diamond is estimated to sell for between $4 million and $5 million.
Other diamond pieces in the sale include a necklace with 95 pear-shaped diamonds.
Weighing more than 28 carats each, two pear-shaped diamonds at the ends of the necklace hang from two rows of similarly cut diamonds totalling 120.20 carats.
A 35-carat cushion-cut diamond and a 7-carat fancy intense orange-pink diamond, as well as several Harry Winston diamond pieces, are also being offered.
In addition to the diamond offerings, the auction will also feature pieces from the collections of Hollywood stars, including two from Frank Sinatra’s wife, “Lady Blue Eyes” Barbara Sinatra.
The couple spent over two decades together.
Barbara received several jewellery gifts from her lover over the years, including the two pieces in the upcoming sale – a Bulgari emerald, diamond and cultured pearl choker and a 16.19 carat diamond ring.
Her 20-carat emerald-cut diamond engagement ring – the one Frank ‘proposed’ with by dropping it into a glass of champagne – was sold at auction in 2018, leading the sale with $1.7 million.
Sotheby’s will also offer jewels from the collection of comedian Red Skelton and his wife, Lothian Toland Skelton.
Richard “Red” Skelton, one of the most popular performers of the twentieth century, enjoyed a career that spanned various media and was greatly enhanced by the advent of television.
This development allowed him to share his skills with pantomime and physical impressions with a wider audience and led to the creation of ‘The Red Skelton Show’ and later ‘The Red Skelton Hour’, which ran from 1951 to 1971 and was one of the top ten rated shows for 17 of those years.
Over the course of his career, he built up his jewellery collection, befriending Beverly Hills jeweller William Ruser and developing an eye for gemstones.
However, he did not want anything to interfere with his ability to connect with his audience and fully embody his characters, Sotheby’s said, so he kept his interest in jewellery separate from his public persona.
The comedian’s interest in jewellery may have come from his grandmother, who advised him that gems were a wise investment and could provide security for the future, according to Sotheby’s.
She gave him an emerald that he later had set into a ring, a piece that will be offered in the upcoming sale and is estimated to sell for $200,000 to $300,000.
Sotheby’s will also offer a Jean Schlumberger bracelet and a Verdura ‘Sea Horse’ brooch from the collection of Emmy Award-winning actor Anthony Leonard Randall, best known for playing Felix Unger in the television adaptation of Neil Simon’s ‘The Odd Couple’, and his wife Heather Randall.
In addition, the auction house will offer 21 pieces once owned by actress Mary Tyler Moore, the sale of which will benefit the Mary Tyler Moore Vision Initiative.
Other jewels from Van Cleef & Arpels, Cartier, Harry Winston and David Webb will also be up for grabs.
