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Phillips to Auction Sevan Bıçakçı Ring, Experience for Charity
Sale of the one-of-a-kind jewel, a tour of the designer’s workshop and a cruise on his private yacht will benefit One Drop.
This Sevan Bıçakçı ring was inspired by a popular Turkish song from the 1980s, “Yagdir Mevlam Su,” or “Oh Lord, Let It Rain.” The Turkish jeweler is donating it and a tour of his Istanbul studio to benefit One Drop.
New York—Phillips’ upcoming Jewels auction in New York City will feature one lot that includes a special experience, and it’s all to benefit charity.
Turkish designer Sevan Bıçakçı’s has donated one of his elaborate, mini-sculpture rings to the Dec. 9 sale to benefiting One Drop, an organization that works to provide access to water and sanitation in healthcare facilities in impoverished communities.
True to the designer’s aesthetic, the reversed intaglio ring depicts an Istanbul cityscape, with domes beneath a rainy sky carved in a quartz cabochon. Set in 24-karat gold and sterling silver, the ring is adorned with 36 green diamonds, 20 tear-shaped crystal cabochons and 312 single-cut diamonds.
The ring’s future owner will get to meet the master behind the vision on a private tour of Bıçakçı’s Istanbul workshop and nearby architectural landmarks that inspire the designer’s work.
The lot also includes an invitation to Bıçakçı’s private yacht for a cruise on the Bosphorus strait and a drawing of the ring. 
Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Laliberté created One Drop in 2007. It’s aligned with the United Nations Secretary-General’s Global Call to Action to support adequate water and sanitation in healthcare facilities in a bid to reduce infant and mother mortality.
Phillips partnered with the organization last year, raising $8.7 million for the organization and breaking its fundraising record with an art auction.
“Phillips is honored to be working with One Drop once again, following the successful fundraising efforts of the contemporary art sale in 2018,” said Phillips’ Head of Jewels, Americas, Susan Abeles.
“This season, thanks to Sevan Bıçakçı’s generous donation of this iconic ring, we are now able to offer contemporary art of a different kind in order to benefit this wonderful organization. At Phillips, we recognize the dialogue between art, jewels and design and, as people around the world bid on this wearable work of art, we encourage them to remember the great deal of good that they will be doing as they raise their paddles.”
To see the full range of lots on offer at next month’s Jewels auction, visit Phillips.com.
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