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Hemmerle Auction Smashes Pre-Sale Estimates
All but one lot exceeded predictions, with some selling for more than five times their estimated ranges.
The recent Fine Jewels auction at Sotheby’s London was notable for selling the largest single-owner Hemmerle collection to be offered at auction. All but one of the jewels outdid its pre-sale estimates.
London—The Sotheby’s London Fine Jewels auction last week showed a strong demand for signed pieces from contemporary jewelry masters.
Each of the 12 one-of-a-kind jewels from the largest single-owner Hemmerle collection to be offered at auction sold, with all but one exceeding their pre-sale price ranges and some going for five times those amounts.
The most expensive jewel sold was the above necklace with a blackened silver chain, tsavorite garnet links and an early 19th century jasper cameo pendant, surrounded by emeralds and tsavorites.
It smashed its pre-sale estimates of $18,500 to $24,600, selling for $144,855.
The above pair of pineapple-shaped earrings featuring large gray and orange-brown old-mine-cut diamonds and 19th century cameos—expected to earn between $24,600 and $36,900—earned a cool $88,523.
A diamond and colored diamond pendant necklace and brooch, meanwhile, fetched $80,475, compared with its $51,504 to $77,256 pre-sale estimate, and a pair of tourmaline and green sapphire earrings upended its $9,013 to $11,588 estimate when it garnered $64,380.
The above diamond brooches, which convert to hair clips, garnered $56,333, compared with their $25,752 to $38,628 estimated price range, while the below spinel and pink sapphire earrings sold for an impressive $48,285, compared with their $12,876 to $19,314 pre-sale expectation.
The bidding wars didn’t stop there.
A pair of lava cameo and colored diamonds earrings earned $48,285—compared with their $12,876 to $19,314 estimate—and a campy sapphire and diamond Mickey Mouse brooch sold for $45,066, though it was only expected to fetch between $15,451 and $23,177.
A pair of emerald and tsavorite garnet earrings predicted to earn between $10,301 and $15,451 sold for $45,066, and a pair of tourmaline, sapphire and emerald earrings expected to sell for between $12,876 and $19,314 fetched $41,847.
A pair of colored diamond earrings were the sole Hemmerle lot to fall within their estimated price range ($25,752-$38,628), selling for $32,190.
A separate pair of lava cameo and colored diamond earrings from the pair mentioned above, meanwhile, earned $28,971, though they were predicted to sell for between $12,876 and $19,314.
Hemmerle is a fourth-generation jewelry house based in Munich, Germany. The jeweler makes a biannual stateside visit to TEFAF in New York City.
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