Sotheby’s Geneva to auction imperial jewels
GENEVA, November 1, 2011 – Sotheby’s Geneva will present in its sale of Magnificent Jewels on Tuesday, 15 November 2011 a unique suite of imperial jewels, which it says is probably the most important parure of antique coloured diamond jewels to appear at auction in the last 50 years.
Comprising a necklace, a brooch and a pair of earrings, this diamond parure contains jewels which may have formed part of a gift presented by Empress Catherine I, wife of Peter the Great of Russia, to Ottoman Sultan Ahmed III (1673-1736) to negotiate peace after the Pruth River Battles.
The jewels from the Russian Empress are believed to have then passed into the Ottoman Treasures. By tradition, they are said to have been used by the Sultan Abdül Hamid II (1842-1918) for the present necklace which he offered to the wife of the Khedive Teufik of Egypt, possibly on the occasion of the birth of their son and heir, Abbas II Hilmi Pasa (1874-1944).
