The sale of jewelry belonging to billionaire Austrian heiress Heidi Horten, who passed away last June, began Wednesday with an online auction.
The most spectacular of the 400 or so pieces of jewelry will be offered next week in Geneva, Switzerland, a spokeswoman for auction house Christie's told Swiss daily Aargauer Zeitung.
Another 300 pieces are to be auctioned in the fall.
One of the most valuable pieces is a diamond necklace with the teardrop-shaped "Briolette of India" diamond weighing a good 90 carats. Legend has it that it belonged to Eleanor of Aquitaine, the Queen of France, as early as the 12th century.
However, according to the Natural Diamond Council, there is also a story that the diamond originated in South Africa and belonged to Pierre Cartier, who invented an exotic story to enhance its value. The necklace is valued at up to $15.6 million. "Briolette" refers to the rare cut of the diamond.
Christie's estimates the total value of the collection at around $150 million. This would make it the most valuable private jewelry collection ever sold at auction.
Proceeds are to benefit the Heidi Horten Collection, which includes Horten's extensive art collection, as well as medical research. Horten had opened the museum in Vienna a few days before her death in June 2022.
Helmut Horten (1909-1987) had laid the foundation for his fortune during the Nazi era, when he took over department stores from dispossessed Jews. Heidi Horten had an expert report prepared that concluded in early 2022 that Horten was a beneficiary of the Nazi spoliations.
Christie's plans to donate a portion of the proceeds from the auction to an organization involved in Holocaust research and education.
