The jewels belonged to Carmen Polo, wife of the dictator, and have been sold this Wednesday in London in a bid at Christie's.
The emeralds of Carmen Franco, by auction
Two jewels with emeralds and diamonds set by the family of the dictator Francisco Franco have been auctioned this Wednesday in London for a joint value of 143,750 pounds (168,300 euros / 185,000 dollars), while a third piece of the same lot, a diamond ring, He was without a buyer.
The two jewels that were sold had been worn publicly by Carmen Franco, the only daughter of the general, who left her seven descendants a millionaire legacy after her death, in December 2017 .
The main piece of the auction lot was a ring with a prominent diamond of 19.24 carats and another six secondary , valued by the Christie's auction house at between 120,000 and 180,000 pounds (from 140,450 to 210,680 euros / from 154,565 to 232,000 dollars) , which was not finally finished off in a session dedicated to "Important Jewels".
For 100,000 pounds (117,000 euros / $ 129,000), a bib necklace with five emeralds carved in cabochon was sold, with a rounded surface, between 27 and 58 carats, accompanied by circular cut diamonds, platinum and gold choker.
Finally, a pair of Cartier earrings with two main emeralds of 38.59 and 28.27 carats -which once were part of the necklace also auctioned at Christie's-, diamonds set and platinum, were sold for 43,750 pounds (51,200 euros / $ 56,330).
"These are three spectacular jewels , " Barcena, Ernesto Gutierrez, director of Madrid jewelry, explained to Efe, who says the "art deco" style necklace and earrings are pieces that Carmen Franco exhibited "several times."
One of them was in the Dominican Republic, during the wedding of her grandson Luis Alfonso de Borbón with Margarita Vargas Santaella, who has also carried this jewelry in Madrid, said the jeweler.
His seven children - Carmen, Francisco, Jaime, José Cristóbal, María del Mar, María Aránzazu and María de la O - shared their inheritance and have now put on sale some of their jewels, among which are not the famous necklaces of pearls of the family.
According to different estimates, Franco's seven grandchildren shared a fortune of between 500 and 600 million euros (550 and 660 million dollars) at the death of their mother, made up among other goods of residential buildings, offices and garages.
On the origin of the jewels that were auctioned in the British capital, Christie's has merely indicated that they are "owned by a Spanish family."
This month, after the auction of the pieces in London was made public, an association of victims of Franco and their relatives demanded that the Government of Spain investigate the origin of the jewels of the Franco family.
The Association for the Recovery of Historical Memory ( ARMH ) filed a petition with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to find out if these pieces were part of the State Heritage at any time and if they were stolen by the dictator or his relatives.
"It is a fortune built on the suffering of millions of people , the looting of thousands of properties and the emptying of National Heritage, initiated by the Generalissimo Foundation as soon as the war was over, in 1939," said the association.
The remains of General Franco, who led the winning side of the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) and ruled the country until his death, in 1975, were exhumed last month from the National Monument of the Valley of the Fallen and transferred to a cemetery Madrid municipal.
In the same auction at Christie's, pearl and diamond earrings were sold that belonged to the Spanish aristocrat Eugenia de Montijo (1826-1920), consort of Napoleon III and last Empress of France.
The pair of earrings was finished off for 237,500 pounds (278,150 euros / $ 306,000), while a heart-shaped ruby and diamond pendant from the same origin reached 41,250 pounds (48,300 euros / 53,000 dollars).
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