Expected to bring in returns greater than initial estimates

Queen Marie Antoinette and Duchess of Windsor items up for auction

Marie Antoinette Collection.

From the source

Christie's Auctions confirmed, yesterday, that it will display diamond bracelets belonging to the late French Queen, Marie Antoinette, and a sapphire and diamond bracelet that was a gift to the Duchess of Windsor and Alice Simpson, from her husband, Prince Edward VIII, King of the United Kingdom, which he gave her on her first anniversary. The items will be auctioned off in Geneva next week.

Bidding will take place on a blue velvet box bearing the "Queen Marie Antoinette bracelets", containing three strands of diamonds and a large clasp clasp, with a total of 112 diamonds.

Christie's said the bracelets, which are now owned by a European royal family, are expected to fetch between $2-4 million at the November 9 auction.

"Finding jewelry that dates back more than 200 years of French royal history is truly a matter of great interest to collectors and enthusiasts from all over the world," said Max Fausset, head of jewelry at Christie's in Geneva.

He asked, “How much can someone pay for valuable possessions that were last owned by a queen in France?” To which he replies, “We have seen the results before the value that Marie Antoinette’s collectibles bring, and I think there is no limit to how high it will be.” The value of these things is up for auction, and I'm expecting fireworks on Tuesday."

Historically, Queen Marie Antoinette was executed by guillotine in 1793, and before her death she sent a letter from her prison in the Tuileries in Paris requesting the delivery of a wooden box containing jewels to her daughter Marie Therese, or Madame Royal, who received the jewels upon her arrival in Austria, as the auction house stated.

Christie's said it would also display an Art Deco sapphire and diamond bracelet that the Duke of Windsor had requested from Cartier to present to his American wife on their first wedding anniversary in southern France, after he abdicated to marry her.

It said pre-sale estimates ranged between one and two million Swiss francs ($1.10 million to $2.19 million).

The Duchess' jewelry collection was first displayed at an auction along Lake Geneva in 1987, with bids soaring, far exceeding pre-sale estimates.

Rival Sotheby's will display Russian royal jewels that were smuggled out of the country during the 1917 revolution, along with rare colored diamonds, on November 10 in Geneva.

• Bidding will be on a blue velvet box bearing the "Queen Marie Antoinette bracelets", containing three strands of diamonds and a large clasp clasp, with a total of 112 diamonds.

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