Editor’s Note
This piece explores how a single gemstone, the Vanderbilt Sapphire, can serve as a condensed archive of history, capturing the essence of an era and the legacy of a legendary American dynasty.
Light condenses within the stone like a blue dream, sometimes frozen for a century. The precious material becomes an archive, a tangible trace of a vanished world. The “Vanderbilt Sapphire,” mounted as a brooch by Tiffany & Co. in the early 20th century, carries within it the entire memory of a dynasty. This 42.68-carat Kashmir sapphire, cut in a sugarloaf shape and certified as “Royal Blue” by AGL, SSEF, and Gübelin, embodies the very essence of the American Gilded Age. Phillips presents it as the centerpiece of its “The Geneva Jewels Auction V,” scheduled for November 10, 2025, at the Hôtel Président in Geneva.
The collection originates from Gladys Moore Vanderbilt, Countess Széchényi (1886-1965), the last heiress of Cornelius Vanderbilt II. Born in the largest private residence ever built in New York, she grew up between Fifth Avenue and “The Breakers” in Newport, the summer residence she bequeathed to the Preservation Society after 1948. Her marriage in 1908 to Count László Széchényi sealed the symbolic union between American industrial fortune and European aristocracy. The jewels she received bear witness to this transatlantic alliance. Alice Gwynne Vanderbilt gave the sapphire to her daughter for her wedding. The brooch, adorned with a delicate openwork pattern enhanced with old-cut diamonds, reflects the refinement of an era when jewelry crystallized social ambitions.
Among the twelve pieces offered is also a Cartier brooch set with a 4.55-carat pear-shaped diamond (est. €95,000-143,000), a remnant of a sumptuous Belle Époque tiara commissioned for the wedding. Initially composed of eight stylized lilies adorned with interchangeable amethysts and diamonds, the tiara was dismantled over time. Gladys wore it at the coronation of Emperor Charles and Empress Zita of Austria in 1916. The family ensemble includes an emerald and diamond brooch (est. €4,750-7,600), a diamond comb, a monogrammed Cartier vanity case, an “8-day” travel clock engraved “from DS Xmas 1913,” and a gold, ruby, and diamond wristwatch.
The sale totals an overall estimate of 16 million Swiss francs (approximately €17.3 million). Beyond the Vanderbilt collection, highlights include a 6.95-carat Fancy Vivid purplish pink diamond (€7.8 million), an 18.09-carat Kashmir sapphire (est. €2.1-2.7 million), a 10.08-carat Light Pink Brown diamond from Golconda (est. €428,000-618,000), and creations signed by Van Cleef & Arpels, Cartier, Bulgari, Graff, and Schlumberger. For this strategic sale, Phillips is deploying its new “priority bidding” system, allowing collectors to place confidential maximum bids in advance, thereby redefining the codes of public auctions.
