Editor’s Note
The Vanderbilt jewels achieved a remarkable result at Phillips Geneva, with all 12 pieces selling for a total of CHF 3.4 million—quadruple the low estimate. This underscores the enduring market strength for exceptional historic collections.
The Vanderbilt jewels achieved a clean sweep at the Phillips Geneva auction on November 10. All 12 gems from the family’s collection sold, bringing in a total of CHF 3.4 million ($4.2 million), approximately four times the low estimate.
Leading the sale was the gem known as the “Vanderbilt Sapphire,” a Tiffany & Co. creation gifted to Gladys Vanderbilt on her wedding day by her mother, Alice Gwynne Vanderbilt. Estimated between $1 million and $1.5 million, it realized a dazzling CHF 2.8 million ($3.5 million). Another wedding gift, a pear-shaped diamond brooch by Cartier, sold for CHF 451,500 ($560,580), three times its high estimate.
Other notable sales at Phillips’ Jewels Auction included a 1920s Van Cleef and Arpels diamond pendant that sold for CHF 335,400 ($416,430), double its high estimate; and a “Serpenti” enamel and emerald belt by Bulgari, which brought in CHF 296,700 ($368,383). The entire sale achieved a total of CHF 13.7 million ($17 million).
When Gladys Vanderbilt married Count Laszlo Széchényi of Hungary in 1908, it was the talk of New York City. Before Gladys departed on her honeymoon, her mother gifted her a Cartier tiara studded with amethysts and diamonds. A diamond lily brooch, once part of that tiara, was among the 12 items formerly owned by Gladys Vanderbilt offered at the auction.
The sale also featured more personal items that evidenced a life of ultimate luxury. These included a monogrammed Cartier vanity case with a ruby clasp, which sold for $20,830; a delicate gold Cartier wristwatch with rubies at its lugs that went for $13,625; and a Cartier traveling clock gifted to her in 1913, which realized $7,690.
This demand has seen the auction house’s sales of jewels double between 2022 and 2024, reaching $60 million last year, a more than 50 percent increase from 2023.
Earlier this year, another assembly of Vanderbilt jewelry appeared at Sotheby’s. It belonged to Emily Vanderbilt Wade, a distant cousin of Gladys, and was a showcase in exquisite early 20th-century jewelry design. The marquee lot was an elongated necklace with rubies and diamonds that sold for $1.8 million.