Editor’s Note
A stunning piece of wearable art by Salvador Dalí, the “Swirling Sea” necklace, has shattered expectations at auction. As reported, its recent sale for over €736,000—double its pre-sale estimate—underscores the enduring and powerful market for the Surrealist master’s work.
Salvador Dalí’s Swirling Sea necklace sold for €736,600 at Sotheby’s auction in Paris, doubling its initial estimate. The piece was a highlight of the “Surrealism and Its Legacy” auction held on October 24, 2025, during Art Basel Paris week, reaffirming the international appeal of exceptional works by the Catalan artist.
Salvador Dalí, a self-proclaimed “Renaissance man,” expanded his creativity far beyond painting and drawing. However, nothing generates as much fascination as his jewels, which represent a triumph of technical virtuosity and visual splendor, embodying his “love for all things golden and excessive.”
The Swirling Sea necklace was crafted from 18-karat gold based on Dalí’s sketches from 1954. Its physical creation was completed in 1963 by New York jeweler Carlos Alemany, a frequent collaborator of the artist. The piece features a undulating structure with diamonds and a large cultured pearl, accompanied by a fringe of sapphire and emerald beads hanging from the main hoop. This design evokes the sway of the tide on a golden shore, with diamonds resembling small shiny shells scattered on the beach and the baroque pearl at the top, caressing the wearer’s neck.
The creation of the Swirling Sea necklace responds to Dalí’s surrealist vision, seeking to translate his pictorial and dreamlike obsessions into material form. In the artist’s words, each element of the necklace—from the fluid tassels to the central pearl—expresses the vitality and movement of the sea.
The first owner of the necklace was São Schlumberger, muse, collector, and patron of the artist. After marrying Pierre Schlumberger, São posed for Dalí numerous times between 1963 and 1965, and he himself selected the dress in which he portrayed her, combining it with the iconic jewel. In 2014, Sotheby’s auctioned the art and jewelry collection of São and Pierre Schlumberger, when Anne Schlumberger—Pierre’s daughter—acquired the necklace for $665,000. Following Anne’s passing in April 2025, the piece returned to the market, generating expectations that the recent auction result far exceeded.
The context of this sale underscores the symbolic and commercial importance of the Swirling Sea necklace in the international circuit of surrealist and modern art. The auction not only catapulted the piece’s notoriety but also set a new standard for high artistic jewelry sales in France. The combination of illustrious provenance, Dalí’s signature, and exceptional technical execution made the bidding a competition celebrated by collectors and experts.
At the close of the day, Sotheby’s “Surrealism and Its Legacy and Modernitês” auction totaled a historic revenue of $104,052,000 (equivalent to €89.7 million), an unprecedented milestone for this segment in France and proof of the vitality of the modern and surrealist art market.
