Editor’s Note
This upcoming auction marks a significant shift in the Parisian vintage market. For the first time, a major sale will focus exclusively on haute couture jewelry, spotlighting a private collection of nearly 300 Christian Dior pieces. It signals a growing appreciation for fashion jewelry as a serious category, moving beyond the traditional auction dominance of clothing and iconic leather goods.
This is a first for the Parisian art market. On May 21st, the auction house Tajan will offer a sale entirely dedicated to a collection of nearly 300 pieces of Christian Dior couture jewelry belonging to a French collector. Until now, vintage fashion auctions have mainly focused on clothing and, above all, luxury leather goods, with the astronomical prices recorded by two iconic Hermès models, the Kelly and the Birkin. This vintage market is doing wonderfully well, and the couture or costume jewelry of the great fashion houses is appearing more and more frequently in sales, with some antique dealers even presenting these designers’ “fantasy” models alongside classic gold and gemstone jewelry.
For Hubert Felbacq, director of the fashion department at Bonhams Cornette de Saint Cyr, this interest was awakened about thirty years ago, with the opening in Brussels of a gallery called “Ciel mes bijoux!” presenting only fantasy models from haute couture. Today, in this market, demand is growing. Fashion houses eager to repurchase their most beautiful creations, private collectors, gallery owners, but also the general public dreaming of a designer model are vying for the most beautiful pieces.
The choice is wide and the styles very varied.
These creations were then reserved for a wealthy clientele. The democratization of couture jewelry would only occur after the Second World War, with the advent of ready-to-wear, and from the early 1970s, it was sold in all major provincial perfumeries.
What is often unknown is that these jewels are not created by the couturier themselves.
Several big names dominate this market: Chanel, Christian Dior and Yves Saint Laurent, but also Elsa Schiaparelli, Balenciaga or Thierry Mugler. For those who would like to buy these collectible pieces, Hubert Felbacq has only one piece of advice:
These are the models that sell best and will appreciate in value over time.
As for the prices to consider for these little wonders, the range is wide. They start at a few hundred euros for brooches, like this heart-shaped model by Yves Saint Laurent sold for 384 euros or these necklaces from the same house sold for 896 euros. But they can easily exceed 1,000 euros, such as this Gianfranco Ferré bracelet for Dior Haute Couture, from the Summer 1993 Impression collection, which went for 1,024 euros. Or even reach several thousand euros for the most extraordinary creations. Thus, at Bonhams, on April 16th, a flower necklace from the Dior autumn-winter 2001 collection by Galliano fetched 8,320 euros, while it was estimated at 2,000 euros, and another Dior necklace from 2002 sold for 11,520 euros, when the appraisal gave it between 700 and 800 euros. So much proof of the unwavering enthusiasm of buyers.