Editor’s Note
This article discusses the late Austrian collector Heidi Horten and the museum housing her collection. It is important to acknowledge that a significant portion of Horten’s wealth was derived from her husband, Helmut Horten, who built his department store empire by purchasing Jewish businesses sold under duress during the Nazi era. While the art itself is a separate subject, we believe this historical context is essential for a complete understanding of the collection’s provenance.
The city of Vienna, home to Klimt’s ‘The Kiss’, saw the opening of the Heidi Horten Collection museum two years ago. Heidi Horten (1941–2022) was an Austrian billionaire and a great collector with an aesthetic eye. The museum displays her personal collection amassed over more than 30 years. Heidi Horten passed away at the age of 81 just days after the museum’s opening in early June 2022.
Heidi Horten was not only an art lover but also a jewelry enthusiast and gem collector. Her unimaginably vast jewelry collection, which had remained in her jewelry box, was revealed to the public in May 2023 when over 700 pieces from her jewelry estate were offered at a Christie’s auction in Geneva, Switzerland.
The auction garnered significant attention even before it began. This was because she was the widow of businessman Helmut Horten, who amassed his fortune by acquiring, at low prices, factories and other properties seized from Jewish owners and forcibly sold by the Nazis under Hitler. Consequently, her jewelry was dubbed ‘Nazi collaborator’s jewels,’ drawing intense public scrutiny.
The results of the live and online auctions, held in three sessions, saw the ‘Heidi Horten’ collection achieve a total hammer price of $220 million (approximately 270 billion KRW), setting a new world record for the highest total for a private jewelry collection sold at auction. The previous record was held by Hollywood actress Elizabeth Taylor’s jewelry collection, which sold for $116 million (approximately 150 billion KRW) at a Christie’s auction in 2011. The name Elizabeth Taylor had held the top spot for over a decade but ultimately yielded it to Heidi Horten.
Heidi Horten’s jewelry collection was an unprecedentedly magnificent assembly of rare gems like diamonds, rubies, and emeralds, and pieces from luxury houses such as Van Cleef & Arpels, Cartier, and Tiffany. She appeared to have a particular preference for green stones among the dazzling array of colored gems. The auction lots included numerous emerald and jadeite jewelry pieces. Here are some of the exceptionally rare jeweled pieces from her collection of over 700 items.
A necklace featuring a 90.38-carat, D-color, VS2 clarity briolette-cut diamond pendant. The chain is made of platinum set with marquise-cut and pear-cut diamonds. The pendant is detachable, the chain can be separated into two parts, and it can be worn as a bracelet. It sold for $7 million (approximately 9.36 billion KRW).
A 25.59-carat cushion-shaped ruby of the finest color, known as ‘pigeon’s blood.’ It is of Burmese (Myanmar) origin, unheated, and flanked by shield-shaped diamonds.
It was hammered down for $14.49 million (approximately 19.7 billion KRW).
Featuring a 362.45-carat 19th-century emerald, carved to depict a scene from the ancient Indian epic Ramayana, known as the ‘Great Mughal.’ The emerald pendant is surrounded by round diamonds and set in 18K yellow gold and platinum. This necklace, created in the late 1970s, sold for 822,000 Swiss francs (approximately 1.23 billion KRW).
A bangle centered with a 32.23-carat yellow diamond. Of fancy yellow color, the cushion brilliant cut center stone is flanked by a horizontal row of square-shaped emeralds. Baguette-cut diamonds are set vertically. This bold design bangle found a new owner for 428,400 Swiss francs (approximately 643 million KRW).
A jadeite necklace consisting of two strands of 60 beads ranging from 14.60 to 11.70 mm, connected by a Cartier diamond lock clasp. The lock clasp is detachable and can be worn separately as a brooch. It sold for 1.618 million Swiss francs (approximately 2.43 billion KRW). The matching jadeite ring, with diamonds set on the band and prongs, was hammered down for 630,000 Swiss francs (approximately 946 million KRW).
The over 700 pieces of jewelry belonging to the passionate and great art collector Heidi Horten have found new homes through the Christie’s auction, scattering from her jewelry box. The proceeds from this auction went to the Heidi Horten Foundation, established in 2021.
The magnificent jewels that revealed their presence through the Christie’s auction received fervent attention and dazzling spotlight in a century-defining sale that marked a chapter in jewelry history. ‘Sunrise Ruby,’ ‘Briolette of India,’ ‘Great Mughal’… To their reputation as the finest gems, the provenance now adds the name ‘Heidi Horten’ as a ‘record.’
