Designer jewellery has auction appeal

Sotheby’s Australia’s latest designer jewellery auction is bound to appeal to auction goers looking for that individual or memorable piece.

One of the major highlights of the auction, from 6pm Tuesday August 9 in the InterContinental Sydney at 117 Macquarie Street, is an impressive selection of jewels by the designer Cartier.

The catalogued cover depicts a platinum and diamond panther ring with a rotating head and eyes accented with pear-shaped emeralds (lot 129).

This has been an iconic Cartier piece for more than a century and is the result of an idea first mooted in the early 1900s by the Prince of Wales, later King Edward VIII.

Another Cartier creation is the unusual late 1930s curio 18-carat gold, gem-set and enamel Blackamoor brooch (lot 108).

Vogue editor Dianne Vreeland said in her memoirs that her little Blackamoor heads were the chic of Paris in the late 1930s.

“When I moved to New York I made arrangements for Paris Cartier to sell them to the New York Cartier, and all I can tell you is that the race across the ocean was something fierce,” she said.

Four designer animal brooches by Van Cleef & Arpel are another strong attraction (lots 115-118).

Dating from the 1950s and 1960s, they feature a cat, poodle, squirrel and tiger.

The ‘Chat Malicieux’ brooch in 18-carat gold is designed as a seated cat with black onyx body, a single diamond-framed cabochon emerald eye and ruby nose.

The tiger brooch is modelled as a standing baby tiger cub, also with cabochon emerald eyes and 18-carat gold body.

The auction also features an impressive selection of clear and coloured diamonds, and a range of watches including an unusual Franck Muller oversized 18-carat pink gold automatic example (lot 160).