In a blockbuster year of jewelry auctions, another patrician’s collection is on the block.
On Dec. 14, Christie’s in New York will auction off 50 pieces of jewelry from the estate of Hélène Arpels, the former wife of Van Cleef & Arpels scion Louis Arpels.
Hélène, a native of Monte Carlo, was a Paris doyenne in her own right, with a spot on the 10 Best Dressed List from 1949 through 1959. She hobnobbed with the likes of Rose Kennedy, Gloria Guinness and Begum Aga Khan. She married Louis Arpels in 1933, and the two moved from Paris to the U.S. to establish the company’s first branch in New York in 1940.
“It’s a fine collection of jewelry, which Louis had handpicked for his wife, Hélène,” said François Curiel, chairman of Christie’s Europe and the auction house’s head of jewelry. He also was a friend of Hélène’s. She died this year at the age of 97. Louis, 25 years her senior, died in 1976.
“While she was married, they were a power couple,” Curiel remembered. “She would wear fabulous jewelry from Van Cleef & Arpels, and they were invited everywhere.”
Louis often ran jewelry prototypes by his wife, who was known to wear her jewelry in exceptional ways, such as putting diamond brooches on her shoes, demonstrating her catch phrase: “Diamonds go with everything.”
The collection, which is expected to fetch $500,000 to $600,000, includes some impressive pieces: a set of three diamond flame brooches from her husband’s firm that were first introduced in 1934, a Ludo Hexagon platinum and diamond bracelet and a gold Van Cleef & Arpels Snowflake brooch speckled with diamonds. Arpels also owned pieces from other jewelers that are in the sale, including a Jean Schlumberger for Tiffany & Co. bracelet, several pieces from Boucheron and Cartier ruby and diamond flower clips.
Hélène and Louis eventually became estranged, but they still traded jewelry and style advice. In 1960, Hélène opened an Aliata shoe boutique on Madison Avenue, which later moved to Park Avenue. She designed and sold the shoes to the likes of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and other Manhattan socialites.
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It has been said Hélène privately sold many of her jewels in her last years and so some significant pieces from her estate aren’t included in the sale. Van Cleef & Arpels has no association with the Christie’s sale.
This year has been an exceptional one in jewelry sales. In October, Christie’s auctioned the baubles of Ellen Barkin, which included 17 pieces of JAR jewelry, to the tune of $20.37 million, as well as some significant diamond pieces from the estate of Joan B. Kroc. In December, Sotheby’s is auctioning rare Italian Victorian jewelry by Giuliano and Castellani.