Hemmerle Auction Smashes Pre-Sale Estimates

London—The Sotheby’s London Fine Jewels auction last week showed a strong demand for signed pieces from contemporary jewelry masters.

Each of the 12 one-of-a-kind jewels from the largest single-owner Hemmerle collection to be offered at auction sold, with all but one exceeding their pre-sale price ranges and some going for five times those amounts.

The most expensive jewel sold was the above necklace with a blackened silver chain, tsavorite garnet links and an early 19th century jasper cameo pendant, surrounded by emeralds and tsavorites.

It smashed its pre-sale estimates of $18,500 to $24,600, selling for $144,855.

The above pair of pineapple-shaped earrings featuring large gray and orange-brown old-mine-cut diamonds and 19th century cameos—expected to earn between $24,600 and $36,900—earned a cool $88,523.

A diamond and colored diamond pendant necklace and brooch, meanwhile, fetched $80,475, compared with its $51,504 to $77,256 pre-sale estimate, and a pair of tourmaline and green sapphire earrings upended its $9,013 to $11,588 estimate when it garnered $64,380.

The above diamond brooches, which convert to hair clips, garnered $56,333, compared with their $25,752 to $38,628 estimated price range, while the below spinel and pink sapphire earrings sold for an impressive $48,285, compared with their $12,876 to $19,314 pre-sale expectation.

The bidding wars didn’t stop there.

A pair of lava cameo and colored diamonds earrings earned $48,285—compared with their $12,876 to $19,314 estimate—and a campy sapphire and diamond Mickey Mouse brooch sold for $45,066, though it was only expected to fetch between $15,451 and $23,177.

A pair of emerald and tsavorite garnet earrings predicted to earn between $10,301 and $15,451 sold for $45,066, and a pair of tourmaline, sapphire and emerald earrings expected to sell for between $12,876 and $19,314 fetched $41,847.

A pair of colored diamond earrings were the sole Hemmerle lot to fall within their estimated price range ($25,752-$38,628), selling for $32,190.

A separate pair of lava cameo and colored diamond earrings from the pair mentioned above, meanwhile, earned $28,971, though they were predicted to sell for between $12,876 and $19,314.

Hemmerle is a fourth-generation jewelry house based in Munich, Germany. The jeweler makes a biannual stateside visit to TEFAF in New York City.