This week it was set a new world auction record for any piece of Art Nouveau jewelry as well as for a piece of jewellery by René Lalique. The top lot of the auction was the following Art Nouveau enamel, diamond and pearl pendant necklace by Lalique, fetching $978,480, smashing its $131,000 high estimate.

It happened this Monday 13th of Nevember in Geneva, in the Christie’s auction called “Magnificent Jewels from a European Collection“, as a part of the sale of the Collection of Art Nouveau And Art Deco Jewels.

Other highlights of the sale included:

• An Art Nouveau brooch by René Lalique, the first lot of the sale, sold for $213,137, more than double its estimate.
• An opal, diamond and enamel “Cedars” pendant necklace made in 1901 by Georges Fouquet, sold for $483,455.
• A sapphire, enamel and diamond ring, circa 1900, fetched $226,350 against a low estimate of $30,272.
• The final lot of the sale—an emerald, onyx and diamond pendant necklace made in 1925 by Georges Fouquet—sold for $495,528.

A total of 110 pieces from a single unnamed collector sold out, achieving more than $12.4 million during the sale held at Four Seasons Hotel des Bergues. The collection sparked international interest, with extremely competitive bidding in the saleroom, the auction house said in a statement. Bidding by phone and online was global with potential buyers from more than 30 countries across five continents.

The jewelry sale marked the first of 10 auctions being held by Christie’s under the heading, “Beyond Boundaries: Avant-Garde Masterworks from a European Collection”. The sale of masterworks from an the European private collection will be offered throughout the second half of 2017 in New York, Geneva and Paris.

Christie’s said this collection “was assembled by a couple with a keen eye for rare exceptional works of arts and design”. The 10 sales are expected to achieve about $30 million comprising of works from five categories: Impressionist and Modern Art, Post-War and Contemporary Art, Magnificent Jewels, African Art and Design.

In September we published an article about the Jewellery world. We stated the theory that Art Nouveau was back in fashion again. There, we posted some pictures of works done by the three main Jewellery Art Nouveau artisans in the Art Nouveau times, René Lalique, Lluís Masriera and George Fouquet. Click HERE to read the article.