The "Lumos Maxima" sterling silver charm bracelet with gold, diamonds and gems. Estimated to fetch £15,000-20,000, this unique piece of jewellery will be auctioned on the 10th of December 2013. Photo: Sotheby's.

LONDON.- Sotheby’s London presents the Lumos Maxima bracelet, a bespoke sterling silver charm bracelet based on designs by J.K Rowling and inspired by her Harry Potter books. It features eleven charms, each handcrafted in the silver workshops of Edinburgh jeweller Hamilton & Inches. The charms have been cast in sterling silver before being finished by hand with gold highlights and precious stones, eleven in total, with a twelfth, the wand acting as a fastener. 

The idea of the charm bracelet was inspired by one the author had herself been given previously by her editor and the head of Bloomsbury children’s books, on the day that the seventh and final Harry Potter book was published. For J.K. Rowling charm bracelets are imbued with memory and sentiment - “they have meaning beyond the mercenary. They are personal amulets.” 

Estimated to fetch £15,000-20,000, this unique piece of jewellery will be auctioned on the 10th of December 2013 in Sotheby’s English Literature, History, Children’s Books & Illustrations sale to benefit Lumos, the children’s charity J.K. Rowling founded in 2005. Lumos aims to end the systematic institutionalisation of children, a harmful practice that affects 8 million children worldwide, 1 million of whom are in Europe – many separated from their families and placed in so called ‘orphanages’ as a result of poverty, disability and discrimination. 

The Lumos Maxima bracelet comprises 12 charms, 11 of which depict a significant image from the magical world of the Harry Potter series: Harry Potter's bolt of lightning; glasses and broomstick; a Golden Snitch; Dark Mark skull set with amethyst eyes; Slytherin locket; a winged key; The Tales of Beedle the Bard book; the Sorting Hat; the Deathly Hallows symbol and a wand, which acts as the fastener. 

The charm, according to J.K. Rowling, that is the most precious of the group is a butterfly, which is the logo of Lumos. The little butterfly is “beaming with moonstones and amethysts - a symbol of transformation and liberations, of the beauty that can emerge from dark confinement”. The significance of this description is highlighted by the very name of the charity. Lumos is the spell J.K. Rowling created in Harry Potter that brings light to desperately dark and frightening places. 

The creation and subsequent sale of this hand-crafted piece of jewellery marks the five-year anniversary since the publication of The Tales of Beedle the Bard written by J.K. Rowling and sold in aid of Lumos. 

100% of the net sale proceeds achieved on the sale of this Lot will go directly to J.K. Rowling’s children’s charity, Lumos (registered charity number 1112575).