Lot 23. Formerly in the collection of Elsa Schiaparelli. Topaz bangle, Suzanne Belperron, circa 1935. Estimate 39,000 — 59,000 CHF. Lot Sold 212,500 CHF. Photo Sotheby's

Designed as four silver bands swing set with collet-set cushion-shaped, circular-cut and oval light blue topaz,smaller inner circumference approximately 125mm, French assay and partial maker’s marks.

Accompanied by a certificate from Olivier Baroin. 

Provenance: Originally purchased by Elsa Schiaparelli from Suzanne Belperron.

Note: Elsa Schiaparelli was born in Rome, at the Palazzo Corsini, on 10 September 1890. After living in both London and the United States, she eventually settled in Paris, in 1922. It was there that she began her collaboration with the noted fashion designer Paul Poiret. She presented her first collection in January 1927.

Schiaparelli was a true eccentric, and loved to shock with her creations. Her designs often used surrealist trompe l’oeilpatterns. One of her most recognizable dresses, which she designed in conjunction with Salvador Dali in 1937, was an evening gown with a lobster design. Cecil Beaton photographed the Duchess of Windsor wearing this unusual dress.

Schiaparelli admired Suzanne Belperron’s creations for their simplicity, the avant-garde combination of jewels and stones, and their sheer modernity. She was photographed in Vogue magazine in 1933 wearing several Belperron jewels. Throughout the 1930s, Belperron and Schiaperelli creations were used in photo spreads in all the leading fashion magazines.

The archives of these two creators reveal many of the same clients: opera singer and socialite Ganna Walska, Daisy Fellowes, Indian Princess Karam of Kapurthala, Mrs. Harrison Williams (the future Countess Mona Bismarck) and the Duchess of Windsor.

Sotheby's. Magnificent Jewels and Noble Jewels, Genève, 11 nov. 2015, 10:00 AM