The Phillips Geneva Jewels Auction: V is set to take place at Hotel President Wilson on 10 November 2025. The catalogue includes a selection of outstanding coloured diamonds and gemstones, historic pieces from the Vanderbilt Family Jewels, and iconic designs from the world’s most celebrated maisons.
A 6.95 ct Fancy Vivid Purplish Pink diamond leads the sale – a true masterpiece of exceptional colour and brilliance, with VVS2 clarity (Type IIa diamond). Learn more about the special features of pink diamonds here.
The top lots include a remarkable 18.09 ct step-cut Kashmir sapphire, a very fine Light Pink Brown diamond weighing 10.08 ct (Type IIa) with an old cushion shape of Golconda origin, as well as a Paraiba tourmaline (20.08 ct) and diamond ring.
Another important highlight is the ‘Plumes’ necklace created by Jean Schlumberger for Fiona Campbell-Walter former Baroness Thyssen-Bornemisza in the late 1950s using diamonds, rubies, sapphires, and gold. She (born in 1932) is a New Zealand-born British model. In 1956, she married Baron Hans Heinrich Thyssen-Bornemisza de Kászon et Impérfalva, a Dutch-born German-Swiss heir and art collector who was a member of the Hungarian nobility. Upon her marriage, Fiona Campbell-Walter became a baroness (she divorced Thyssen-Bornemisza in 1965).
Jean Schlumberger, the famous French jewellery designer was especially well known for his outstanding work at Tiffany & Co. Fiona von Thyssen-Bornemisza wore the necklace when she sat for photographer Henry Clarke for Vogue, March 15, 1962. Its vibrant palette and sculptural elegance exemplify Schlumberger’s imaginative genius and his ability to transform nature into wearable art.
The Vanderbilt Family Jewels
The background
The Vanderbilt family is one of America’s most famous and historically wealthy dynasties. Their fortune began with Cornelius Vanderbilt (1794–1877), a self-made entrepreneur who built a vast empire in shipping and railroads during the 19th century. Known as ‘The Commodore,’ he became one of the richest men in American history.
The next generations, particularly his son William Henry Vanderbilt, expanded the wealth, making the Vanderbilts symbols of the Gilded Age elite. The dynasty has an exciting and often controversial history, but their name became synonymous with wealth and influence in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Famous descendants include Gloria Vanderbilt (1924-2019), American artist, author, actress, fashion designer, and socialite. One of her four children is Anderson Cooper (1967), the broadcast journalist and political commentator, working at CNN and CBS News. Together with historian Katherine Howe, Cooper wrote a book about his famous family.
The collection in the sale is from Gladys Moore Vanderbilt. The Countess Széchényi (1886–1965) was a member of the prominent American Vanderbilt family and part of New York’s high society. She was the youngest daughter of Cornelius Vanderbilt II (1843-1899, the grandson of the dynasty founder) and Alice Claypoole Gwynne Vanderbilt.
Gladys Moore Vanderbilt grew up in the largest private house ever built in New York City, the Vanderbilt II family mansion on Fifth Avenue, and The Breakers, in Newport, Rhode Island.
In 1908, she married Count László Széchényi (1879–1938), a Hungarian nobleman and diplomat, becoming Countess Széchényi of Sárvár-Felsővidék. The Széchenyis were an old and influential noble family of Hungary, one of the most prominent member of their dynasty was Count István Széchenyi de Sárvár-Felsővidék (1791-1860, the great-uncle of László Széchényi), who is often called ‘the Greatest Hungarian’ for his role in modernising Hungary. Through this marriage, Gladys Vanderbilt joined the European aristocracy—an example of the era’s trend of wealthy American heiresses marrying titled Europeans. The couple frequently visited Hungary with their five daughters. Interesting side story, that the period press and later summaries reported that several of Gladys’s jewels were stolen from her Budapest residence in 1912 and later recovered.
She inherited The Breakers in Newport and leased to the Preservation Society of Newport County after 1948, where she held an apartment until her death in 1965.
The collection
Twelve pieces are included in the November Phillips auction. The star of the collection is ‘The Vanderbilt Sapphire’ (estimate: USD 1,000,000-1,500,000 / CHF800,000-1,200,000), an exceptional 42.68 ct sugarloaf Kashmir sapphire and diamond brooch, in illustrious ‘Royal Blue’ colour.
Mounted by Tiffany & Co., this extraordinary gem is accompanied by certificates from AGL, SSEF, and Gübelin. It was originally gifted by Alice Gwynne Vanderbilt to her daughter Gladys. The brooch’s intricate openwork design embellished with old-cut diamonds typifies quintessential Belle Epoque refinement.
A Cartier diamond wedding tiara was commissioned by Alice Vanderbilt for Gladys’s 1908 marriage to Count László Széchényi. The jewel was designed as eight lily sprays and adorned with interchangeable pear-shaped amethysts and similarly shaped diamonds (on the picture above). The tiara was eventually dismantled, and the present brooch set with an old-cut pear-shaped E colour diamond weighing 4.55 carats (estimate: USD 100,000-150,000 / CHF80,000-120,000).
The family collection also includes delicate objects and fine jewels from the late 19th century to the first third of the 20th century. An emerald and diamond brooch of bow design, a diamond comb from the early 20th century, a Cartier gold, ruby and diamond vanity case bearing the monogram of Gladys Vanderbilt, a ‘8-Days’ traveling clock given to Gladys, Countess Széchényi, on Christmas 1913, and a gold, ruby and diamond Cartier wristwatch are also among the lots.
The highlights of the Phillips Geneva Jewels Auction: V auction already visited Hong Kong and New York and the tour continues in Singapore (10 – 11 October), Taipei (18 – 19 October), London (24 – 26 October) and Geneva (5 – 10 November, before the auction).
Source: press release. Photo credits: Phillips.
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