The jewels of the Austrian billionaire heiress Heidi Horten (1941-2022) are for sale. A first online auction started on Wednesday. The most spectacular of the approximately 400 pieces of jewelry will be offered on May 10 and May 12 in Geneva, as a spokeswoman for Christie’s auction house said. A further 300 pieces are to be auctioned online in the autumn. The auction house raved about the “timeless elegance” of the heiress to the German department store king Helmut Horten, who died in 1987.
One of the most valuable pieces is a diamond necklace with the pear-shaped “Briolette of India” diamond with a good 90 carats. According to legend, it is said to have belonged to Eleanor of Aquitaine, Queen of France, as early as the 12th century. However, according to the Natural Diamond Council, there is also a story that the diamond originated in South Africa and belonged to Pierre Cartier, who invented an exotic story to enhance it. The chain is estimated at up to 14 million francs (about 14.2 million euros). “Briolette” refers to a rare cut.
Christie’s estimates the total value of the collection at around 150 million dollars (around 136 million euros). It is the largest private jewelry collection that the auction house has ever auctioned. The proceeds will benefit the “Heidi Horten Collection” museum with Horten’s extensive art collection and medical research. Horten opened the museum in Vienna a few days before her death in June 2022.
Helmut Horten laid the foundation for his fortune during the Nazi era when he took over department stores from expropriated Jews. Heidi Horten had an expert report drawn up, which came to the conclusion in early 2022 that Horten benefited from the expropriations by the Nazis, but did not promote them himself. Christie’s will donate a portion of the proceeds from the auction to an organization dedicated to Holocaust research and education. (dpa)