A pearl and diamond necklace with matching earrings once owned by Princess Diana, known as the Swan Lake Suite, is expected to return up to $US15 million ($AU22.1 million) at auction.
The piece was created by former British Crown Jeweller Garrard. The platinum necklace is mounted with brilliant-cut diamonds in a scroll motif. Suspended from the necklace are five cultured South Sea pearls and seven marquise diamonds in a fringe drop design.
“It’s very difficult to try to anticipate what something like this will sell for,” Guernsey’s president Arlan Ettinger told Rapaport News.
“When items are appraised and estimated before an auction, they are based upon precedent. Chances are you will find things that are similar, then it’s easier to estimate its value. This is unique and it is an impossible task.”
Princess Diana wore the necklace in June of 1997 at the gala opening of the Swan Lake ballet at London’s Royal Albert Hall, just months before her untimely death in Paris.
“It’s speculated that Diana was photographed more often on that evening than at any other time in her life, with the exception of her 1981 wedding day,” writes Hannah Malach of WWD.
“The timing of the June 27 auction is rife with coincidences. It occurs just after the 26th anniversary of when Diana wore the necklace at the Royal Albert Hall.”
She continued: “Meanwhile, England’s new King and Diana’s ex-husband was crowned on May 6. This summer, a production of Swan Lake will be staged by the American Ballet Theatre in New York, where the auction is taking place.”
The necklace features 178 diamonds in total and will hit the block in New York at Guernsey’s auction house on 27 June.
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