* Socialite philanthropist offering 70 jewels at Geneva
auction on May 14
* Collection includes 18 pieces by Paris-based American
jeweller JAR
* 20 charities of Lily Safra’s choosing to share proceeds
GENEVA, March 20 (Reuters) – Jewels belonging to Lily Safra,
billionaire widow of banker Edmond Safra, are estimated to fetch
more than $20 million at a May auction whose proceeds will
benefit 20 charities selected by the philanthropist, Christie’s
said on Tuesday.
The 70 gems, being offered at its Geneva sale on May 14,
include diamonds, rubies and sapphires as well as antique pieces
dating to the late 18th-century and period jewellery, it said.
“This jewellery collection reflects her refined taste and
its evolution throughout five decades, from the 1970s to the
present day,” Christie’s said in a statement.
Eighteen pieces are designed by Paris-based American
jeweller Joel Arthur Rosenthal, known as JAR, making it “the
largest private collection of creations by JAR ever to be
offered at auction”, it said.
The majority were designed specifically for the
Brazilian-born socialite over the last three decades by JAR, who
produces about 70-80 works a year for an exclusive clientele,
Christie’s spokesman Cristiano De Lorenzo said.
They include a ruby and diamond Camellia flower brooch,
created for Lily Safra in 2003, estimated to fetch $1.2 million
to $1.5 million, he said.
The brooch embodies JAR’s hallmark technique of setting
small stones closely together to form a pavement of jewels.
“It must be an exceptional collection because Lily Safra and
her late husband Edmond not only had unlimited means but
excellent taste in art,” Eric Valdieu, an independent jewellery
dealer based in Geneva, formerly of Christie’s, told Reuters.
Lily Safra sold artwork, furniture, silver and decorative
objects from the couple’s collection at rival Sotheby’s
last June, raising some $45 million.
But Valdieu said it was logical that she consigned her
jewels to Christie’s, owned by French billionaire Francois
Pinault, given the Safras’ close ties of over 30 years with
Francois Curiel, international head of its jewellery department.
“After Liz Taylor, Lily Safra – emblematic collections are
now being dispersed,” said Valdieu, who is also a fund manager
for the Luxembourg-based investment fund Divine Jewels.
The Safra couple is known for their philanthropic work,
including building Jerusalem’s Safra Square and donations to the
Louvre in Paris, where a gallery bears their name.
Designated beneficiaries of the jewellery sale’s proceeds
include Elton John AIDS Foundation, the Royal Opera House in
London and several institutions researching Parkinson’s, a
neurodegenerative disease which Edmond Safra had.
The Lebanese-born billionaire and banking scion who owned
Republic National Bank of New York, died in a mysterious fire in
his penthouse flat in Monaco in December 1999. His American male
nurse Ted Maher was convicted of the arson death in 2002.
Lily Safra, who had three previous husbands, divides her
time between London, New York, Geneva and Monaco. She clocked in
at No. 1,015 on Forbes 2012 list of the world’s billionaires
with a net worth of $1.2 billion.
The “Beau Sancy”, a diamond coveted by kings, queens and
princes for centuries, used to reinforce alliances between
nations and pawned to pay off royal debts goes on sale at
Sotheby’s in Geneva on May 15.
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