This month wraps up the summer auctions for fine jewelry in New York and Boston. As I was looking through the auction catalogs I saw a necklace in the sale of Christie’s jewels that had me take a second look at the description and mark it as a must see when I came to the auction house this past weekend. It was a beautiful multi- colored sapphire necklace. Shown below:
What had me take a second look was the designer…
That’s right, David Webb. The same David Webb whose other jewels in the same auction look like this:
No date is given, so it might have been a special commission. Either way I wanted to get a look at the necklace. I ended up having the chance to try it on!
It was spectacular! All those stones and colors! A closer view is below:
It got me thinking of what other designs Webb has produced that are not what would be considered his signature looks. So I wanted to play a quick game of guess the designer. I will put up two similar jewelry pieces and you guess which is the David Webb piece.
Pair #1: Amethyst flower earrings
The left or the right?
It is the left:
These earrings were found in the archives of Skinner Inc in Boston from an auction in 2006. These signed earrings went unsold. The earrings on the right are from a previous auction at Christie’s in 2013 that are unsigned and from the 1950s.
Pair #2: Butterfly Brooch
Guesses?
The David Webb brooch is on the left. This is from the Christie’s Magnificent Jewels Auction of 2012. This brooch sold for $20,000 and is signed. The brooch on the right is from Bulgari made in 1969 this brooch sold for $23,750 at the 2015 Sotheby’s Magnificent Jewels Auction.
Pair #3: Pink Sapphire Earrings
The answer:
The right pair is by David Webb. Sold at Christie’s in 2010. The pair on the left has Kunzite as well as pink sapphires and diamonds, made by Michael Youssoufian, sold at Christie’s in 2002.
Ready for a bonus round?
Bonus: 18kt Gold Gem-set Day/Night Ear Pendants:
While searching for past pieces I saw a pair of earrings listed that I had seen somewhere before at another auction house and they did have the exact same design. The gem colors are different but they look like a very close match. So which is it?
The left is David Webb sold at Sotheby’s in 2014 and the right is Van Cleef & Arpels sold at Skinner in 2016. Both signed but no dates listed. Would love to know the story and original owners of these earrings. You don’t usually see copies like these from different houses. Any thoughts? Hope you enjoyed the quiz! I had a great time at Christie’s and look forward to seeing the results tomorrow!
Come back later for more posts!
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