Squashed jewelry, a stag beetle, and Stephen Sondheim

And a beguiling pool of aquamarine.

May 30, 2024

Hi everybody! So in case you haven’t heard, Christie’s has been going through some things. A couple of weeks ago, their website went offline due to what their CEO Guillaume Cerutti referred to in an email as a “technology security issue,” which is C-suite language for “we got hacked.” Cerutti continued: “I want to assure you that we are managing this incident according to our well-established protocols and practices, with the support of additional experts,” and a week later, he followed up with another email saying everything was back up and apologizing for the “inconvenience.” No details about what had happened, how their security was compromised, or what, if any, info was stolen.

The attack occurred the week before the Christie’s blockbuster spring art sales and the company went forward with them as planned, with seemingly little blowback from customers, as their sales numbers fell within estimates. But The New York Times reported:

Behind the scenes, two auction house employees, who asked not to be identified because they were not authorized to speak publicly, described a state of panic in which top leaders remained quiet about the details of the security breach and have not addressed questions from employees about whether the hackers have accessed confidential information about clients and are holding it for ransom.

Well, now we know. On Monday, the ransomware organization RansomHub took responsibility for the hack in a post on the dark web, stating: “While utilizing access to Christies network we were able to gain access to their customers sensitive personal information … for at least 500,000 of their private clients from around the world.” They claim to have harvested data including names, birth dates, “and much more.” Apparently Christie’s didn’t pay the ransom, because they went on to say:

“We attempted to come to a reasonable solution with them but they ceased communication midway through. It is clear that if this information is posted they will incur heavy fines from GDPR as well as ruining their reputation with their clients and don’t care about their privacy.”

RansomHub has set a countdown timer for releasing the data; it will reach zero by the end of the month.

Also….art world Instagrammer Jerry Gogosian (a.k.a. Hilde Lynn Helphenstein) has been following this story closely and she says she was getting dm’s from Christie’s customers WEEKS before the announced hack. It seems people were trying to log into their accounts and being redirected to other accounts, where they could see the financial info, location and purchase history of complete strangers.

Soooooooo, Yikes McGikes. Stay tuned.

Today’s Fine Jewels auction at Sotheby’s London includes a fantastic collection of late 20th-century British art jewelry, with a number of pieces by 1960s modernist jewelers Andrew Grima and Gilian Packard (among others). Packard was particularly known for using geodes in her designs, and the tourmaline and zircon bib necklace above is one of hers. It’s from 1970, and features tourmaline crystals set amid a web of polished and textured gold links in geometric shapes echoing those of the crystals. Circular-cut blue zircons are scattered throughout. (Estimate 7,000 - 10,000 GBP, or $9,000 - $13,000 USD.)

Packard was also the first woman to become a Freeman of the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths, one of the Great Twelve Livery Companies of London. These livery companies originated as medieval guilds, and the Goldsmiths’ Company received its royal charter in 1327 and is one of the few livery companies still practicing its original trade today (others, like the Grocers1, Skinners, etc., have since turned to philanthropy and education). In addition to training and supporting its 1800+ members, the Goldsmiths’ Company also runs the London Assay Office, which tests and hallmarks precious metals, and — in a tradition dating back to 1282 — examines a selection of each year’s newly minted British coinage in a ceremony called the Trial of the Pyx.

The company is based in Goldsmiths’ Hall in the City of London and the building is usually closed to the public except for occasional open days and the yearly Goldsmiths’ Fair, a two-week exhibition and sale that begins this year on September 24th. The building is absolutely GORGEOUS, so if you can ever get in there, I highly recommend it. (Also just fyi I met Princess Michael of Kent there one year and she was a snot.)

There are a LOT of great pieces in that Fine Jewels sale, and I also loved this mid-19th century snake necklace, with a body composed of turquoise-studded articulated links and a head set with rose-cut diamonds and cabochon garnet eyes. It’s one of those seductively tactile pieces; I would love to feel the weight of it in my hand. (Estimate 6,000 - 8,000 GBP, or $7,600 - $10,200 USD.)

There’s also lots of fun stuff in the Christie’s Jewels Online: The London Edit sale closing on June 5th, including this circa 1890 rose-cut diamond and ruby stag beetle that was originally a brooch. (Estimate 2,600 - 3,500 GBP, or $3,300 - $4,400 USD.) They also have a circa 1940 Mosheh Oved soaring bird ring that’s similar to the one of his sketches in the Ben Uri Collection. (Estimate 3,000 - 4,000 GBP, or $3,800 - $5,000 USD.)

Sometimes I get all moony over a piece of jewelry, and it’s usually because it involves a big ol’ cabochon stone like that glorious pool of aquamarine above. The stone weighs approximately 152.70 carats and is described in the lot notes as a “Santa-Maria type” aqua, which is a term that namechecks the Santa Maria de Itabira mine in Brazil but is used more in the trade to signal its darker, highly saturated color.

The aqua is bezel-set within a carved rock crystal frame that’s embellished with delicate diamond and blue tourmaline detailing. Beneath the frame sits a square-cut blue tourmaline that suspends an aquamarine bead tassel topped with black opal and rose-cut diamond rondelles. The full necklace is 27 inches long, and the diamond fancy-link chain features additional strands of aquamarine beads.

The piece was part of Cartier’s 2016 “Cartier Magicien” collection and is included in the Bonhams New York Jewels auction on June 6th. Estimate: $80,000 - $120,000.

Circa 1929, this Van Cleef & Arpels diamond “Tie” necklace is a rare and stunning piece — certainly worthy of the Magnificent Jewels auction at Sotheby’s New York on June 7th.

The lot notes describe how, from the mid-1920s to the early 1930s, VC&A designed several elaborate “tie-necklaces” that would complement the long and lean bias-cut gowns of the day. The necklaces featured a long pendant or tassel and could be worn both traditionally or draped down the wearer’s back or shoulder. In fact, those two tassel motifs on the necklace above rotate slightly, so they can drape down sideways if the piece is worn shifted off toward the shoulder. (Be sure to click through to the lot to see how drop-dead gorgeous it is with a backless gown.)

VC&A only made a handful of these necklaces — their sheer opulence as well as jewelry trends evolving away from longer necklaces meant that they were just a memory by the mid-1930s. So needless to say, they don’t show up too often at auction, and Sotheby’s is estimating this one at $800,000 - $1,200,000 USD.

The Christie’s Magnificent Jewels sale in New York is scheduled for June 11, and this piece jumped out at me from among the bling. It’s a “Compression” pendant by the French sculptor and jeweler César Baldaccini (1921–1998). Baldaccini — who is better known just as “César” — became known in the 1960s for compressing cheap materials such as busted cars, scrap iron and general trash into huge sculptures. In the '70s he began to experiment with the same concept, but on a much smaller scale — compressing multiple pieces of fine jewelry together to create wearable sculpture. This experiment was so successful that, according to Sotheby’s, women began bringing him their own collections of jewelry to smoosh.

The Cincinnati Art Museum has a pendant he collaborated on with Cartier, which was apparently part of a larger project:

In 1973, he was commissioned by Cartier to create a series of 33 unique pieces with jewelry that the firm sent him. Having learned with experience, César was able to control, to some degree, the end result, positioning colors and shapes as he desired. Some of his pendants combine silver and gold metals, and others feature jewels that have survived the high-tension compressor and remain intact. No two pieces are alike.

You can see that later lightness of touch in the pendant above, which he’s managed to position so he didn’t crush individual pieces like the tiny terrier and the coat of arms. The piece includes yellow, white and rose gold with single-cut diamonds, and is signed César. Estimate: $15,000 – $20,000 USD.

On June 18, Doyle New York will auction the 450+ lot Collection of Stephen Sondheim, and dear lord, give me all of it. Mr. Sondheim clearly loved stuff — alongside all the Broadway posters and gold records are kaleidoscopes, unusual Victorian furniture, vintage Blackwing pencils, some delightful book collections including early Peanuts books…and look at this Victorian brass-mounted mahogany glass harp, with 27 wine glasses that you play by running your finger around the rim of each glass.

The standout, though, is his incredible collection of games. There are SO MANY interesting things to explore here, from rebus prints to puzzles to early board games like the one above. Titled The Magic Ring, or A New Game, Replete with Humour, and Pleasant Variety, the game is dated November 1st, 1796 and the linen “board” unfolds to display 16 hand-colored sections with the rules printed down each side. I’ll let Doyle describe it for you:

A delightful game with some mildly occult overtones; the "symbolical figures" of the explanatory text include not one but two hostile fairies as well as a benevolent one, a monk, a magician, the grave, etc. The magic ring itself in the central vignette is guarded by a rather melancholy-looking knight, who looks as if he is in thrall to the Belle Dame sans Merci, or perhaps he is merely bored with his part in the game.

It’s estimated at $200 - $300.

That’s it for now, my lovelies. We’ve almost made it to the weekend; can you feel your teeth starting to unclench? No? Me neither. Love you guys. Reset your passwords.

M xx

I can’t resist sharing this gem from the British Museum regarding the Worshipful Company of Grocers:

It is one of the Great Twelve City Livery Companies, ranking second in the Companies order of precedence after the Mercers' Company. It is said that the Grocers' Company used to be first in the order, until Queen Elizabeth I, as Honorary Master of the Mercer's Company, found herself in procession, after her coronation, behind the Grocers' camel which was emitting unfortunate smells. As a result, the Mercers were promoted.