Cartier's 'Tutti Frutti' bracelet makes auction debut, fetches $1,340,000

Earlier this week, Sotheby’s sold a magnificent 'Tutti Frutti' Bracelet by Cartier for $1,340,000. Created circa 1930, the sensational jewel had never before appeared at auction, having been passed down through descendants of an American family for more than 30 years.

Pursued by 5 bidders, the Art Deco masterpiece far-surpassed its estimate of $600/800,000, becoming: the highest price for any jewel sold in an online sale as well as the highest price for any jewel sold at auction in 2020, at any house. Only one other work has achieved a higher price in an online sale at Sotheby’s (Friedrich von Hayek’s Nobel Prize in Economics from 1974, sold in 2019 for $1.5 million).

Catharine Becket, Head of Sotheby’s Magnificent Jewels Auctions in New York, commented: “The result achieved for this bracelet is testament to the fact that, even under the most challenging of circumstances, the demand for great art endures. Now, of course, we can connect with the touch of a button, which allowed us to engage with bidders worldwide. We look forward to bringing more great jewels to the marketplace in the months ahead as we expand our calendar of online sales.”


History of the Tutti Frutti
Celebrated as the “holy grail” of jewelry, tutti frutti designs by Cartier are joyous celebrations of texture, form and colour that are coveted today as icons of the Art Deco era. Cartier produced tutti frutti jewels in a variety of forms, with bracelets widely regarded as the most desirable. All share the hallmark of Moghul-cut colored stones – but each piece is unique.

Pierre Cartier's first foray into the tutti frutti style in 1901 was a necklace for Queen Alexandra who, as the wife of King Edward VII and by extension Empress Consort of India, commissioned a piece to complement three Indian-style dresses.