The necklace is said to be an extremely rare find due to its size.
Coco Chanel famously once said, ‘A woman needs ropes and ropes of pearls’, and the buyer who dropped an impressive Rs. 6 crores on a triple-strand natural pearl necklace at a recent AstaGuru online auction certainly seems to agree.
The exquisite three-row natural pearl necklace, acquired for Rs. 6,24,91,000 ($833,213), comprises of three rows of graduated natural, salt-water pearls in two different shades interspaced with faceted crystal discs along with a gold clasp set with old cut diamonds. This necklace is said to be an extremely rare find due to its size.
‘Highly sought after’
Natural pearl jewellery is often prized over their modern cultured cousins due to their extreme rarity - for every 10,000 to 15,000 wild oysters fished from the sea, only 1 or 2 will yield a pearl – and regularly ranks among the most highly valued gems you can buy.
In addition to natural pearls, jewellery set with Burmese rubies, Zambian emeralds and high-quality diamonds were also up for auction in the jewellery section of the online ‘Heirloom Jewellery, Silver, and Timepieces’ auction held on May 30th and 31st. Among the lots that sold well were a beautiful four-row necklace executed with intense red Burmese ruby beads from Mogok (Rs 1,71,91,350), a three-row diamond necklace set in white gold from Cartier (Rs. 90,92,061), a European cut diamond Rivière executed in a French style (Rs. 40,07,520) and another five-row natural pearl necklace executed with 453 pieces of graduated natural pearls (Rs. 1,48,00,500).
“The auction results validate that collectors are always looking for such opportunities to acquire coveted vintage jewellery which are very rare to come by,” says Jay Sagar, Jewellery Expert, AstaGuru Auction House, who added that the success of the auction reinforced the idea that whether Indian or western designs, vintage jewellery remains a highly-sought-after possession.
