Posters of original research, analyses, insights etc retain all rights to their work.
Such research etc cannot be used in any format without the written consent of the author.
Marie Antoinette's pearl pendant – and its new owner
Posted by mauriz on August 31, 2019, 7:03 am
The pendant was sold at Sotheby's Geneva in November 2018. I remember that some of us watched the auction online and witnessed a fierce bidding from two collectors until the pendant was finally sold for CHF 36,427,000 – a new record for a natural pearl.
The controversial Austrian billionaire Heidi Goess-Horten, heiress to her late (first) husband's department store business (founded on aryanization in Nazi Germany), received an order in Klagenfurt, the capital of Carinthia, Austria today. She honoured the occasion with wearing what I think was her acquisition last November.
It's not the first famous jewel in her possession: Helmut Horten presented the Wittelsbach Diamond to her at their wedding in 1966. The diamond was sold to Laurence Graff in 2008 – and later recut.
Re: Marie Antoinette's pearl pendant – and its new owner
An amazing coup for you Mauriz! I am almost speechless. I never expected to see the pearl worn in public. It is almost like watching the bidding process again -- surreal!
Could Ms Goess-Horten be wearing what is now called the Hope ruby, which previously belonged to Lily Safra? There cannot be 2 similarly sized and shaped rubies floating around. If it is the Hope ruby, I wonder if it has been reset or if it is just the angle from which the photo of Heidi Goess-Horten was taken which gives the impression of one diamond on the side?
If it is the Hope ruby it has been reset twice, since Horten seems to have been wearing the stone in a different setting in February 2018 (Leopold Museum Vienna, opening of the exhibition »WOW! The Heidi Horten Collection«).
Re: Marie Antoinette's pearl pendant – and its new owner
Thanks Beth for your links. One thing I have found to be normal for the rich and famous are to use stand ins or faceless trusts to either buy and procure substantial stuff, so it is possible you see someone or a someone's name to something but the person seen or heard of not having any real rights to it. The ruby ring on Mrs. Goess-Horten looks like it has diamonds at either side. I hope this lady never misplaces or looses any of these million dollar pieces as they are small and nothing big that could be easily found.
Regards,
Dave.
Previous Message
An amazing coup for you Mauriz! I am almost speechless. I never expected to see the pearl worn in public. It is almost like watching the bidding process again -- surreal!
Could Ms Goess-Horten be wearing what is now called the Hope ruby, which previously belonged to Lily Safra? There cannot be 2 similarly sized and shaped rubies floating around. If it is the Hope ruby, I wonder if it has been reset or if it is just the angle from which the photo of Heidi Goess-Horten was taken which gives the impression of one diamond on the side?
The pendant was sold at Sotheby's Geneva in November 2018. I remember that some of us watched the auction online and witnessed a fierce bidding from two collectors until the pendant was finally sold for CHF 36,427,000 – a new record for a natural pearl.
The controversial Austrian billionaire Heidi Goess-Horten, heiress to her late (first) husband's department store business (founded on aryanization in Nazi Germany), received an order in Klagenfurt, the capital of Carinthia, Austria today. She honoured the occasion with wearing what I think was her acquisition last November.
It's not the first famous jewel in her possession: Helmut Horten presented the Wittelsbach Diamond to her at their wedding in 1966. The diamond was sold to Laurence Graff in 2008 – and later recut.
Re: Marie Antoinette's pearl pendant - Heidi Goess-Horten
Wonderful news - she is a great collector, hoped so much she got it.
Her collection is exceptional, all items are so special.
Previous Message
The pendant was sold at Sotheby's Geneva in November 2018. I remember that some of us watched the auction online and witnessed a fierce bidding from two collectors until the pendant was finally sold for CHF 36,427,000 – a new record for a natural pearl.
The controversial Austrian billionaire Heidi Goess-Horten, heiress to her late (first) husband's department store business (founded on aryanization in Nazi Germany), received an order in Klagenfurt, the capital of Carinthia, Austria today. She honoured the occasion with wearing what I think was her acquisition last November.
It's not the first famous jewel in her possession: Helmut Horten presented the Wittelsbach Diamond to her at their wedding in 1966. The diamond was sold to Laurence Graff in 2008 – and later recut.
Horten's art collection is an astonishing array of expensive artworks, a line-up of all the "big" names in modern art, but her approach is very safe and generic – pretty much in line with that of her main advisor Agnes Husslein who in her years as director of the Belvedere museum in Vienna constantly failed to produce any sort of unconventional take on what is basically an interesting if over-exposed collection and ultimately only relied on reproducing the well-known boring clichés about art, fin de siècle and Vienna.
There are some interesting and beautiful, even some important works in Horten's collection, but they don't "speak" to each other, there's no vibe, no interaction, no recognizable collector's profile, no special interest discernable other than to compile expensive artefacts. With a Horten museum planned in Vienna I certainly wouldn't want public money to be spent on what is basically a show-off of personal wealth. She obviously has the means to buy expensive art and she might be successful in acquiring artworks in demand – but a great collector she ain't!
Judging from the limited photographic evidence – she's well known for protecting her privacy and not prone to find herself exposed in tabloids – she enjoys wearing jewellery. That's certainly fine. Her buying decisions regarding jewellery might be more personal than with fine arts, but with jewellery again she fails to correlate pieces to each other: The pearl earrings with their frame of modern cut diamonds worn in Klagenfurt yesterday are a cruel addition to the delicate diamond bow from which the pearl drop is suspended, as is the carved emerald in its anything but subtle setting (and don't get me started about her choice to wear that fire engine red outfit with its huge buttons as a resting place for this breathtaking pearl!). Alas, style is something money can't buy, and while I'm happy for her to be enjoying her jewellery, I can't help but hearing the pearl scream for help.
Re: Heidi Goess-Horten
Posted by Maria Olivia on September 1, 2019, 2:39 am, in reply to "Heidi Goess-Horten"
I agree with you Mauriz... But the pearl pendant staying in a Bank and its owner Princess Alice never allowed her Son's wife to wear it was not nice either. Now it is worn by a jewel lover...
Previous Message
Horten's art collection is an astonishing array of expensive artworks, a line-up of all the "big" names in modern art, but her approach is very safe and generic – pretty much in line with that of her main advisor Agnes Husslein who in her years as director of the Belvedere museum in Vienna constantly failed to produce any sort of unconventional take on what is basically an interesting if over-exposed collection and ultimately only relied on reproducing the well-known boring clichés about art, fin de siècle and Vienna.
There are some interesting and beautiful, even some important works in Horten's collection, but they don't "speak" to each other, there's no vibe, no interaction, no recognizable collector's profile, no special interest discernable other than to compile expensive artefacts. With a Horten museum planned in Vienna I certainly wouldn't want public money to be spent on what is basically a show-off of personal wealth. She obviously has the means to buy expensive art and she might be successful in acquiring artworks in demand – but a great collector she ain't!
Judging from the limited photographic evidence – she's well known for protecting her privacy and not prone to find herself exposed in tabloids – she enjoys wearing jewellery. That's certainly fine. Her buying decisions regarding jewellery might be more personal than with fine arts, but with jewellery again she fails to correlate pieces to each other: The pearl earrings with their frame of modern cut diamonds worn in Klagenfurt yesterday are a cruel addition to the delicate diamond bow from which the pearl drop is suspended, as is the carved emerald in its anything but subtle setting (and don't get me started about her choice to wear that fire engine red outfit with its huge buttons as a resting place for this breathtaking pearl!). Alas, style is something money can't buy, and while I'm happy for her to be enjoying her jewellery, I can't help but hearing the pearl scream for help.
I like the way she wears her jewels. She loves what she has bought. It's her passion and wore it with fun. She is a private person - no window with display in a boring museum, it's her life.
I agree, is she related to Duchess Fleur's husband?
Thank you Mauriz for sharing this astonishing find!!! I had read that the pearl was sold to a European bidder at the time of the auction, and I'm glad to know where it is.
Do you think her necklace is also from the Bourbon-Parma collection? If it is I wonder if she has restored the big solitaire as the necklace clasp.
By the way Heidi Horten is wearing another extraordinary piece in a picture you posted, again with links to the Austrian Imperial Family:
It is the diamond and ruby fuchsia brooch, by A.E. Köchert, that belonged to Katharina Schratt, famous actress and mistress of Emperor Franz Joseph I.
Though unmarked, the brooch was very likely made by the Imperial and Royal Court and Chamber Jeweller, as Köchert still holds two drawings for the brooch, dated ca. 1890-95 (shown in the following video). The Emperor apparently made other gifts of jewellery to K. Schratt.
The brooch is both huge and very fine (the diamonds are of excellent quality). It has been one of my favourite jewels since it was sold at Dorotheum in Vienna in November 2011, where it commanded a high price (202.800 €), far above its estimate.
The brooch caught my eyes, but I wasn't able to place it. Thank you, Thomas, for the verification. It's a beautiful piece. And thank you for including the video. I loved seeing how flexible the rather large brooch is constructed.
I thought that some of the pearls in Horten's necklace have the characteristic shape of the ones in the Bourbon-Parma necklace, but found it too difficult to decide without a close-up (and probably even then). Vincent Meylan has in the meantime confirmed on Instagram it's the same necklace. I'm pretty sure the big solitaire was restored as the necklace's clasp.
on August 31, 2019, 7:03 am
Previous Message
