Two spectacular colored diamonds – one pink and one yellow – from the collections of Estée and Evelyn Lauder will be auctioned at Sotheby's New York during its Magnificent Jewels sale on December 5th to benefit the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. Evelyn established the Foundation in 1993 and co-created the Pink Ribbon, the now-familiar breast cancer awareness symbol.
Keeping with the pink theme, this flawless 6.54-carat fancy intense pink diamond is the centerpiece of a ring expected to fetch between $4 million to $5 million at auction. The ring had been designed for Evelyn Lauder by Oscar Heyman & Brothers.
A heart-shaped fancy intense yellow diamond weighing a startling 47.14 carats and set as a pendant necklace by Van Cleef & Arpels is expected to sell for $1.5 million to $2 million. This piece was owned by Estée Lauder.
Interestingly, the 47-carat yellow diamond featured in the necklace was originally worn as a ring by the Duchess of Windsor, who had purchased it from Harry Winston in 1951. When the Duchess of Windsor's collection was auctioned by Sotheby's in Geneva in 1987, her notable yellow diamond ring was missing from the sale. It was later learned that the duchess had sold it to Estée Lauder through the duchess' lawyer in the mid-1970s. Sotheby's recently dubbed the special diamond “The Windsor Heart."
Highlights of the Lauder collection, which includes more than 35 pieces worth an estimated $13 million, will be on public display in Geneva, Los Angeles, London and New York in the weeks leading up to the auction.
Estée Lauder, who passed away in 2004, was the founder of the Estée Lauder fragrance and cosmetics company. Her daughter-in-law, Evelyn, an executive at the company for five decades, died from ovarian cancer in 2011.
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