Jewelry buyers went ape for a collection of jungle-themed baubles auctioned off yesterday by cosmetically recrafted lioness Jocelyn Wildenstein – who made $1.5 million from the Sotheby’s auction.
As she left the successful closet sale, Wildenstein – looking as catty as ever in a turquoise slip dress and a gold-and-elephant-hair necklace – said she was “very happy” with the higher-than-expected sale prices for the 40 cheetah, leopard, panther and tiger-themed items.
“I still have a very large collection,” she said, shifting from French to English with the grace of a lynx. “I love all these pieces, but I kept the things that were sentimental to me.”
Sotheby’s sold off Wildenstein’s “big cat” collection as part of its two-day, $20 million Magnificent Jewels auction, which concluded yesterday.
Before the sale, Wildenstein – whose addiction to cosmetic surgery earned her the nickname “The Bride of Wildenstein” during her messy divorce from billionaire art dealer Alec Wildenstein two years ago – was recognized as a true queen of the jewelry jungle.
“Her stuff is the absolute top notch,” said Gavin Phipps, a “by-appointment” jewelry-store owner in Tallahassee, Fla. “For all she’s ribbed, she does have incredible style and taste.”
The most popular items in the sale were the ones that bore Wildenstein’s personal touch.
While her diamond-encrusted watch and standard-issue Cartier diamond necklace failed to generate excitement, bidders went bananas for her cheetah, tiger and leopard trinkets, which were conceived and designed at Wildenstein’s Kenyan ranch and brought to mind the feline looks Wildenstein has physically re-created.
A yellow-diamond and onyx cheetah brooch, for example, sold for $160,000 – a hundred-thousand above the estimate. A tiger version sold for $170,000.
“The pieces that were recognizable as hers sold very well,” said Thomas Burstein, a Sotheby’s jewelry vice president. “There were some excellent pieces of standard jewelry that did not sell, but there was more excitement about the pieces that would never have been designed if not for her.”