A sapphire bracelet from the Romanov collection went under the hammer for $4.9 million.
The piece, weighing 197.8 carats, was sold at Sotheby's in Geneva. The jewelry was presented as part of the "Royal and Noble Jewelry" auction. The bracelet, made of diamonds and rock crystal designed by Cartier, is framed by a large sapphire. The final amount was more than double the original estimate for the lot.
This sapphire was once worn by the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna, wife of Alexander III - in a Fabergé diamond setting, she, along with a pair of stones, adorned her outfit at a costume ball at the Winter Palace in 1903. After the revolution, the Bolsheviks sold the stone abroad, and in the 19th it was purchased by the American Walska. The sapphire bracelet acquired its current form only in 2015, when Cartier created a new Art Deco frame for it.