Two Kashmir sapphire brooches held in a family vault for almost 40 years sold for a combined €1.36 million at Adam’s Auctioneers in Dublin. The brooches, offered as separate lots, were purchased by international buyers.
Auction Results and Buyer Interest
Lot 46 sold for €540,000 and lot 47 achieved €550,000, with a combined buyer’s premium of 25 percent bringing the total to €1.36 million. Both lots had pre-sale estimates of up to €250,000. Bidding took place via telephone, online and in person.
The brooches formed part of an 18-lot collection with historical connections to American and Irish families. All 18 lots were sold.
Claire-Laurence Mestrallet, director and jewellery specialist at Adam’s, stated following the sale: “We are super happy [with] the sale. The two buyers of the sapphire brooches were foreign.”
Provenance and Historical Context
The sapphire brooches came from a private collection associated with the Sands and Howard families. In 1908, May Emily Sands received a jewellery collection upon her marriage to the Honourable Hugh Melville Howard, youngest son of the 6th Earl of Wicklow. The marriage marked a union between a prominent American family and Irish aristocracy.
After the deaths of both May and Hugh, the collection passed to their daughter, Katharine Frances Howard, who later resided in Co Wicklow and Co Wexford. Katharine was the final surviving descendant of the family, and her jewellery remained in a sealed family vault until recently. The current owner, her goddaughter, consigned the pieces to Adam’s earlier this year.
Additional items in the consignment included rings set with diamonds, sapphires and emeralds, a diamond choker necklace, a pearl pendant and gold coins.
Ms Mestrallet explained that the owner of the brooches decided to bring the collection to the auction house as it is “jewellery she doesn’t intend to wear.” She also said: “This rediscovered private collection of exquisite jewellery brings to light a charmed time and place.”
