Ruby and diamond bracelet, Petochi

The flexible bracelet set with six oval and cushion-shaped rubies, decorated with circular-cut and cushion-shaped diamond surrounds, mounted in yellow gold and platinum, length approximately 170mm, signed G. Petochi, Roma, French import marks.

Cf: Stefano Papi, Alexandra Rhodes, Famous Jewelry Collectors, London, 1996, page 137 for an illustration of this bracelet.

Ruby of Burmese origin cannot be imported into the US. Please see our Important Notices and contact the jewellery department for further information. With French import marks for gold and platinum and stamped 585 for gold and PT950 for platinum. Signed G. Petochi, Roma. Rubies well matched in colour, stated to weigh approximately 28.90 carats. With typical crystal inclusions, some visible to the naked eye, and surface reaching (especially to the culets). Diamonds stated to weigh approximately 27.00 carats, H-J colour on average, a few lower in colour, VS-I clarity. Little signs of wear to the metal. Clasp secure. In good condition.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Please note that colour, clarity and weight of gemstones are statements of opinion only and not statements of fact by Sotheby's. We do not guarantee, and are not responsible for any certificate from a gemological laboratory that may accompany the property. We do not guarantee that watches are in working order. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue, in particular to the Notice regarding the treatment and condition of gemstones and to the Notice regarding import of Burmese jadeite and rubies into the US.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

The bracelet was included as Lot 22 in the catalogue of The Magnificent Jewels of the late Countess Mona Bismarck, sold in Geneva on 13th May 1986.

Born Mona Travis Strader in Louiseville, Kentucky, in 1897, her third marriage in 1926 to the extremely wealthy industrialist Harrison Williams, placed her at the fore of American and European society. As a couple they were feted and much admired, they lived a highly glamourous and charmed lifestyle. They owned palatial residences, located both in the USA and Europe, which included their breathtaking villa on the island of Capri. She was regarded as one of the most elegant and beautiful women of her times and her jewellery collection certainly reflected her exquisite style and taste and her love for the finest gemstones: indeed this emerald was the finest in her collection.

As Diana Vreeland (1903-1989), chief editor of American Vogue, stated in her introduction to that May 1986 Sotheby's catalogue:

'Mona Bismarck was an extraordinary beauty who all her life surrounded herself with gaiety, vitality and mirth. She lived among objects of perfection in her superb house. But perhaps her most lovely surroundings were her endless Mediterranean gardens. I remember them as acres of bewilderment, riots of colour which in the evening would produce that intense smell of night-blooming jasmin or the warm scent of roses left behind by the sunshine.

Mona Bismarck loved her gardens, and she adored her outdoor life, especially tennis and swimming. Sometimes she would disappear into the sea for hours; swimming, floating, totally absorbed in the glory of the sky, the sun... Her eyes amazing in their size and shape and of an extreme blue which when falling on you would absorb you into her wonderful vivacity and beauty.

In a rather miraculous way, everything that was hers was out of the ordinary. By day, I never saw her without her enormous pearls gleaming on her immaculate skin. By night her superb jewels, sometimes a magnificent diamond necklace, sometimes a chain of emeralds or her parure of rubies, would be a backdrop to her unforgettable elegance.

She lived a life which would be difficult for anyone to repeat today, but her ageless jewels survive to adorn other beauties in other settings'.