Geneva – Christie’s Magnificent Jewels auction in Geneva on 17 May will be offering the largest collection of JAR jewels ever to come to auction. The Geneva Magnificent Jewels auction will follow the sales of the jewels from THE WORLD OF HEIDI HORTEN taking place the week prior (10 and 12 May).

Christie’s has had the privilege to offer some of the most important JAR collections in the world including those of Ellen Barkin in October 2006, the Lily Safra Jewels for Hope Collection sold to benefit multiple charitable organizations in 2012, and more recently 12 JAR jewels from the Collection of Ann Getty.

This May 2023, this fabulous collection, offering 25 JAR creations, will become the largest JAR collection ever to appear at auction, spanning 40 years of creativity.

This collection was built over the past 15 years by an important art and jewels collector who encountered the art of JAR twenty years ago during the important exhibition The Jewels of JAR, Paris which took place in London between 2002 and 2003 at Somerset House. Five years later the collector was in the position to acquire a first jewel by the master of jewellery and after 15 year of collecting the time has come to pass the jewels to JAR enthusiasts around the globe.

Joel Arthur Rosenthal pairs unusual gemstones with non-traditional materials and has a daring way with colour and proportion. The quality of his work recalls the jewellery of the 18th and 19th centuries. In 2013, JAR was the first living ‘artist of gems’ to be honoured with a retrospective at the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art. An exhibition which has been visited 15 times by the collector of this exceptional collection.

Inspired by nature, the camellia brooch became a signature JAR design, it epitomises JAR’s extraordinary attention to detail as he pushes the boundaries between jewellery and sculpture as can be observed in the pair of diamond, tourmaline and agate camelia brooches offered on 17 May with an estimate of CHF300,000-400,000). Amongst the 15 pair of earrings a third are also inspired by nature, such as a pair of carved nephrite jade and diamond Geranium earrings (estimate: CHF20,000-30,000) or the iconic and delicate diamond Ivy leaves earrings designed in 1991 (estimate: CHF300,000-500,000). These earrings were part of the Somerset Exhibition The Jewels of JAR, Paris which took place in London between 2002 and 2003.