Very rare Kashmir sapphire ring up for auction

Michael Bolton

“You wait a life-time to have a chance at having an extremely rare Kashmir sapphire in an auction house, and we have had four in the space of eight months,” the astonished and very thankful director and jewellery specialist with Adams auction house in Dublin.

Claire-Laurence Mestrallet added: “I mean what are the chances of this ever happening?”

The sale of the sapphires, the first in May which was a ring sold for €660,000 (inclusive of commission at 25 percent) the highest price ever seen in Ireland for a gem of its kind and almost 70 times its original estimated value.

Then, in September, two brooches, one of which was valued at up to €250,000, sold for €540,000 and the other for €550,000.

The combined commission on both of the brooches was €270,000, bringing the overall value of the brooches to €1.36 million.

The fourth, a Kashmir Boucheron (renowned Parisian jeweller) from the first quarter of the last century is to be sold on December 2nd.

Lot 46 is a cushion-shaped sapphire weighing 5.08cts, between baguette-cut diamond shoulders, mounted in platinum and 18K gold.

The provenance of the ring also creates a touch of glamour and added opulence as it is part of a private collection from a member of the Guerlain family - a name synonymous with being among the world’s oldest and most prestigious perfume houses.

Founded in Paris in 1828, Pierre-François-Pascal Guerlain opened the first boutique at 42, rue de Rivoli in Paris and subsequently he became the official perfumer to His Majesty in 1853 after creating the Eau de Cologne Impériale for Empress Eugénie, the wife of Napoleon III.

Following the death of Pierre- François, the future of the perfume house was left to his two sons Aimé and Gabriel. This ring was acquired circa 1930s in Paris by a member of the Guerlain family, then by descent.

The company continued to pass down through members of the Guerlain family until sold to LVMH in 1994.

Yet the story of this ring begins far from the glitz and glamour of Parisian salons. It was the year 1880, when a landslide in the remote Zanskar mountain range, on a windswept plateau in the Himalayas, tore open the mountainside and exposed seams of deep blue mineral.

In the aftermath of that avalanche, stories circulated about the first people to recognise the gleaming blue crystals One recounts a hunter who found a blue stone and used it to strike a light for his pipe, while another tells of a merchant’s basket dropping a sapphire in the Simla bazaar where a jeweller recognised its value.

Whatever the precise origin, news of these exceptional gems soon reached the ruling Maharaja, who sent troops to secure the site; the finest stones were removed and placed in the state treasury.

During the brief mining boom that followed, the so called “old mine” near Soomjam yielded a remarkable cache of sapphires, and just five years later the deposit was effectively exhausted, leaving Kashmir sapphires among the rarest and most coveted gemstones ever extracted.

Kashmir sapphires are prized for their colour: often described as cornflower blue or blue velvet, their rich yet soft appearance is caused in part by minute internal particles scattering the light, a natural effect that adds a gentle glow to the stone.

Many contain delicate inclusions that, rather than detracting, lend character and depth, allowing their beauty to remain vivid in all kinds of light, a trait that few sapphires share.

Meanwhile, Frédéric Boucheron had built his reputation as a jeweller within Parisian salons and among foreign clientele, was a true connoisseur and passionate gemmologist.

He and his son Louis were among the first Europeans who travelled widely to secure the finest stones: sapphires from Kashmir, rubies from Burma and emeralds from Colombia, seeking nature’s gifts at their highest form of quality and expression.

The sapphire is one of six lots owned by the Guerlain family which will form part of the auction at Adams Auction House next month.