Some collections are assembled; this one was lived in. Sotheby’s will offer 70 jewels from the London collector Pauline Karpidas in a dedicated evening sale in New York on December 8, 2026, with the group expected to bring about $10 million, according to Sotheby’s. The lead lot is a JAR ring of colored diamond, diamond and chalcedony estimated at $2.5 million to $3.5 million, WWD reports.
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At a glance
- Sale: Pauline Karpidas: The Jewelry Collection, a live evening auction at Sotheby’s New York, December 8, 2026.
- Viewing: public exhibition in New York from December 2.
- Size: 70 jewels, expected to total about $10 million.
- Lead lot: a JAR colored diamond, diamond and chalcedony ring, estimated at $2.5 million to $3.5 million.
- Makers: JAR, Suzanne Belperron, Cartier, Boucheron, Van Cleef & Arpels, Bulgari, Verdura, Paul Flato and Chanel.
What is in the Pauline Karpidas jewelry sale?
Sotheby’s describes landmark pieces by JAR and Suzanne Belperron, Retro jewels by Boucheron, Van Cleef & Arpels, Bulgari and Trabert & Hoeffer Mauboussin, Art Deco works by Cartier and a strong showing of colored gemstones. The sale’s public page lists highlights that read like a short course in twentieth-century taste: a Cartier emerald, ruby, diamond and pearl “Tutti Frutti” clip-brooch (lot 70, $150,000 to $250,000), a Cartier emerald, enamel and diamond bracelet (lot 61, $200,000 to $300,000) and a Boucheron emerald and diamond bracelet (lot 21, $80,000 to $120,000).
American design is present too. A Paul Flato sapphire and diamond bracelet (lot 41) and a 1930s Chanel gold, enamel and colored stone cuff (lot 4) are each estimated at $80,000 to $120,000. USA Art News, citing Artnet, adds an eighteenth-century reliquary cross once owned by Cardinal Francesco Martelli, estimated at $80,000 to $120,000.
How much is the JAR ring expected to sell for?
The lead JAR ring, set with a colored diamond among diamonds and chalcedony, carries an estimate of $2.5 million to $3.5 million. USA Art News describes the center stone as a pear-shaped pink diamond of about 10 carats; Sotheby’s catalogue entry will be the place to confirm the weight, color grade and laboratory report before the sale.
It is not the only JAR in the room. A diamond and basalt ring (lot 59) is estimated at $450,000 to $650,000, an oval sapphire ring in platinum (lot 26) at $300,000 to $500,000 and a floral pendant necklace at $250,000 to $350,000. Together they make this one of the larger groups of JAR to appear in a single sale this year.
What is the Andy Warhol connection?
Jewelry was the beginning of a friendship. Karpidas met Andy Warhol at his New York studio, and the two bonded over 1940s jewelry, Belperron above all; Warhol painted her portrait in 1978, WWD reports. “To begin with, he wasn’t even remotely interested in talking about art with me, only my jewelry,” Karpidas recalled, as quoted by WWD.
Several lots carry that story in their provenance. A Seaman Schepps rock crystal bracelet ($50,000 to $70,000) and a Verdura amethyst and diamond clip-brooch with matching earclips (lot 6, $20,000 to $30,000) were bought by Karpidas at Sotheby’s 1988 sale of Warhol’s estate. A Cartier ruby earring and ring set comes from the 1987 Geneva auction of the Duchess of Windsor’s jewels.
Provenance is the quiet luxury of the salesroom: a jewel worn, chosen and remembered.
Who are JAR and Suzanne Belperron? A short history
JAR is the Paris house of the New York-born jeweler Joel Arthur Rosenthal, who opened on the Place Vendôme in 1978. He works with a small team, makes few pieces each year, keeps no network of stores and rarely shows his work, which is why JAR jewels at auction draw such attention. His signatures are dense pavé of colored stones that shade like watercolor, blackened metal that lets gems glow, and unexpected materials such as the basalt in lot 59. In 2013 the Metropolitan Museum of Art gave him a retrospective, a rare honor for a living jeweler.
Suzanne Belperron, who lived from 1900 to 1983, designed first for the Paris house of Boivin and later with Bernard Herz. She almost never signed her pieces, believing her style was identification enough, and she favored sculpted chalcedony, rock crystal and broad, softly modeled gold. Here a Belperron aquamarine and diamond necklace that converts to a brooch ($150,000 to $250,000) sits beside a JAR chalcedony ring. In our view it is a fitting pairing, since Rosenthal’s love of chalcedony and sculpted forms recalls hers.
Why does this sale matter for the jewelry market?
The jewels follow Pauline Karpidas: The London Collection, a series of Surrealist art and design that Sotheby’s sold in September 2025 for £101 million, or about $137 million, which the house calls the highest-value single-owner sale series ever held in London. A 2023 Sotheby’s Paris sale from her house on Hydra realized €35.6 million, USA Art News notes.
Sotheby’s also points to appetite for design-led jewels. “Over the past 18 months demand is increasingly concentrated around jewels where design leads,” Quig Bruning, Sotheby’s global head of jewelry, said in an email cited by USA Art News. Last December, the house’s A Legacy of Elegance sale, which included JAR and Belperron, made $13.9 million against an $8 million high estimate, and a JAR pendant-brooch there sold for $1 million, WWD reports. In our view, the Karpidas sale will show whether that appetite reaches deeper into the seven-figure range. It closes a busy season that we have followed from Sotheby’s Royal and Noble Jewels in Geneva to the 8.63-carat pink diamond and the latest Milan results.
For the Collector
- Auction estimates: $2.5 million to $3.5 million for the lead JAR ring, $450,000 to $650,000 for the JAR basalt ring, and from $20,000 for the Verdura suite. Estimates exclude the buyer’s premium; confirm terms with Sotheby’s.
- Where to bid: through the Sotheby’s sale page, in the room in New York, by phone or online; register well before December 8 for high-value lots.
- What drives value: the maker’s rarity (JAR and Belperron above all), documented provenance such as the Warhol and Windsor sales, and the quality of the center stones.
- What to watch for: ask for condition reports, laboratory reports on colored diamonds and gems, and any letters of authenticity from JAR or the Belperron archive.
- Resale: past auction prices do not predict future value. Buy the jewel you would be glad to wear.
Frequently asked questions
When is the Pauline Karpidas jewelry auction?
December 8, 2026, in a live evening sale at Sotheby’s New York, with a public exhibition opening December 2.
What is the top lot?
A JAR ring of colored diamond, diamond and chalcedony, estimated at $2.5 million to $3.5 million.
How much is the whole collection expected to bring?
Sotheby’s expects the 70 jewels to bring about $10 million, before results are known.
Who is JAR?
JAR is the Paris jewelry house of Joel Arthur Rosenthal, founded in 1978 and known for its rarity and painterly colored-stone pavé.
Sources: Sotheby’s, Pauline Karpidas: The Jewelry Collection · WWD · Rapaport · USA Art News · Artnet News
