A pair of pearl earrings that were kept in the back of a desk drawer in Wiltshire for 35 years because the owner did not like them have fetched £1.6m at auction.
The jewellery was a gift from a Romanian king to his mistress, who left the pearls to a British friend on her death in 1977. She had no idea of their worth and consigned them to the drawer as they struck her as too big and ostentatious to wear. They were inherited by her nephew, who casually showed them to an auctioneer when he was selling some other items.
Their emergence has generated huge interest from collectors around the world and their worth in the catalogue was estimated at £80,000-£120,000. Following frenetic bidding at the Woolley and Wallis sale-rooms in Salisbury, Wiltshire, on Thursday, the earrings easily broke the £1m mark, snapped up by a private collector who wished to remain anonymous. The market for such jewellery has boomed in recent years because of interest from China and the Middle East.
Jonathan Edwards, of Woolley and Wallis, said: "The bidding just went berserk. The chap who bought them just would not stop. He wouldn't give up and was very determined to get them. It is a hell of a price.
"The couple who sold the earrings were hanging around at the back of the room. They couldn't believe how much they went for. There were absolutely thrilled and had big smiles at the end of the sale. It is an awful lot of money for them."
Edwards said the couple had turned up with a few bits and pieces to sell, then mentioned the pearls almost as an afterthought. "They had been kept in a box in a desk drawer since the late 70s. The man's auntie never liked them. The couple had no idea of their value and never gave them a second thought. They were blown away when I told them the estimate."
Edwards said King Carol II of Romania had bought the pearls for his mistress, Elena. Carol renounced his claim to the throne in 1925 in the wake of the scandal following the romance and he and Elena lived in exile in Portugal. After Elena's death some of her jewellery was left to a British friend she knew in Portugal. The unnamed woman brought them back to Wiltshire but consigned them to the drawer.
The pearls have been examined by the Swiss Gemmological Institute, which called them a "very exceptional treasure".
The jewellery was a gift from a Romanian king to his mistress, who left the pearls to a British friend on her death in 1977. She had no idea of their worth and consigned them to the drawer as they struck her as too big and ostentatious to wear. They were inherited by her nephew, who casually showed them to an auctioneer when he was selling some other items.
Their emergence has generated huge interest from collectors around the world and their worth in the catalogue was estimated at £80,000-£120,000. Following frenetic bidding at the Woolley and Wallis sale-rooms in Salisbury, Wiltshire, on Thursday, the earrings easily broke the £1m mark, snapped up by a private collector who wished to remain anonymous. The market for such jewellery has boomed in recent years because of interest from China and the Middle East.
Jonathan Edwards, of Woolley and Wallis, said: "The bidding just went berserk. The chap who bought them just would not stop. He wouldn't give up and was very determined to get them. It is a hell of a price.
"The couple who sold the earrings were hanging around at the back of the room. They couldn't believe how much they went for. There were absolutely thrilled and had big smiles at the end of the sale. It is an awful lot of money for them."
Edwards said the couple had turned up with a few bits and pieces to sell, then mentioned the pearls almost as an afterthought. "They had been kept in a box in a desk drawer since the late 70s. The man's auntie never liked them. The couple had no idea of their value and never gave them a second thought. They were blown away when I told them the estimate."
Edwards said King Carol II of Romania had bought the pearls for his mistress, Elena. Carol renounced his claim to the throne in 1925 in the wake of the scandal following the romance and he and Elena lived in exile in Portugal. After Elena's death some of her jewellery was left to a British friend she knew in Portugal. The unnamed woman brought them back to Wiltshire but consigned them to the drawer.
The pearls have been examined by the Swiss Gemmological Institute, which called them a "very exceptional treasure".
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