Two jewels that once formed part of the collection of the Russian imperial family failed to sell at an auction in Geneva.
The auction house Sotheby’s reported on November 16 that both a diamond necklace that was reportedly commissioned by Catherine the Great and another set of diamond jewelry failed to attract the minimum bids and were returned to their owners.
Both were believed to have been a gift from Peter the Great to the Ottoman Sultan Ahmed III.
The gems had been expected to attract $3 million to $5 million each.
In an unrelated auction at the Christie’s auction house in New York the same day, a painting by Russian artist Wassily Kandinsky sold for $23.3 million, a record for the pioneering abstract artist.
The painting, Rigid And Curved from 1934-35, was acquired from the artist shortly after it was painted and had not been sold since.
