Russian Grand Princess’ jewelry to be sold at auction

GENEVA. November 17. KAZINFORM. Unique jewelry that belonged to the Russian Imperial Family will be put up for an international auction of the Sotheby's Company. The auction will be held on Tuesday at the fashionable Bo Rivage Hotel in Geneva; Kazinform refers to Itar-Tass.

A source at the Geneva branch of the famous London auction house told Itar-Tass that the jewelry that was put up for auction was of historical value and used to belong to Grand Princess Maria Pavlovna Romanova. A British diplomat secretly took the jewelry out of Russia shortly after the Bolsheviks seized power. Upon arrival in London the jewelry was placed in a city banks. It was handed over to Maria P. Romanova who managed to flee revolutionary Russia two years later.

Particularly interesting is garniture made of sapphires and diamonds. It includes a flat brooch with an oval sapphire in the middle, a setting made of diamonds and a pair of ear clips with sapphires and diamonds. Its preliminary cost estimate is 142,000-179,000 dollars; Kazinform cites Itar-Tass. See www.itar-tass.com for full version.