Christie's announced on Monday that the private jewellery collection of the late Austrian billionaire Heidi Horten, consisting of 700 pieces, is set to be the largest and most valuable collection of

its kind to come to auction, potentially selling for over $150 million. The collection was acquired by Horten between the early 1970s and her death last year and includes more than 100 pieces from Bulgari, as well as notable items such as the 90-carat "Briolette of India" diamond necklace by Harry Winston and the "Sunrise Ruby" and diamond ring by Cartier valued at up to $20 million.

Proceeds from the auction will go to the Heidi Horten Foundation, which supports charitable causes, including those in the fields of healthcare and child protection. Before agreeing to auction the collection, Christie's carefully considered the business practices of Horten's late first husband, Helmut Horten, who purchased Jewish businesses under duress during the Nazi era. Christie's has been transparent about the collection's origin, selling it under the name Horten, and will make a significant contribution to Jewish organizations to advance Holocaust research and education from the final proceeds.

Christie's will auction 400 pieces in Geneva on Wednesday and Friday, with the remainder of the collection sold online in November. The collection is expected to exceed the previous record sales at Christie's for Elizabeth Taylor's collection in 2011 and the Maharajas & Mughal Magnificence auction in 2019, the only two jewellery collections to have garnered more than $100 million. Although history cannot be erased, Christie's hopes that the funds from this sale will go towards doing good in the future. Photo by Christies1766, Wikimedia commons.