A striking set of diamonds and amethysts presented by a queen to one of her servants is now up for auction.
The three piece suite was a gift from Queen Maud of Norway to her lady in waiting, Marie Fougner.
It’s now up for sale at Sotheby’s as part of its auction of gems linked to royalty and aristocracy.
The set includes an oval brooch with a large amethyst surrounded by a frame of smaller diamonds as well as a pendant with a smaller amethyst as its main jewels which is set in the centre of a laurel wreath made of diamonds.
The suite is given an even more regal story by its links to another king and queen. Queen Maud of Norway was the youngest daughter of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra and this set includes a diamond set brooch with their cypher.
The gems will be sold in Geneva on November 11 as part of a sale that also features jewels that once belonged to the last Queen of Portugal, Amalia.
It’s also provoked questions after several gems from the estate of Princess Birgitta of Sweden were put into the auction. Reports in Swedish media said that Birgitta’s brother, King Carl XVI Gustaf, could bid for the jewels as he was unaware his relations were selling them off and many have historic links to his mother, Princess Sybilla, and his grandmother, Crown Princess Margaret.
The amethyst set given by a queen to her servant has an estimate of 6,000 – 8,0000 Swiss francs.
