Mrs. Porter’s buckle brooch, for example, is one of only three known scarabs created by Cartier, according to Siegelson. The other two are not for sale—they’re in the Cartier Collection and have been loaned to museums, including the Denver Art Museum. The $1 million fan brooch auctioned by Sotheby’s, Elkins said, was one of only two made by Cartier in that style.
Art deco Egyptian Revival jewels are so rare, “it would be almost unthinkable to see more than one or two sales in a year,” said Siegelson.
“These pieces are so beautiful and unusual that . . . once purchased [by a private collector], they stay in a family for a lifetime and often for many lifetimes. If seen on the market once, they may not return again.”
Another majestic Sekhmet brooch, this one gifted to Iya, Lady Abdy, a statuesque Russian socialite who lived in Paris in the 1920s, remained in her family for the better part of a century. Her husband, a British noble, purchased it directly from Cartier at the height of the art deco Egyptian Revival; it didn’t surface again until 2013, when her family decided to sell it. It fetched a cool $845,000 at auction at Sotheby’s.
The whereabouts of the sister of the Cartier fan brooch that sold for $1 million in 2013 were unknown for decades before it “came out of the woodwork,” according to Elkins, just weeks before being auctioned by Sotheby’s in 2007 for $601,000.
Just how these highly coveted pieces happen to pop up is shrouded in mystery. Elkins said she could not reveal anything more about the consignor or how Sotheby’s acquired the long-gone fan brooch. And when VF.com pressed Siegelson for how he acquired the scarab belt-buckle brooch, and an accompanying Egyptian Revival black-enamel-and-diamond bracelet for sale along with it, he said only: “We never kiss and tell.”
Outreach can work both ways, with dealers approaching clients with precious pieces and vice versa. Once the pieces do change hands, they may be shadow boxed and displayed like art in a collector’s home. Or they may even be worn, as they were intended. “Somebody might wear something rare like this to a museum opening, but they’re not going to be flashy about it,” said Zapata.
The ultimate in precious gems often attracts a customer almost as refined; someone, who like the jewelry itself, is a throwback to a more cultivated era. “It takes a certain sophistication to understand it,” Zapata noted. Most high-end customers today buy contemporary pieces from Cartier or Van Cleef, bearing sizable rubies or Hope Diamond–esque sapphires. “If you’re going to spend a few million dollars on a piece of jewelry,” she continued, “I think people want something to show for it.”