Cartier Great Gatsby sautoir leads Christie’s Geneva Magnificent Jewels sale
A Cartier emerald sautoir worn by Lois Chiles in The Great Gatsby could fetch up to CHF 400,000, its film pedigree and Art Deco rarity driving the bid.
The most persuasive jewel in Geneva arrives with a film credit and a century of Cartier history. A 1925 Cartier Art Deco sautoir, made in New York as a bespoke commission for one of the maison’s most important clients, will head Christie’s Magnificent Jewels sale on 13 May 2026 at the Four Seasons Hotel des Bergues, carrying an estimate of CHF 240,000 to CHF 400,000, about $310,000 to $510,000.
At its center is an 86.71-carat carved emerald depicting Shiva and Parvati, framed by pearls, emerald beads and diamonds. That combination matters because the strongest auction results in vintage gold and gem jewelry usually rest on more than beauty alone. Provenance, documentary certainty and period design are what transform a decorative necklace into a lot that collectors chase. In this case, the necklace’s most potent credential is cinematic: Lois Chiles wore the exact sautoir as Jordan Baker in the 1974 adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. Costume designer Theoni V. Aldredge worked with Cartier and Cartier designer Alfred Durante to source authentic Art Deco jewels for the film, giving the piece an additional layer of cultural gravity.
Christie’s is positioning the Geneva sale as a major stage for historic and modern jewelry, with names such as Cartier, Boucheron, Van Cleef & Arpels and JAR in the mix. The auction will be overseen in Geneva by Max Fawcett, Christie’s global head of jewellery, appointed in 2025, and senior specialist and head of sale Angela Berden. The setting is not accidental. Christie’s says its November 2025 Geneva Magnificent Jewels sale, led by the Mellon Blue diamond, achieved US$25 million, while its 2019 Maharajas & Mughal Magnificence sale topped US$100 million.
The other jewels in the room underline the same point from different angles. A Boucheron ruby, emerald, onyx and diamond necklace from around 1925 nods to the same Art Deco moment that made the Cartier sautoir compelling, while a Cartier ring in platinum and 18k yellow gold with a fancy intense yellow diamond broadens the sale’s range from historic design to headline stone. Christie’s 2025 Geneva sale also saw a Boucheron Ballerina ring sell for CHF 10,640,000, a reminder that signed work, condition and rarity can push a jewel far beyond ornamental value.
That is the real auction lesson here. A comparable Cartier Art Deco emerald-and-diamond sautoir sold for CHF 3,077,000 in 2013, proof that when period design, rarity, and provenance align, a necklace can become a headline lot rather than simply a beautiful survivor.
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