Signed French Gold and Major Diamonds Dazzle at Freeman's Important Jewelry Auction

Freeman's Chicago saleroom closed its first Important Jewelry auction of 2026 on March 20 with nearly $2.5 million in total sales, a 91% sell-through rate by lot, and a value metric of 117% — figures driven by a room that clearly wanted both investment-grade diamonds and rare signed French period jewels.

The headline result came from a 9.01-carat cushion-cut diamond ring by Aletto Brothers, the South Florida jeweler with Italian roots, which fetched $229,100 including buyer's premium, far exceeding its low estimate of $100,000. A diamond ring listed as Lot 131 sold for $165,600, while a Cartier Belle Époque Diamond, Enamel, and Platinum 'Plaque De Cou' with historic provenance realized $102,100. French Art Deco material also found eager bidders: a Colombian emerald and diamond ring (Lot 28) brought $35,200, and a French early Art Deco sapphire, diamond, and emerald bracelet (Lot 29) sold for $25,600.

"We are thrilled to present Freeman's first Important Jewelry auction of 2026," said April Matteini, the company's senior vice president and head of jewelry. "This is a gem of an auction featuring highly sought-after jewelry by Georges L'Enfant and a wonderful collection of mid-20th-century glamorous jewelry and objects."

The curatorial spine of the sale was the postwar French goldsmithing of the Georges L'Enfant workshop, which supplied pieces to Cartier and Van Cleef & Arpels and remains coveted for what JCK described as its "technical mastery" and "sculptural, tactile quality." A standout pre-sale lot was a Georges L'Enfant for Van Cleef & Arpels necklace with graduated rope-textured curb links in 18k yellow gold, estimated at $15,000 to $25,000. The piece exemplifies what makes L'Enfant's work so distinctive: the weight and rhythm of the links read as sculpture before they read as jewelry.

Among the diamond offerings previewed ahead of the sale, a 6-plus-carat Tiffany ring and a nearly 12-carat fancy yellow diamond ring were each estimated up to $150,000. The sale also included a Van Cleef & Arpels diamond flower brooch and an Art Deco Ceylon star sapphire pendant for collectors drawn to archival signed pieces.

Freeman's post-sale statement noted that signed French Belle Époque and Art Deco jewels "are rare in the open auction marketplace," a characterization the results support. The Cartier 'Plaque De Cou' alone, with its enamel and platinum construction dating to the Belle Époque, represents the kind of documented, signed French work that rarely surfaces outside private treaty sales or specialist estates.

The auction was held under the Freeman's name, which the house resumed using after operating as Freeman's | Hindman following a 2024 merger. The next Important Jewelry auction is scheduled for June 18 in New York.