Press article : End-of-year fireworks on the Croisette - La Gazette Drouot
End-of-year fireworks on the Croisette - La Gazette Drouot
Les Sablettes, 1948
The stars of this brilliant scattering were to be found in the jewellery cases, such as this platinum ring holding a round brilliant diamond weighing 5.26 ct, in G colour and VVS2 clarity, fetching 8400€. Made in France around 1970, it is set with two baguette diamonds totalling around 0.40 ct. This was followed by an elegant pair of clips by René Boivin, circa 1950, which fetched 47700€. In platinum with a slightly domed scroll motif, paved with old-cut diamonds and edged with calibrated baguette-cut and princess-cut diamonds, the set weighs approximately 8 cts (gross weight: 22.12 g).
The day before, on December 30th, the French 20th-century school had delivered some of its most seductive canvases, led by a work by Moïse Kisling : Les Sablettes, 1948, at 38900€. Signed, dedicated, situated and dated, it came with a certificate from Jean Kisling. Auguste Herbin was also present with Les Marguerites cueillies en 1923, a canvas (60 x 73 cm) sold by Léonce Rosenberg's L'Effort moderne gallery in Paris, and sold for 31250€. It is listed under no. 513 in Geneviève Claisse's catalogue raisonné of the artist's painted works. In addition, the operator did not wish to comment on the sale of Hans Hartung's T 1980-E 26 (see Gazette no. 45, page 123)...
As for the grands crus, the stars of the first three days of the Cannes sale, they were illustrated by this prestigious lot comprising an assortment of fourteen bottles of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti from the 2010 vintage, which fetched up to 82460€.
Among the nuggets from the best cellars was an assortment of ten bottles from the Domaine de la Romanée-Conti harvested in 2002 : for this Burgundy nectar, you had to spend 44640€ on Friday December 29th. Three bottles of 1969 Chambertin produced by Domaine Armand Rousseau and sold for 12150€, or a single bottle of 1996 Montrachet, also from Domaine de la Romanée-Conti (€8060). Among the Bordeaux wines, a double magnum of Petrus harvested in 2000 stood out, selling for 27300€.
The jewellery sale on Sunday 31 December was marked by the sale, for 184500€, of an exceptional fancy yellow diamond weighing 10.97 cts and of VS2 clarity, beautifully set by Graff. The square brilliant cut stone is set with two other trapezoid diamonds, all mounted in a platinum and gold ring. With a gross weight of 9.33 g, the accessory is signed on the inside of the body and engraved with the characteristics of the central diamond, while the latter is laser-engraved with "Graff" on the roundel.
In exchange for 66500€, we wore this sparkling Rolex Day-Date (ref. 228345 RBR), a pink gold watch (known as an "Everose") adorned with a bezel set with brilliant-cut diamonds (approx. 2.40 cts). It has a case-back entirely paved with 8/8 diamonds, its hour-markers set with baguette diamonds, and is fitted with a Rolex cal. 3255 automatic movement and a pink gold "President" bracelet with folding clasp (diam. 4 cm, gross weight 189.60 g). Purchased in 2020, the accessory comes with its box and warranty card.
We also had several artefacts by Robert Combas (b. 1957), the enfant terrible of free figuration, including this iconoclastic Voltaire with antenna hat, created in 2001 and sold for 27600€. This is a mixed technique on paper and glass, vertically signed and dated lower right (62 x 46 cm). It should be noted that the work is indeed referenced in the artist's archives. However, his Et si Luis avait remplacé Walt Disney...(Gazette n° 45, page 26) did not find a buyer.
La Gazette Drouot N°1 from January 05th, 2024 - pages 80 & 81
