3 April 1987 Duchess of Windsor’s jewellery sells for £31 million at auction

The late Duchess of Windsor’s jewellery  sold for £31m ($50m) – six times the expected figure during an auction in Switzerland. About 1,000 bidders and 300 members of the media crowded into a huge tent erected by Sotheby’s next to Lake Geneva for the two-day sale. In New York another 600 people were in Sotheby’s main salesroom to view slides of the jewels and to have their bids relayed to Geneva.

Many items went for up to 10 times their expected price.

The highest price was nearly £2m ($3.15m) paid for a 31-carat diamond ring by a Japanese jeweller. A plume-shaped diamond brooch designed in 1935 by the then-Prince of Wales for his future bride, was sold for more than £400,000 ($566,000) to actress Elizabeth Taylor. Ms Taylor, who was a close friend of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, said she had often admired the brooch when the duchess wore it and bought it for sentimental reasons.

“I loved it so much, I had to buy it. It’s the first important jewel I’ve ever bought myself,” Ms Taylor said of her purchase.

Another item, a sapphire pendant, was rumoured to have been bought on behalf of fellow British actress, Joan Collins.