Christie’s initial sale of around 100 rare jewels from the collection of the late Austrian billionaire Heidi Horten has exceeded expectations, bringing the auction house in Geneva $156 million yesterday. The results came despite outrage in the days and weeks leading up to the sale over the source of the massive wealth accumulated by her husband, Helmut Horten, who died in 1987.
According to research identified by my colleague Katya Kazakina and reported before the sale, “Horten was actively involved in taking over Jewish businesses and profiting from the position of Jewish owners”, during the Nazi era. The 2022 research report, commissioned by the Heidi Horten Collection and conducted by a German historian, also confirmed that Nazi Party member Helmut Horten used forced labor. Heidi married Helmut in 1966.
Christie’s did not initially include this information in press materials for the sale, which is one of the largest and most valuable jewelry auction bids in history, surpassing even that of Elizabeth Taylor. and the Al Thani family.
The auction house later acknowledged the circumstances surrounding Helmut Horten’s wealth. In a pre-sale statement shared with Artnet News, Anthea Peers, Christie’s President for Europe, Middle East and Africa, said the decision to Christie’s to take over the sale was made after careful consideration.
“We knew the history of Helmut Horten’s actions during the Nazi period, when he bought Jewish businesses that were sold under duress. His activities were well documented and laid the foundation for his later wealth,” Peers said in the statement. “However, and without ignoring or excusing Mr. Horten’s actions, the jewelry collection of his wife, Heidi Horten, was built up decades later, between the early 1970s and 2022, the year of her death. As with all property entrusted to Christie’s, this collection has undergone an extensive verification process. The provenance of each of the 700 objects put up for auction is well documented, with detailed indications of purchase, and none of these jewels comes from a spoliation or a forced sale by a Jewish owner.
And the cloud surrounding Horten’s wealth didn’t seem the least bit yesterday.
Rahul Kadakia, international head of Christie’s jewelry department, served as auctioneer for the sale. He began by reiterating that proceeds from Horten sales will benefit philanthropic causes.
“Before we started, we wanted to take a moment to address you in the room and those joining us via live stream from around the world,” Kadakia said. “All proceeds from the sale will be donated to a foundation to support philanthropic causes such as health, child welfare and access to the arts. In addition, Christie’s will make a significant contribution from our end proceeds of sales to auctions to Jewish organizations and will advance vitally important Holocaust research and education.
Fancy pink diamond of 20.06 carats from the Heidi Horten collection. Courtesy of Christie’s
As Kadakia thanked the audience after his opening remarks, the room erupted in applause. Bidding immediately took off.
The amount realized in the first bid of the four-part sale alone already exceeded the overall estimate for the collection by more than $150 million, and there was no guarantee on any of the lots. Out of 96 lots offered, only three are unsold. Half of the lots on offer sold for more than $1 million, according to an after-sales statement.
The highest price of 13.5 million Swiss francs ($15 million) was paid for “The Sunrise Ruby” described as a “sensational Cartier ruby and diamond ring, although below the low estimate of 14 million Swiss francs. It was followed by the winning bid of 9 million Swiss francs ($10 million) for a Bulgari ring with a large pink diamond flanked by smaller white diamonds, which came out at around double the high estimate of 4.5 million francs.
But no matter how successful the sale, the controversy surrounding The World of Heidi Horten auction series has not gone unnoticed.
Yoram Dvash, chairman of the World Federation of Diamond Bourses (WFDB), sent a letter to Christie’s opposing the sale, according to a report last week. Dvash’s letter was addressed to François Curiel, president of the auction house in Europe and Asia, and former head of the jewelry department.
“I would like to express the WFDB’s objection to this sale, so clearly associated with the Nazi plunder of Jewish businesses,” he wrote. “At a time of Holocaust denial and resurgence of anti-Semitism around the world, we find it particularly appalling that a world-renowned auction house would engage in such a sale.”
If Christie’s went ahead with the auction, Dvash wrote, he expected assurances from Curiel “that the bulk of the proceeds would be donated by Christie’s to charities supporting the welfare of Holocaust survivors, as well as commemoration and education”. He also asked that the amount granted be made public.
Dvash and the WDFB did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
“The World of Heidi Horten” includes a Friday Part Two live auction offering of 152 lots, a continuous online offering through May 15 of 152 lots, and an additional 300 lots to be offered in Geneva in November.
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