The Auction Block

Doyle New York
Platinum and Diamond Ring
Signed Gumbiner
Estimate: $175,000 – $225,000
Auction Date: April 18

Doyle New York’s auction of Important Jewelry showcases jewelry by the world’s most prestigious makers, including Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels, David Webb and Tiffany & Co., with offerings spanning the Antique, Victorian, Edwardian, Art Nouveau, Art Deco and Modern eras. This platinum and diamond ring, size 6, centers an emerald-cut diamond, flanked by two kite-shaped diamonds.

Sotheby’s
The Shirley Temple Blue Diamond
Estimate: $25 million – $35 million
Auction Date: April 19

Sotheby’s Magnificent Jewels sale is led by the rare Shirley Temple Blue Diamond. Weighing 9.54 carats, the charming cushion-cut fancy blue diamond ring was originally purchased by the child star’s father, George Temple, in 1940 as the film “The Blue Bird” was completed.

Christie’s
Ruby Ring by Verdura
Estimate: $12 million – $15 million
Auction Date: April 20

Featured in the Magnificent Jewels & The Jubilee Ruby auction at Christie’s, the Jubilee Ruby — set in a distinctive gold and diamond mounting by the legendary firm Verdura — is the most important ruby of its caliber to be offered for sale at auction in the United States in more than 25 years. Until the middle of the 19th century, only the sovereign of Burma, or an individual deemed worthy by him, would have been allowed to possess such a magnificent gemstone.

Bonhams
Handwritten Sherlock Holmes Manuscript
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859–1930)
Estimate: $380,000 – $420,000
Auction Date: April 11

A handwritten draft by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle of his 1893 Sherlock Holmes mystery “The Case of the Greek Interpreter” is a highlight of the Fine Literature sale at Bonhams. The work is best known for the first appearance of Holmes’s older brother Mycroft. Other Sherlock Holmes material will be offered, notably a handwritten page from “The Hound of the Baskervilles,” probably the most famous Sherlock Holmes story.

Freeman’s
Embroidered Plan of the City of Washington, 1807
Susanna Wilkinson Atkinson (aged 14 years)??
Estimate: $15,000 – $25,000
Auction Date: April 19

This rare and charming bit of folkloric antiquity — worked with silk threads, watercolor and ink on a silk ground, the needles inserted below the inscription — was made after a plan of the city drawn by Pierre Charles L’Enfant and Andrew Ellicott. Part of Freeman’s auction of American Furniture, Decorative and Folk Art, the embroidery has remained in the family since it was made. It is only the fourth known Plan of the City of Washington embroidery.