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Bulgari Flag Ring Goes For $319K at Reagan Auction
The ring, which was only expected to sell for $8,000, was the top lot at the Christie’s New York auction of The Private Collection of President and Mrs. Ronald Reagan.
This Bulgari ring, set with square-cut sapphires, rubies and diamonds in an American flag motif, knocked its pre-sale high estimate of $8,000 out of the park when it garnered $319,500 at Christie’s this week. Nancy Reagan wore it on July 4, 1986, on board the USS Iowa for Liberty Weekend, celebrating the restoration and centenary of the Statue of Liberty.
New York--Very appropriately, a Bulgari ring with an American flag motif finished as the top lot in an auction featured during Christie’s New York’s “Americana Week” series.
The ring, set with square-cut sapphires, rubies and diamonds laid out in the shape of an American flag, was only expected to sell for up to $8,000, but blew away the pre-sale estimate when it garnered $319,500.
The ring was part of the live sale of The Private Collection of President and Mrs. Ronald Reagan held Wednesday and Thursday.
The top lot of the jewelry portion of the live sale was predicted to be a Van Cleef & Arpels suite--a diamond and gold lion pendant-brooch necklace and matching ear clips that the First Lady wore on a state visit to the U.K. in 1988. Those went for $56,250 and $21,250, respectively.
Meanwhile, an 18-karat gold, platinum and diamond Bulgari bracelet, worn by Nancy Reagan at state dinners, and a four-strand cultured pearl necklace with a bezel-set oval onyx cabochon and diamonds in the center both garnered $40,000.
A set of Van Cleef & Arpels rings--two featuring calibré-cut sapphires and one solid 18-karat gold--sold for $16,250.
The matching Van Cleef lion pendant-brooch necklace with 18-karat gold and diamonds, worn on the same occasion, went for $56,250.
This cabochon black star sapphire and diamond brooch in platinum sold for $20,000.
This 18-karat gold, platinum and diamond Bulgari bracelet, worn by Nancy Reagan at state dinners, was only expected to sell for between $5,000 and $7,000, but garnered $40,000.
This necklace from Oscar Heyman & Brothers circa 1976 features a circular-cut diamond, calibré-cut sapphire and ruby “76” in platinum and 18-karat gold, hanging from an 18-karat gold chain. It realized a price of $23,750.
A four-strand cultured pearl necklace centered on a bezel-set oval onyx cabochon, within a 14-karat gold and circular-cut diamond surround, went for $40,000.
This Van Cleef & Arpels set--featuring two calibré-cut sapphire bands, one in 18-karat gold and one in 14-karat gold, and an 18-karat gold band--sold for $16,250.
These earrings worn by Nancy Reagan during a visit with Margaret Thatcher in 1988 were designed as an 18-karat gold lion’s head with circular-cut diamond eyes and a suspended textured gold hoop. They sold for $21,250.
Christie’s sales of the Reagan’s possessions also encompassed furniture, decorative works of art, books, memorabilia, paintings, drawings and prints from their home in Los Angeles, with total sales between the two days realizing more than $5.7 million.
The auction also has an online component, which has 261 lots including items they used to entertain, photographs and books, as well as more jewelry. That runs through Sept. 28.
Proceeds from the sales benefit The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute, a nonprofit, non-partisan organization created by Reagan that maintains the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum, the Reagan Center for Public Affairs, the Walter and Leonore Annenberg Presidential Learning Center and its Discovery Center, and the Air Force One Pavilion.
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