Fine jewellery from the personal collection of Gloria (Gigi) Guggenheim Danziger, wife of the former owner of Cartier Paris, will go under the hammer at Bonhams New York on September 19. The collection features 32 pieces of fine jewellery, with the earliest piece dating back to 1957.
Bonhams adds that the collection includes a number of signed Cartier pieces from the 1960s and 1970s when the Danziger family owned Cartier Paris. This is the first time the jewellery has ever appeared at auction.
Gigi Guggenheim Danziger is the wife of native New Yorker Edward J. Danziger. Edward, and his brother Harry Lee Danziger, were prolific film producers and created more than 140 feature films during the 1950s and 1960s. They also produced hundreds of hours of television from London’s Elstree Studios which they founded in 1956.
In 1958, at the peak of their productivity, the Danzigers acquired London’s Mayfair hotel, Grosvenor hotel and the Metropole hotel in Monte Carlo. Ten years later, in 1968, the brothers negotiated a secret deal and became the new owners of Cartier Paris. As part of the deal, they also acquired Cartier shops in Monte Carlo, Cannes and Switzerland.
The Danziger family intentionally kept their ownership quiet to continue to capitalize and maintain the Cartier name which, until then had been a family business. This decision was a business decision that proved prudent.
During their four-year ownership of Cartier Paris, the Danzigers opened Cartier stores in Hong Kong, Geneva and Munich, and Gigi amassed an enviable collection of jewellery which was further added to in the 1960s and 1970s.
James Danziger, son of Gigi Guggenheim Danziger, said, “My mother adores jewellery and always appreciated exceptional craftsmanship. All the jewellery in this collection was given to her by my father who had impeccable taste and always loved to see her wearing the jewels from Cartier Paris, the business he owned.”
He added, “As a result, the Cartier pieces in her collection have a special significance and have literally travelled the world, being worn by my mother at many of the glamorous events she and my father attended in Paris, Monte Carlo, Gstaad, and Hong Kong.”
Bonhams US Head of Jewellery Susan Abeles said, “We are honoured to be appointed by the Danziger family to sell this important collection which has a wonderful provenance given the family’s ownership of Cartier.”
https://www.gemkonnect.com/news/bonhams-auction-jewellery-former-cartier-owner