< Historic Diamonds / Auctions
Sotheby’s Opens the Breuer Building with a December Auction Filled with Masterpieces
From the legendary Jonker VI diamond to rare natural fancy colors and iconic Belperron designs, Sotheby’s introduces a new era at the Breuer Building with a December sale that sets a new standard for high jewelry in New York.
Published: December 2, 2025
Written by: Grant Mobley
Every December, the New York jewelry world turns its attention to the great auction houses. The December jewelry auctions in the city always feel like a season finale, and this year, it carries even more weight. Sotheby’s opens its new global headquarters in the iconic Breuer Building on Madison Avenue, a place that many still associate with museum-grade modern art. Now the landmark begins a new chapter as the stage for museum-quality luxury, and jewelry leads that story.
Meet the Expert
- Grant Mobley is the Jewelry & Watch Editor of Only Natural Diamonds.
- He is a GIA Diamonds Graduate.
- He has over 17 years of jewelry industry experience, starting with growing up in his family’s retail jewelry stores.
A Legacy of Elegance Auction Will Take Place at the Breuer Building on December 8
The first jewelry auction in the Breuer Building, A Legacy of Elegance, sets a clear tone. The collection reflects a belief that jewelry belongs in the same conversation as fine art, design, and architecture. The sale centers on the work of Suzanne Belperron and Joel Arthur Rosenthal (JAR), two true artists who reshaped the language of jewelry from the early twentieth century through today.
Sotheby’s will offer 56 jewels in this evening sale on December 8, and the house expects the collection to exceed $7 million. That figure feels realistic given the names involved. Belperron, JAR, Boivin, Cartier, Verdura, and a historic Boucheron necklace are all in the same group.
The sale includes 10 jewels by Suzanne Belperron, set with crystal or chalcedony. These pieces span her years at René Boivin and her later independent period. Belperron loved transparent and translucent hardstones, especially rock crystal and chalcedony, and she carved them into bold sculptural forms usually set with natural diamonds.
Two important cuff bracelets, each carved from a single block of stone, represent that vision at its finest. A rock crystal clip with diamonds, identical to the one Belperron wore in her portrait by Horst P. Horst, also appears in the sale and shows how closely her own style aligned with her work.
Jennifer Lawrence chose Belperron’s Rock Crystal and Diamond Octagon brooch at the 2025 CFDA Fashion Awards in New York. She then wore frost-inspired diamond earclips by JAR at the 2025 Governors Awards in Los Angeles. That kind of modern red-carpet relevance often pushes collectors to rethink historic names, and this sale offers them a rare chance to acquire these important examples.
The New York High Jewelry Auction Will Be Held at the Breuer Building on December 9
On December 9, the focus shifts squarely to natural diamonds with the High Jewelry sale at the Breuer Building. Sotheby’s brings an exceptional group of colorless and fancy colored diamonds that feels tailor-made for serious collectors and investors.
At the top of the colorless diamond offering sits the historic “Jonker VI” diamond, estimated at $1 to $1.5 million. Cut from the legendary 726-carat Jonker rough discovered in South Africa in 1934, Jonker VI belongs to a family of stones with royal and global history. The largest stone from the rough, Jonker I, originally weighed 142.90 carats before a later recut brought it to about 125.35 carats. Over the years, Jonker I passed through the collections of Egypt’s King Farouk and Nepal’s Queen Ratna, and it still holds a near-mythic status among connoisseurs.
Jonker VI started life as a 24.91-carat emerald-cut diamond before a recut refined it to 22.85 carats. Advanced spectroscopic analysis by the Gemological Institute of America confirmed that this stone came from the same rough as Jonker I. That connection gives Jonker VI tremendous historic weight, and its appearance in New York adds serious depth to the sale.
The High Jewelry auction also features an impressive 30.23-carat F color oval-shaped diamond with an estimate of $1 to $2 million, a classic D color emerald-cut diamond weighing 12.76 carats with a $400,000 to $600,000 estimate, and two beautiful diamond rivière necklaces, each designed as a line of graduating old mine-cut diamonds in collet settings. Sotheby’s expects each necklace to fetch between $350,000 and $550,000.
For collectors who focus on rare fancy colors, the sale delivers several important highlights:
- A 3.48-carat Fancy Intense Blue pear-shaped diamond, estimated between $2 to $3 million.
- A 3.27-carat Fancy Vivid Orangy Pink diamond with a sunset-like hue, estimated between $800,000 to $1.2 million.
- A 5.23-carat Fancy Intense Green diamond, estimated between $500,000 to $700,000
- A 12.51-carat Fancy Vivid Yellow diamond and diamond ring by Bulgari, a bold example of the house’s approach to color and scale.
Together, these stones show the full spectrum of natural diamond beauty, from classic colorless purity to highly saturated fancy hues.
The Private World Of Uta Ortiz-Patiño
Provenance remains one of the strongest themes in this New York season. The sale includes the private collection of Uta Ortiz-Patiño, a prominent Palm Beach figure whose life bridged fashion, art, and international society. Born in Germany and educated in Switzerland, she modeled professionally before meeting her husband, Jaime Ortiz Patiño, a prominent art collector and former President of the World Bridge Federation.
She favored Van Cleef & Arpels, and the sale includes a sapphire and diamond suite comprising a necklace, brooch, and earrings, valued together at $430,000 to $670,000. A 27-carat sapphire and diamond ring from the same collection is estimated at $700,000 to $900,000.
Uta wore her jewels in the settings they deserved, from Palm Beach’s Red Cross Ball to visits to Buckingham Palace. Her friends included King Carlos of Spain, Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands, President George H. W. Bush, and Baron Hans Heinrich Thyssen-Bornemisza. Her collection reflects that world in a very real way.
The Eye Of Geri Brawerman
The sale also includes six jewels from the collection of Geri Brawerman, a beloved figure in Los Angeles and a major supporter of the city’s cultural life. Her pieces show a love of strong design and bold color.
A sculptural David Webb “Demon Mask” necklace, with an estimate of $20,000 to $30,000, and a Webb dragon brooch that grasps an emerald, estimated at $15,000 to $20,000, capture the designer’s theatrical style. An Angela Cummings for Tiffany & Co. wide collar set with diamonds and multicolored sapphires carries an estimate of $100,000 to $200,000 and reveals Geri’s taste for jewels that mix natural gems with a strong artistic point of view.
Why This December Auction Matters
The December jewelry auction at Sotheby’s New York often marks a high point in the global auction calendar. This year, the move into the Breuer Building adds another layer, because the setting underscores the idea that high jewelry and natural diamonds belong on the same level as fine art. From the historic Jonker VI diamond to rare fancy-color stones and significant private collections, this sale brings together the elements that serious collectors seek: provenance, rarity, design, and quality.
