Nazi Cloud Hangs Over One of the Largest Jewelry Sales in History

Blazing sapphires and lush emeralds drip from the necklaces, brooches and bracelets. One standout piece, the “Briolette of India,” includes a 90-carat diamond and carries a high estimate of $7.8 million. They are among the 700 jewels from the estate of an Austrian heiress that will go on sale at Christie’s on May 3 as part of one of the largest jewelry sales in history. The auction house is predicting that jewels from the estate of Heidi Horten, the heiress who died last year, will bring in more than $150 million, surpassing the $137 million taken in during the 2011 sale of Elizabeth Taylor’s collection. The proceeds are to benefit a charitable foundation established by Horten, whose husband, Helmut, was a German retailing billionaire whose specialty was department stores. “It’s one of the most beautifully curated collections that will ever come up in the jewelry world,” said Anthea Peers, president of Christie’s Europe, Middle East and Africa. “This is a sale that will do an enormous amount for philanthropy. That’s important for the estate and for us.” But the auction house has acknowledged that, in deciding to host the sale, it also had to grapple with the fact that Helmut Horten’s business empire was built atop his purchase of companies from Jews who were pressed to sell by the Nazis.