Past Auction

Fine Jewelry

Wed, Sep 23, 2020 at 10am EDT |

New York

View Lots

Featuring the Collection of Dorothea Benton Frank and the Estates of Irma and Rube Goldberg

Auction of Fine Jewelry on Wednesday, September 23, 2020 at 10am
Featuring Property from the Collection Dorothea Benton Frank and the Estates of Irma and Rube Goldberg
Consignments Are Currently Being Accepted for Future Auctions

NEW YORK, NY -- Doyle’s auctions in the popular Fine Jewelry category offer a wide array of pieces ranging from antique to contemporary with more moderate estimates than in the Important Jewelry sales. Showcased in the upcoming auction on Wednesday, September 23, 2020 at 10am will be stylish designs by such makers as Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels and Tiffany & Co. set with diamonds, colored stones and pearls, as well as gold jewelry, fashion jewelry, fine watches and gentlemen's accessories.

With competitive bidding, the sale totaled an exceptional $643,375, surpassing its estimate of $442,700-627,600, with a successful 83% sold by lot and 86% by value.

The Collection of Dorothea Benton Frank

Featured in the sale was fine jewelry from the Collection of best-selling author Dorothea Benton Frank. Property from the Collection comprises lots 1 - 19 in the sale. View Lots

Additional property from the Collection of Dorothea Benton Frank will be offered in the sales of Fine Literature on Sept 30; and English & Continental Furniture & Decorative Arts on October 28. Read More

The Estate of Irma and Rube Goldberg

Irma and Rube Goldberg on their 15th wedding anniversary, with George Gershwin, Groucho Marx and other notable New Yorkers. October 17, 1931. (Irma is wearing a bracelet, lot 123 from the Oct. 1, 2020 auction)

Rube Goldberg -- inventor, artist, adjective -- was a Pulitzer Prize winning cartoonist best known for his zany invention cartoons that accomplish a simple task in the most overly complex way. He is also the only person in the Merriam Webster Dictionary to be listed as an adjective. As a young man he made his way from San Francisco to New York City, where he became a syndicated cartoonist, met and married Irma Seeman (heiress to the White Rose Food fortune), and raised two children. During his lifetime, his work was the subject of an exhibition at the Smithsonian and appeared on many magazine covers. He would live the rest of his life in NYC, the city he called the Front Row, entertaining many famous friends including the Gershwin "boys", Charlie Chaplin, and the Marx Brothers. Today the term "Rube Goldberg" is invoked daily across all media and is a searchable hash-tag for millions of YouTube and Google entries.

Property from the Estates of Irma and Rube Goldberg comprises lots 28-32 in the sale. View Lots

We Invite You to Auction!

Consignments are currently being accepted for future auctions. We invite you to contact us for a complimentary auction evaluation of your jewelry and fine watches. Our specialists are always available to discuss the sale of a single item or an entire collection.

For information, please contact:
Ann Lange in New York at 212-427-4141, ext 221 or [email protected]
Nan Summerfield and Emily Marchick in Beverly Hills at 310-276-6616 or [email protected]