Sold to benefit Doctors Without Borders
Koch
Natural Pearl and Diamond Brooch
Auction Closed
November 12, 02:56 PM GMT
Estimate
8,000 - 12,000 CHF
Lot Details
Description
Featuring a light grey button-shaped natural pearl measuring approximately 11.46 - 11.63 x 10.02mm and a pear-shaped diamond weighing 1.89 carats, to an openwork surround of scroll design set with old European-, old mine- and single-cut diamonds, signed Koch; circa 1910.
Accompanied by SSEF report no. 149274, dated 30 September 2025, stating that the pearl was found to be natural, saltwater.
From the Collection of Dr Beatrice Thyssen, Freifrau von Riedel (1920-2025)
Dr Beatrice Thyssen, Freifrau von Riedel (1920-2025)
Beatrice Freifrau von Riedel was the granddaughter of the Bavarian Minister of Finance Emil Freiherr von Riedel (1832-1906) who served under King Ludwig II and Prince-Regent Luitpold. Her mother’s first husband was Fritz von Bohlen und Halbach whose brother Gustav was married to the steel-heiress Bertha Krupp.
Beatrice was a passionate and well-respected gynaecologist. Her first husband, the neurologist Prof. Dr. Carl Walther Simon, founded the Forschungsinstitut für experimentelle Musikpsychologie in Salzburg which researched the various ways in which music has an impact on the human psyche. Beatrice had a lifelong fondness for classical music and was a frequent guest at the Salzburger Festspiele and Munich concert halls such as the Bavarian State Opera and the Prinzregententheater.
Her second husband Dr. Bodo Thyssen (1918-2004), of the Thyssen industrial family, was likewise a medical doctor who operated a private clinic in Prien near Chiemsee. She divided her time between the Munich Lehel neighbourhood, where she lived on a street near the street named after her grandfather, and her country house on the shores of Lake Chiemsee.