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A decade ago, an unusual piece of jewelry went up for auction at Sotheby’s. The chunky, 1930s-era tricolor Cartier bracelet, glimmering with a gold-link chain and a lapis lazuli barrel clasp, is an undoubtedly chic slice of history. But the bracelet also has a fascinating story embedded within its 14 carats: it previously belonged to acclaimed actress and androgynous style icon Marlene Dietrich, who received it as a gift from her former lover and longtime friend Erich Maria Remarque. Just before World War II broke out, Dietrich helped Remarque – the author of All Quiet on the Western Front, whose books had been banned in Nazi Germany – flee Europe for the United States. As a token of his gratitude, Remarque gifted Dietrich the bracelet, which she donned frequently for the rest of her life.
The Cartier bracelet alone is a sumptuous accessory, one that could likely command a price of tens of thousands of dollars. But the details of its past ownership, and the love story at its core, make it far more sentimentally valuable – and lucrative at auction. “I remember bidding on behalf of the client who purchased it on the phone. He was buying it for his wife,” says Frank Everett, the Vice Chairman of Jewelry at Sotheby’s. He remembers his client asking during the lot’s sale: “This is really going high – do you think it’s worth it?” Everett replied, “Find another one. You’re never going to find another piece like this with much history.”
Provenance is the x-factor that can give something a staggering, and difficult to forecast, boost on the auction block.
In the visual arts, “provenance” refers to a work of art’s chain of ownership – for example, its certification by reputable dealers and esteemed collectors – which ensures its authenticity and legitimacy on the market. But in the broader sense, provenance can encompass an incalculable alchemy of condition, custodianship, quality and rarity that imbues an object with historical value – something that has as much to do with storytelling as it does “with the collective memory of the public and how people remember a person,” says Everett. The right provenance, if sold at precisely the right time, can make or break an item.
Of course jewelry, for example, possesses intrinsic value. Once appraisers authenticate a piece and weigh the grams of gold or count the gemstones and compare them to current market values, an estimated range can be confidently established. Beyond that, things like condition and the signature of a high jeweler, whether Cartier or Van Cleef & Arpels, can further increase its value. Provenance, though, is the x-factor that can give something a staggering, and difficult to forecast, boost on the auction block.
Sotheby’s sale of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis’ personal effects stands as a key example of the power of provenance. The late Onassis’ collection of jewelry, art and even stationery went up for auction in 1996. So did three strands of fake pearls, which she wore in a now-famous photo of her holding her son, John Jr., her head thrown back in laughter as he played with the knockoff stones. The iconic imitation necklace was estimated to sell between $500-700 – already a premium over what Everett estimates was $50 worth of material. But by virtue of its provenance alone, it sold for $211,500, or roughly $415,000 today.
“This was the beginning of Diana using fashion and the press to tell her story through images.”
Perhaps the most extraordinary instance of provenance driving value is a well-worn sweater worn by Diana, Princess of Wales, featuring a single black sheep among a flock of white. Then newly engaged to Prince Charles, she first wore the sweater to a polo match. When her marriage to Charles soured several years later, she wore the same sweater in public, where it carried symbolic meaning. “One has to believe that she chose to wear it because she felt like the black sheep of the family,” Everett says. “And this was the beginning of Diana using fashion and the press to tell her story through images.” The sweater’s sleeve tore at one point, and Princess Diana sent it back to have it replaced. The original sat in a box until last year, when it was brought to auction. Estimated to sell for $50,000-70,000, it drew $1.1 million. “This is pure provenance,” Everett says. “It’s not just about ownership – it’s a story.”
The landmark sale of Princess Diana’s sweater suggests provenance can even outweigh condition – and perhaps, even, that signs of an object’s use by a significant figure can enhance its value. That’s especially true of watches, says Leigh Safar, Senior Vice President of Watches at Sotheby’s, as too much restoration of a vintage offering can alter its perceived integrity among collectors. “With watches in particular, removing some of the scratches and the dings can make it look very commercial,” she says. Watch collectors enjoy the patina that develops over time more that a pristine look.
Like fame itself, provenance can be fickle. Everett, quoting a former colleague, says that “when the sizzle is off the steak” culturally, that can indelibly impact provenance’s performance. Consider how in 2013, a brooch of Onassis’ was up for sale at Sotheby’s. Everett expected the former First Lady’s brooch to command a hefty price given its origins and the success of the 1996 sale. Instead, the brooch sold within its estimated range – a respectable, if unsurprising, result. “The provenance did not lift it anywhere near the heights that I hoped for,” says Everett.
Similarly, Everett was initially unsure how A World of His Own, the 2023 sale of Freddie Mercury’s possessions, would go over. “Are people going to remember Queen, Freddie and his importance as a public figure, as a performer and as an artist?” Everett remembers wondering. He was proven wrong. “Boy, did they ever. It went through the roof.” 140,000 visitors to Sotheby’s London helped propel the 60-lot, white-glove evening sale to £12.2 million ($15.4 million).
It’s possible that film and television adaptations have had a hand in how several icons, and their possessions, find newfound appeal with a different generation: All Quiet on the Western Front had a buzzy Hollywood adaptation last year, and Netflix’s series The Crown, which depicted Princess Diana’s royal life over several seasons, has been a pop-culture juggernaut. But provenance doesn’t always necessarily depend on celebrities to be successful.
Safar says that became especially evident in the case of one consignor, a pilot who sold his Rolex “John Player Special” – a reference 6241 gold Daytona with a black “Paul Newman” dial – that he’d received as a graduation gift in 1972. Famously undesirable on release, these watches retailed for about $500, according to Safar. Its dual associations with the star actor and Team Lotus racing, boosted by the timepiece’s unbroken record of ownership, led it to sell in 2021 for $625,000. “Even though this consignor was not a celebrity, a lot of collectors today really appreciate when a watch comes from an original owner, and they like to know the history and the story behind it,” Safar explains. “This watch was something that basically went everywhere with him, so it flew around the world in the same way he did. It’s honest provenance, and very easy to detect.”
Attempting to determine how provenance might factor into an item’s value is often impossible, of course: Tastes change, generations come and go and some things hold up better than others. But the challenges of determining provenance also make it a thrilling prospect. “That’s why it is always a little bit of a gamble,” Everett says. “But that makes it a little bit of fun.”
