Formerly in the Collection of Helene, Duchess in Bavaria, Princess von Thurn und Taxis (1834-1890)
Unique Pink Sapphire and Diamond Bangle
Auction Closed
November 12, 02:56 PM GMT
Estimate
12,000 - 20,000 CHF
Lot Details
Description
Of crossover design, featuring a cushion-shaped pink sapphire weighing 2.02 carats, embellished with old mine- and old European-cut diamonds, inner circumference approximately 170mm; circa 1880.
Accompanied by SSEF report no. 149469, dated 17 October 2025, stating that the pink sapphire is of Burmese origin, with no indications of heating.
Helene, Duchess in Bavaria, Princess von Thurn und Taxis (1834-1890)
Thence by descent
Helene, Duchess in Bavaria, Princess von Thurn und Taxis (1834-1890)
This pink sapphire and diamond bangle and ring belonged to Helene in Bavaria, Princess of Thurn und Taxis and have remained in her descent until the present day. To the wider public she was immortalised in Ernst Marischka’s Sissi film trilogy as Empress Elisabeth’s gracious older sister who generously stepped aside when Elisabeth fell in love with her destined fiancé, Emperor Franz Joseph.
Helene was born as the daughter of Maximilian, Duke in Bavaria (1808-1888) and Princess Ludovika of Bavaria (1808-1892). She spent her idyllic childhood at the castle of Possenhofen on Lake Starnberg in the company of her numerous siblings including the later Empress Elisabeth of Austria, the later last Queen of the Two Sicilies Maria Sophie and Sophie Charlotte, the later Duchess of Alençon. In her youth she was colloquially know as Néné.
Her mother Ludovika had very ambitious marriage plans for all her daughters and she originally envisaged that Helene would become engaged to the young Emperor Franz Joseph who was the son of her sister Archduchess Sophie of Austria, a woman of formidable resolve who was the power behind the throne in the early years of her son’s reign. When Franz Joseph married Helene’s younger sister Elisabeth, Helene eventually married Maximilian Anton, Hereditary Prince of Thurn and Taxis (1831-1867) in 1858. Her husband was a member of one of Germany’s wealthiest noble houses with a family seat at Saint Emmeram Abbey in Regensburg. Though her marriage was very harmonious, her husband passed away at only thirty-five years of age from kidney failure. Helene successfully managed the Thurn und Taxis family business interests during the minority of her two sons Maximilian Maria, 7th Prince of Thurn und Taxis (1862-1885) and Albert, 8th Prince of Thurn und Taxis (1867-1952).