Latest news with #LordWaldorfAstor
BBC News
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Auctioneer's wonder as Nancy Astor tiara smashes expectations
Auctioneers said they were left stunned as a dazzling Cartier tiara, once owned by former Plymouth MP Nancy Astor, soared far beyond its estimated value at diamond-encrusted tiara, expected to fetch about £400,000, instead reached nearly £890,000."We were on tenterhooks in the sale room, it just kept going and going, it was wonderful, truly wonderful," said Jennifer Tonkin of auctioneers Nancy Astor was elected in 1919 to represent Plymouth Sutton in Parliament and held the seat until she stood down in 1945. Bonhams said it was the first time the tiara had been on the market since it was bought by her husband Lord Waldorf Astor in anticipation that the tiara would surpass its pre-sale estimate, the final result took experts by surprise. But the rich history, combined with the Cartier name and its rare and unique design, appeared to make the piece an irresistible prize for collectors, said Ms Tonkin."It's been an absolute joy to see our clients marvel at it during viewings," she told BBC Radio Devon."There's something truly evocative about it, I hear jazz music when I look at it. It's impossibly chic.""I will miss it dearly, it's so beautiful."
BBC News
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Nancy Astor's diamond tiara fetches £700,000 at auction
A Cartier turquoise and diamond tiara owned by the first woman to take a seat in the House of Commons has been sold for £700, Nancy Astor was elected in 1919 to represent Plymouth Sutton in Parliament and held the seat until she stood down in Auctioneers Bonhams said it was the first time the tiara had been on the market since it was bought by her husband Lord Waldorf Astor in auction house said it was worn by Lady Astor to the film premiere of City Lights at the Dominion Theatre in London in 1931. Jean Ghika, Global head of jewellery at Bonhams, said the "exceptionally rare" tiara with "impeccable provenance" dates from when Cartier London was at the "height of its creative prowess".The tiara has single, rose-cut and brilliant-cut diamonds and three fluted turquoise plumes set with diamond auction house had estimated a sale price of between £250,000 and £350, her time in government Astor successfully campaigned for the drinking age to rise from 14 to 18 in 1923 and advocated for the rights of women including the lowering of the voting age for women from 30 to 21 in she was the first woman to take up a seat in the House of Commons another woman was elected to the Commons a year Markievicz was successful in the 1918 general election, but as a member of Sinn Féin she did not take her seat, according to the House of Commons Information Office.
