The Rockefeller Kashmir Cartier Art Deco sapphire and diamond ring. Estimate: $1.5 million to $2.5 million
Christie’s
Christie’s December Magnificent Jewels auction in New York will include pieces from the Rockefeller family collection, led by the newly named “Rockefeller Kashmir,” a 17.66-carat unheated Kashmir sapphire dating to circa 1925.
The cushion-faceted, pyramidal cabochon sapphire is mounted on a platinum Art Deco Cartier ring, with its shank set with single-cut diamonds. The piece carries an estimate of $1.5 million to $2.5 million.
According to Christie’s, the ring was appraised in 1946 by American jeweler Raymond Yard, who served as personal jeweler to John D. Rockefeller Jr. and Abby Aldrich Rockefeller. Yard described the sapphire with the succinct notation: “gem.” Documentation confirms the ring was later passed down to John D. Rockefeller 3rd.
The sapphire ring is one of four jewels from the Rockefeller estate to be offered at the Magnificent Jewels auction on December 10.
Other highlights include:
Cartier Art Deco emerald and diamond bracelet. Estimate: $100,000 – $150,000
Christie’s
A Cartier Art Deco emerald, diamond and platinum bracelet, circa 1925, featuring rectangular and square step-cut emeralds accented by marquise, rectangular, square, old and single-cut diamonds. The emeralds were found to have “insignificant to minor” clarity enhancement. Its estimate is $100,000 – $150,000.
A pair of multi-gem and diamond clip parrot brooches by Raymond Yard. Estimate: $20,000 – $30,000
Christie’s
A pair of multi-gem parrot clip-brooches by Raymond Yard, circa 1945, designed as parrots set with carved, caliber-cut and round cabochon rubies, sapphires, emeralds and round diamonds in yellow gold and platinum. Its estimate is $20,000 – $30,000.
A Cartier diamond and colored diamond watch. Estimate: $7,000 – $9,000
Christie’s
A Cartier diamond and colored diamond watch, circa 1950, set with baguette and square diamonds and rose-cut brown diamonds in platinum, with manual movement, signed and numbered. Its estimate is $7,000 – $9,000.
The Magnificent Jewels sale is part of a broader series of Christie’s auctions presenting works from the “Property of Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller 3rd, from the collection of Sandra Ferry Rockefeller.”
On November 17, Christie’s 20th Century Evening Sale will offer Myo, a Kurama granite sculpture by Isamu Noguchi, estimated at $2 million – $3 million. The work, the first in Noguchi’s series of broken granite blocks blending Eastern tradition and Western postwar innovation, was acquired after the death of John D. Rockefeller 3rd. Christie’s notes that Noguchi meditated on the piece for nine years and kept it in his personal collection for nearly two decades before it was gifted to Mrs. John D. Rockefeller 3rd in 1980 by her children, who acquired it directly from the artist.
In January 2026, works from the Rockefeller collection will appear in the 19th Century American & Western Art and The American Collector auctions. Highlights include Sunset Over the Palisades on the Hudson by Hudson River School painter Sanford Robinson Gifford, estimated at $1.2 million – $1.8 million, and Cranberry Harvest, Nantucket by Eastman Johnson, estimated at $400,000 – $600,000.
The series of sales will conclude in March 2026 with the Important Chinese Art auction, featuring “a rare and important” gilt-bronze figure of a dragon from the Tang dynasty (AD 618–907), estimated at $150,000 – $250,000.
The Rockefeller name is synonymous with wealth, influence and cultural patronage. Beginning with John D. Rockefeller and William Avery Rockefeller Jr., the family wielded immense power in American industry, politics and banking throughout the late 19th and 20th centuries.
As collectors, their legacy is unparalleled. The world saw the scope of their holdings in 2018, when Christie’s Collection of Peggy and David Rockefeller sale achieved more than $835.1 million across ten days of online sales and three days of live auctions—setting a record at the time for the highest total ever for a private collection at auction.