Diamond Brooch From the French Crown Jewels To Be Auctioned on Wednesday, April 13 at Doyle New York

NEW YORK, April 11, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- On Wednesday, April 13 at 10am, Doyle New York will hold an auction of Important Estate Jewelry, featuring the Collection of Alice Appleton Hay (1894-1987). Mrs. Hay was the daughter-in-law of John Hay, President Lincoln's private secretary and later Secretary of State under Presidents William McKinley and Theodore Roosevelt. The Hay Collection comprises almost forty lots of spectacular jewelry representing a century of jewelry design. Entirely fresh to the market, the Collection has descended in one of America's most distinguished families.

Bearing a French Imperial provenance is an antique diamond brooch, circa 1850, estimated at $50,000-70,000. This exquisite brooch was part of the French Crown Jewels, which were sold at an historic auction in the Louvre in 1887 following the fall of Napoleon III and his wife, Empress Eugenie. Tiffany & Co. was the largest purchaser at the auction, successfully buying almost a third of the Crown Jewels. The diamond brooch comes in a box from Tiffany's Paris showroom together with an inscribed card from legendary American banker J. Pierpont Morgan presenting the brooch as a gift to one of Mrs. Hay's forebears.

Another rarity in the Collection is a gold and enamel pocket watch in the form of a miniature flintlock pistol estimated at $100,000-150,000. This unusual timepiece was made in Geneva for the Chinese market, circa 1805, and is attributed to the firm of Moulinie, Bautte & Cie. When the trigger is released, a flower emerges from the barrel and sprinkles the target person with perfume. There are fewer than fifteen of these pistols known, and this example was only recently discovered in the Hay Collection.

The Hay Collection also offers important jewelry by Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels, Chaumet and Tiffany & Co.

The public is invited to the exhibition on Monday and Tuesday, April 11 and 12. Doyle New York is located at 175 East 87th Street in Manhattan. For information, call 212-427-2730 or visit www.DoyleNewYork.com to view the free Internet catalogue.

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For information and images of highlights visit http://www.doylenewyork.com/content/more.asp?id=141

SOURCE Doyle New York