Agatha Christie’s lost diamonds go up for auction
Hidden treasure from the home of the nation’s much-loved author, Agatha Christie, comes to light at the Bonhams, Knightsbridge Jewellery auction on 8th October.
When an Agatha Christie fan took part in the 2006 house contents sale of the Greenway estate, the Devon home of Agatha Christie, she paid £100 for an old travelling trunk which had belonged to Agatha Christie’s mother. She had no idea that locked inside lay £10,000 worth of the Christie family jewels.
Inside the travelling trunk was a locked strongbox but the key was long lost. Years passed and the box remained sealed. It wasn’t until four years later that the owner of the suitcase was having building work done and saw the opportunity to wrench open the box with a crowbar. To her delight, inside she discovered a purse of gold coins, a diamond brooch and a three stone diamond ring.
The jewels are mentioned in Agatha Christie’s biography as pieces that were earmarked for Agatha and her sister Madge to inherit from their mother’s collection. Christie writes: “My mother’s valuable jewellery consisted of ‘my diamond buckle’, ‘my diamond crescent’ and ‘my diamond engagement ring’…Madge was to have the diamond crescent, I was to have the diamond buckle…”
“…my mother sorted amongst an array of odds and ends…all these required hours of sorting before they were packed in the trays in the various trunks.”
The diamond 19th century diamond brooch will now be offered at auction for £6,000-8,000, and the diamond three-stone ring is offered with an estimate of £3,000-5,000.
