Bonhams set to auction Agatha Christie’s family jewels

Bonhams is set to auction off a collection of diamond jewellery once owned by crime author Agatha Christie. 

The jewellery, which is set to go under the hammer at the Knightsbridge auction house on October 8, includes a diamond brooch and a three-stone engagement ring.

The items were discovered in a trunk bought for £100 in 2006 by a die-hard fan at the Agatha Christie house contents sale at the Greenway Estate, Devon.

The trunk was owned by Agatha Christie’s mother, and inside was a locked strongbox without a key. It wasn’t until four years later that the owner of the trunk, who was having building work done, saw the opportunity to wrench open the box with a crowbar.

Inside she discovered a purse of gold coins, and a collection of jewels worth £10,000, including a diamond brooch and three-stone diamond ring.

The diamond brooch is set to be offered on auction for between £6,000 to £8,000, while the diamond ring will be auctioned with an estimation of £3,000 to £5,000.

The jewels are mentioned in Christie’s biography as pieces that were earmarked for her and her sister Madge to inherit from their mother’s collection.

The biography reads: “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.”