This curved gentleman’s case is made of gold and decorated on the reverse with purple,
red and green enamel foliate details around the owner’s initials (‘GAJK’); these
are worked in 242 single and old-European-cut diamonds with a total weight of 3-3.5
carats. The obverse is decorated with a red, black and white enamel vintage car with
pink and green enamel flowers. The case dates from around 1895 and must have been
a special commission; unfortunately, no provenance was given.
This case was sold by Christie’s New York in December 2008. It reached the top end
of its estimate, selling for $5,000 (including the buyer’s premium) - around £3,400
at the time.
