Top jewelry pieces fall short of target prices at Christie’s auction derided by Jewish groups

By JAMEY KEATEN
Associated Press

GENEVA (AP) — A ruby ring and a diamond necklace fetched less than their pre-sale estimates at a Christie’s auction of a vast jewelry collection of a late Austrian heiress that was bought with riches from a retail empire dating back to the Nazi era in Germany. Wednesday’s sale was criticized by Jewish groups. The auction house defended the sale of the collection some 700 pieces of jewelry, saying the proceeds are going to charitable causes. The collection belonged to Heidi Horten, whose German husband built a retail empire starting in the 1930s. She died last year. Advocacy groups defending the rights of Holocaust survivors and victims had urged Christie’s not to go through with the sale.