Society sparkle: Nancy Astor and Ann Fleming’s diamond jewellery makes a splash at auction

‘People will stare. Make it worth their while.’

So said Harry Winston, the famed jeweller. Nancy Astor took the advice seriously. The viscountess, born in 1879, and the first woman to sit as an MP, was the proud owner of a turquoise and diamond tiara and the exceptionally rare Cartier piece went up for auction with Bonhams on June 5 as part of their London Jewels sale. It sold for £889,400, significantly exceeding its estimated value of £250,000-£350,000. No-one said style didn’t come at a price.

Featuring on Country Life’s Frontispiece in 1913, she was born Nancy Witcher Langhorne and moved from her place of birth in Danville, Virginia, to England in 1905. Waldorf Astor, the viscount, was her second husband. They wed in 1906 and lived at Cliveden in Buckinghamshire.

After a career as a hostess and member of the social elite, she entered Parliament in 1919, winning her husband’s former seat, Plymouth Sutton, when he succeeded his peerage and entered the House of Lords. As a member of the Unionist Party, she advocated for educational reform and women’s rights, among other issues. However, although diamonds may be a girl’s best friend, unfortunate controversial views are not — and these ended Astor’s political career in 1945.

In 1931, she wore the tiara to the premiere of Charlie Chaplin’s City Lights at the Dominion Theatre in London. Her sister, Phyllis Langhorne Brand, borrowed it for a court presentation at Buckingham Palace in the early 1930s. Inspired by this, her husband, the Hon. Robert Henry Brand, commissioned Cartier to produce a similar tiara in 1935. This is on display until November 2025 at the V&A museum’s Cartier exhibition, which has an entire room dedicated to tiaras. That’s a whole lot of shiny.

Set throughout with brilliant, old single and rose-cut diamonds, Lady Astor’s tiara comprised a lot of bling, especially for an MP. Jean Ghika, Bonhams head of jewellery, called it 'the star of the sale’.

‘Cartier has long been recognised as the name behind some of the world’s most important jewels and the Astor turquoise and diamond tiara dates to a period when Cartier London were at the height of their creative prowess,' she said. ‘Cartier were later commissioned to produce a similar tiara for Nancy’s sister. However, the design of Nancy Astor’s tiara is truly unique. The distinctive plumes, leaves and scrolls carved in turquoise were drawn from Egyptian, Indian and Persian motifs, which were extensively explored by Cartier throughout the early 20^th century. The firm’s Eastern inspired jewels became hugely fashionable as a result.’

By the Edwardian era, the considerable rise of Cartier and Van Cleef & Arpels saw tiaras fashioned for royalty, aristocrats and those in the social elite who were lucky enough to afford them. This continued into the 1930s, but started to go out of fashion after the Second World War, warn then by only the starriest of stars and the bluest blooded of royals.

However, if tiaras aren’t your thing, worry not. Along with Astor's tiara, there was another significant piece of fashion history sold recently, a piece which was once worn by a woman with a life that was equally interwoven with glamour and scandal. Vintage Van Cleef & Arpels pieces, once owned by Ann Fleming, went under the hammer in Dreweatts's Fine Jewellery sale on June 12. The sapphire and diamond brooch and earring set sold for £32,000 and belonged to Ian Fleming's only wife. Not so Ann — she had more of a Bond-type approach to romance (Fleming was her third husband).

The jewels were not gifted to Ann by Fleming, they were a present from her first husband, Lord O’Neill of Shanes Castle, in 1938, during a now-infamous trip to Paris. At the time, à la Bond, she was also having an affair with Esmond Harmsworth, later Viscount Rothermere, who would become her second husband. The story goes that when she learned that her husband, Lord O’Neill, had planned a weekend in Paris with his lover Maureen, Marchioness of Dufferin and Ava — the Guinness heiress — Ann insisted on going too. But, to make things fair, she brought Harmsworth along for the ride, and that’s where she received the Van Cleef & Arpels pieces.

Ian Fleming was apparently captivated by her wit and defiance. She became a key figure in his life, and is widely believed to have inspired him to write the Bond books, although their marriage was turbulent and they also both had many affairs. The Van Cleef jewel suite, far outsold it's estimate of between £15,000 and £20,000, and captures the drama and excitement of her high-society numerous-husbanded lifestyle. Charlotte Peel, the head of jewellery at Dreweatts, said it offered 'a rare and personal connection to one of the most famous spies of all time'. And it would look good with Astor’s tiara, if, by chance, the same person bidded on both.