Jewellery, Watches, Silver & Objects of Vertu

An early 20th century Sri Lankan yellow sapphire pendant and a pair of yellow sapphire earrings, the cushion-cut yellow sapphire, weighing 15.60 carats, in claw setting, suspending a triple knife-edge mounted drop below, set with a larger cushion-cut yellow sapphire, weighing 32.66 carats, the whole on a fine trace-link back chain, mounted in gold, the conforming earrings similarly-set with yellow sapphires, weighing 3.59 carats and 3.25 carats, case by retailer O. L. M. Macan Markar, Colombo, pendant length 48mm, earring length 14mm.



Accompanied by two reports from GCS stating that the four yellow sapphires are of Sri Lankan origin, with no indications of treatment. Report numbers 5783-2673 and 5783-2674, dated 11 May 2023.






£20,000-£30,000

The pendant and earrings were acquired by Edith Hartley, most probably during the period when her husband Charles Hartley was Head Master of Royal College, Colombo, between 1903-1919.
Thence by direct family descent.

O. L. M. Macan Markar & Co.

Oduma Lebbe Marikar Macan Markar opened a jewellery and gem dealing business in 1860 in the New Oriental Hotel at Point de Galle, the main port for ships in Sri Lanka at that time. Business flourished and the firm moved to Colombo, when the main port of call for ships moved from Galle Harbour to Colombo Harbour.

The jewellers set up business in the Grand Oriental Hotel, the most prestigious hotel in Ceylon during the Colonial period. Their clientele included highly placed British Colonial officials, the British nobility and members of the Royal family including the Prince of Wales, later Edward VII, who visited Colombo in December 1875, and the Duke of York - later George V. During his visit in 1901, the Duke of York viewed the exhibition of gems especially displayed in the King’s Pavilion in Kandy and made purchases from O. L. M. Macan Markar, complimenting the firm on their “excellent collection of gems”. In 1922 Edward VIII as Prince of Wales, was also a client.

O. L. M. Macan Markar had the most spectacular collection of gemstones and regularly exported the finest examples to the London and Paris markets. Their prized collection included the Blue Belle of Asia, the fourth largest blue sapphire in the world at 392 carats, which sold at Christie’s Geneva in 2014 for $17.7million.