Woman bought necklace for $15; years later, it sold at Christie’s for $267,750

Norma Ifill, from Philadelphia, purchased a silver wire and cord necklace at a Brooklyn flea market for a mere $15. Little did she know, this piece was a work by renowned artist Alexander Calder, who made jewelry in the 1920s and 1930s, often crafting it from wire, sheet metal, and found objects. It was only after years of wearing the necklace that Ifill visited an Alexander Calder jewelry exhibition at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, where experts identified it as a long-lost piece by Calder.

The necklace was sold at Christie’s First Open sale of Post-War and Contemporary Art in 2013, where it was catalogued as "Untitled (Necklace)" and achieved the high end of its $200,000 to $300,000 estimate. It sold for $267,750, including buyer's premium, making it one of the standout stories of the sale.

Calder began making jewelry in the 1920s and 1930s, often crafting pieces as gifts for friends, fellow artists, and dancers. Over time, some of these necklaces, bracelets, and brooches have been recognized as legitimate extensions of his sculptural practice. The necklace's value lies in its connection to Calder's broader experimentation with line and space, as his wearable art responded to the wearer's movements, blurring the line between functional object and sculpture.