Dover Street Market Presents a Curated Selection of Exquisite Vintage Jewels From Sotheby’s

Here is what you need to wear with the new Comme des Garçons Play T-shirt you just bought in the basement of Dover Street Market: a textured gold Bulgari Tubogas bracelet watch to coil up your bare arm (because you’re wearing short sleeves!); a Victorian micro-mosaic brooch of St. Peter’s Square to pin opposite your tee’s winky little heart; and—why no t? A blindingly bright ruby-and-diamond ring to light up your finger. These vintage jewels are among a carefully curated selection at DSM on display until Sunday, stars of a stunning partnership between the gang at CDG and the eminent auction house Sotheby’s. Works by artist Sammy Slabbinck have been commissioned to accompany the jewels, and these witty collages further enhance your viewing pleasure.

If the installation seems to break new ground in the world of high/low—the estimate for one pretty thing is a cool $125,000 to $175,000 (girl, it couldn’t get much higher)—not everything here takes itself so seriously. Despite their exquisite execution, their impressive provenance, these are pieces meant to raise a smile. An articulated diamond-headed snake bracelet owes his flexibility to scales rendered from wood; a slouchy panther brooch by Van Cleef & Arpels (he’s on a branch and doesn’t seem ready to pounce) is pavé-set with round diamonds and has emerald eyes and an enamel nose. And then there is that desperately chic black enamel bangle bracelet brandishing a 6.17-carat diamond that has been plopped down dead center. (Did a gay divorcée gleefully repurpose her ring in this way?)

If you fall in love with something, your favorite piece, along with many other gorgeous offerings, will be on the block at Sotheby’s New York Sale of Fine Jewels on September 25. But even if you are not quite ready to bid on these drama queens, there is no charge for looking—or for dreaming.