Bonhams will auction two pieces from the estate of writer Agatha Christie.

The pieces, a 19th-century diamond brooch and a three-stone diamond ring, originally belonged to Christie’s mother.

The pieces, hidden in a locked strongbox in a traveling trunk, were purchased by a fan for £100 in 2006 at an estate sale at Greenway, Christie’s home in Devon, England. The fan who purchased the trunk did not open the strongbox for four years; when she did, she found the jewels and gold coins. 

The pieces are mentioned in Christie’s autobiography: “My mother’s valuable jewellery consisted of ‘my diamond buckle’, ‘my diamond crescent,’ and ‘my diamond engagement ring.’… Madge was to have the diamond crescent, I was to have the diamond buckle….”

Bonhams estimates the value of the brooch to be between £6,000 and £8,000 ($10,070 and $13,439) and the ring to be between £3,000 and £5,000 ($5,035 and $8,391).

The auction will take place on October 8 in London. 

JCK