The Breast Cancer Research Foundation, founded by Evelyn H. Lauder, will benefit from the sale of these white gold snowflakes set with numerous round diamonds weighing 5.70 carats. Photos courtesy Sotheby’s.

Estée Lauder’s colorless- and yellow-brown-hued diamond earclips are estimated to draw a bid of upwards of $150,000.

BY KAREN AANONSEN

The December 9 Sotheby’s Magnificent Jewels sale has added luster courtesy of the Lauder family. Forty-four pieces from the enviable collections of cosmetics giant Estée Lauder and her daughter-in-law, Evelyn H. Lauder, are being auctioned off in New York to benefit the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation and The Breast Cancer Research Foundation. Designers David Webb, Bulgari, Oscar Heyman & Brothers, and Cartier are all represented. But the ladies’ affection for Van Cleef  & Arpels earrings is on full display: seven pairs are under the hammer. Sparkling with sapphires, diamonds, rubies, and more, the beloved baubles — as well as the rest of the 415 Magnificent Jewels lots — are on display at Sotheby’s New York headquarters beginning December 5.

—Dec. 4, 2014