One of the most significant surviving jewels of the Russian imperial court is to be offered at auction in Geneva next month. The Romanov Sapphire, a 197.80-carat unheated sapphire from Ceylon, carries a top estimate of 1.5 million pounds and will lead Sotheby's Royal & Noble Jewels sale, held live from the Mandarin Oriental in Geneva on 11 November.

The stone's documented history runs through the last decades of imperial Russia. It was worn by Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna at the Winter Palace Ball of 1903, an occasion widely remembered as the last great spectacle of the Romanov court and preserved in some of its most famous photographs. After the revolution, the sapphire passed into the Soviet government's dispersal sales, was acquired by the opera singer Ganna Walska, and later entered the collection of Cartier. Few gemstones documented as belonging to the Russian crown jewels can still be identified today, which is part of what makes the stone significant beyond its size.

The sale also features Cartier's Devonshire black opal tiara, estimated at up to 998,000 pounds. The tiara was probably commissioned around the coronation of King George VI in 1937 and became prominent at the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953, when Mary Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire, wore it as Mistress of the Robes. Its most recent public appearance came at the London premiere of the film Wuthering Heights, when the director Emerald Fennell wore it on the red carpet. A sapphire, emerald and diamond toi et moi ring once owned by the socialite Catherine, Lady Walston, is estimated at up to 454,000 pounds.

Andres White Correal, Sotheby's chairman of jewellery for Europe and the Middle East, said the sale reflected collectors' lasting fascination with jewels that combine exceptional stones, craftsmanship and history, and that this season's lots were led by treasures linked to Europe's great imperial and royal families, from the Romanovs to the houses of Orleans and Braganza. The Royal & Noble Jewels sale follows Sotheby's high jewellery sale in Geneva on the same day, with online bidding available worldwide.