Sotheby’s London to offer a unique and personal charm bracelet based on designs by J.K. Rowling

by · December 3, 2013

On December 10, 2013, Sotheby’s London will offer the Lumos Maxima bracelet, a bespoke silver charm bracelet based on designs by J.K. Rowling and inspired by her Harry Potter books. It features eleven charms, each handcrafted in the silver workshops of Edinburgh jeweler Hamilton & Inches. Estimated to fetch 15,000 – 20,000 GBP, this unique piece of jewelry will be auctioned in Sotheby’s English Literature, History, Children’s Books & Illustrations sale to benefit Lumos, the children’s charity J.K. Rowling founded in 2005. Lumos aims to end the systematic institutionalization of children, a harmful practice that affects eight million children worldwide, one million of whom are in Europe – many separated from their families and placed in so-called “orphanages” as a result of poverty, disability, and discrimination.

The idea of the charm bracelet was inspired by one the author had herself been given previously by her editor and the head of Bloomsbury children’s books on the day that the seventh and final Harry Potter book was published. For J.K. Rowling charm bracelets are imbued with memory and sentiment – “they have meaning beyond the mercenary. They are personal amulets.”

The Lumos Maxima bracelet comprises twelve charms, eleven of which depict a significant image from the magical world of the Harry Potter series: Harry Potter’s bolt of lightning; glasses and broomstick; a Golden Snitch; a Dark Mark skull set with amethyst eyes; Slytherin’s locket; a winged key; The Tales of Beedle the Bard; the Sorting Hat; the Deathly Hallows symbol; and a wand, which acts as the fastener.

The charm that, according to J.K. Rowling, is the most precious of the group is a butterfly, which is the logo of Lumos. The little butterfly is “beaming with moonstones and amethysts – a symbol of transformation and liberations, of the beauty that can emerge from dark confinement.” The significance of this description is highlighted by the very name of the charity. Lumos is the spell J.K. Rowling created in Harry Potter that brings light to desperately dark and frightening places.

100% of the net sale proceeds achieved on the sale of this lot will go directly to J.K. Rowling’s children’s charity, Lumos (registered charity number 1112575).