The jewelry collection from one of Dallas’ wealthiest philanthropists is being sold for charity after Sammons Enterprises heiress Mary Anne Sammons Cree died last year.
The collection, which includes a 17.6-carat yellow diamond ring, is expected to fetch more than $1.5 million for the Communities Foundation of Texas.
That diamond ring has already garnered a $200,000 bid through Dallas-based Heritage Auctions, which was picked to sell the 125-piece set. The auction is online and runs through Sept. 29 before the live auction at Heritage’s headquarters in Dallas south of DFW International Airport. A matching set of earrings is listed at $68,750.
Cree, who died in July 2021 at 91, was the daughter of Charles Sammons, the late billionaire and founder of Sammon Enterprises, one of the largest privately owned companies in the country that includes manufacturing, financial, real estate and energy holdings.
“The pieces are of exceptional quality, so they stand by themselves on their own,” said Jill Burgum, Heritage Auction’s executive director of fine jewelry. “But the icing on the cake is to know that the piece will go to a good cause to help the community.”
A name like Mary Anne Sammons Cree also carries weight when selling the pieces, Burgum said.
Some of the standout pieces include the vibrant yellow diamonds, which are highlighted in a few rings, earrings and brooches in the collection. There are also several butterfly pieces, which were favorites of both Cree and her mother, the late Rosine Smith Sammons.
Before she died, Cree donated $10 million to the United Way of Metropolitan Dallas and the charity renamed its headquarters after her. She also donated money to build a butterfly house and insectarium at Texas Discovery Gardens and gave money to start the Sammons Center for the Arts. A park in front of the AT&T Performing Arts Center is named after her family.
The money will go to a fund set up in the name of Cree’s mother at the Communities Foundation. That fund primarily goes toward supporting performing arts and natural beauty causes in the Dallas area, said Monica Christopher, chief giving and community impact officer for the charity.
“We do get a good number of nontraditional gifts, not cash or stocks,” Christopher said. “That’s the benefit of working with a foundation like CFT is that you can be creative with how to maximize your donations.”
Bidding on the Cree jewelry collection comes up just as Heritage Auctions is set to finish its sale of a 1952 baseball card from New York Yankees slugger Mickey Mantle, which has already garnered a $6.7 million bid with three days left before the sale. Some expect the card to sell for as much as $10 million, making it one of the most valuable sports collectible sales ever.
