The origins of the Viennese jewellery business, J.F. Wrana, began in the mid-19th century when Katharina Schettril, the daughter of an agate lapidary in Vienna, wanted to promote the products of her father’s factory. After her marriage in 1877 to Johann Franz Wrana, the couple eventually established their long-awaited shop in 1894 at Stallburggasse 4 on the corner of Habsburgerstrasse, where it remains to the present day.

The business prospered and J.F. Wrana became a valued supplier to the Imperial family and nobility; in 1912, Johann Franz Wrana was appointed a Royal Warrant holder. After his death in 1915, his daughter Katarina and her husband Dr. Ernst Luksch successfully steered the business through the uncertain times of two World Wars, and were succeeded by their son, Dr. Gerhard Luksch, in 1946. Gerhard and his son Andreas specialised in sourcing fine quality sapphires, a tradition which continues with the fourth generation of the family today.

Gerhard’s youngest brother, Alfred Luksch (later Luks), emigrated to Argentina and Canada and ultimately settled in America where he worked for Cartier in New York and deepened his knowledge of jewellery manufacturing, producing a type of diamond mounting which increased the reflective qualities of the stones - selling the rights of his invention to a major jewellery house in 2000.

The following lots were retailed by J.F. Wrana the early years of the 20th century.