There are two things in this world that are fairly universally loved, at least by me, jewelry… and intrigue. And lucky for you, today’s blog has plenty of both. It is the story of a young heiress named Huguette Clark who came of age in the midst of the roaring twenties in a family that had money to burn, and boy does her jewelry collection show it. Rahul Kadakia of Christie’s said that, “In the world of fine jewelry, this is truly a fairytale collection. Opening the vault to find this treasure trove of period jewels from… the early 1900’s has certainly been one of the most extraordinary moments of my 15-year career here at Christie’s. The iconic Art Deco design and exceptional craftsmanship of these meticulously preserved jewels are emblematic of the great Gilded Age in American history.” I bet you’re excited to see them now, aren’t you?
But let’s back up a bit first. Young Huguette was born in Paris, the seventh child of industrialist William A. Clark. She was raised in the elite social circles of New York City where she became an accomplished musician and painter. So accomplished in fact that seven of her paintings were displayed at the Corcoran Gallery in 1929 where they were very well received by critics. Now, these are all fairly normal socialite behaviors, that is, before the days of Paris Hiliton. But it’s what happened later that really had tongues wagging. Huguette went into seclusion, and was rarely seen in public. And when you see the jewelry that she had at her disposal, well let me tell you, I would be going to every party I could find in order to wear it. But not Huguette, all of her jewels languished quietly away in a bank vault for over sixty years until her death last year at 104. What caused such a vibrant young woman, one of the richest in America, to completely withdraw from society for so many years? No one knows for sure. The only thing I know, is that her incredible collection of jewels are finally going to get the use and enjoyment that they deserve. Shall we take a peek at a few of them? We shall.
Starting at what is one of, arguably, Huguette’s favorite pieces. A simple strand of pearls. She loved them so much that out of the few photos that exist of her, she is seen often with the strand around her neck. Now, these are no ordinary pearls. Each one was formed entirely by nature in its host mollusk. Such pearls are exceedingly rare and as such the necklace is estimated to fetch between 20 and 30 thousand dollars. You can see her wearing the piece in this photo from the 1920’s.
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| Photo : Christie's |
An intriguing piece is this Art Deco Diamond and Multi-Gem Bracelet circa 1925. It features predominantly love themed charms including a cupid fishing for a heart and a couple embracing on a bench with two hearts for heads. It is unknown who gave her the bracelet, Huguette would have been about 19 at the time. A young beau perhaps? The piece is estimated to sell for between 20 and 30 thousand dollars.
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| Photo : Christie's |
This next piece is a real show stopper, reminiscent of the Elizabeth Taylor Diamond. The ring is 19.86 carats and features an exceptional emerald cut diamond graded by GIA to be Internally Flawless and D in color. The piece dates from the 1920’s and is estimated to be sold for between 2 and 3 million dollars. It was even found in its original presentation box!
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| Photo : Christie's |
The final piece that we’re showcasing today is most likely the best and most exciting of the bunch. Dating from the early 1900’s, the stone was set in 1910, this piece originally belonged to Huguette’s mother, Anna Eugenia La Chappelle who was an accomplished musician. The stone weighs 9.00 carats and is cut in an antique cushion shape. But the color is the most obviously striking feature, fancy vivid purplish pink. Now, Christie’s has the stone priced with an estimate of 6 to 8 million, but it could go for far more than that. Pink diamonds are highly sought after, and exceedingly rare as they are only found in a handful of places throughout the world. And fancy vivid pinks are even rarer still, so rare in fact that out of every 10 million diamonds polished, only one will be a fancy vivid. This collectible nature of the color is what forced the sale of a 5 carat vivid pink diamond in 2009 to reach prices in excess of 2 million dollars per carat! So, who wants to pool their money with me? We could do a sort of timeshare arrangement, you, me, and about 18 million people. Ok, so I just did the math, and for each of us to have the diamond for five minutes, we would see it once, every 171.23 years. So that’s not gonna work. Darn.
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| Photo : Christie's |
Well, for all of us who unfortunately cannot afford Ms. Clark’s fabulous jewels, it’s our lucky day. Christie’s has announced that they are taking the jewels on a tour with stops in Hong Kong, Geneva, London, and New York. What, no love for Atlanta? We like jewelry too! Sigh, well if you live in those areas, you lucky, lucky people you, don’t forget to take lots of pictures and send them to us. And also, if you happen to have the funds available to purchase any of said jewelry items, our address is on our website, feel free to drop by for a visit! Hey, I can dream can’t I? So which piece is your favorite? Are you drooling over the pink diamond, or perhaps asking the Easter Bunny to forgo chocolate this year in favor of that stunning strand of pearls?
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