The December 4, 2007 sale at Sotheby’s will definitely be one for the jewel history books. Twenty years ago, the venerable auction house sold off the incredible ornaments owned and worn by Wallis Simpson, the woman famous for marrying King Edward VIII who eventually abdicated his post “for the woman I love.” Simpson was known for her personal style (her clothing was impeccable) and her truly remarkable taste in fine jewelry. Given her iconic stature fashion-wise it was not surprising that her jewelry, and in particular her pearls, captured the imagination of Calvin Klein. He purchased them for his wife and muse, Kelly Klein, twenty years ago at the mother-of-all-auctions, the sale of the Duchess’ bejeweled estate.
This was an event of unprecedented stature and took place on April 2, 1987. The auction room in Geneva was packed wall-to-wall with 1500 bidders, another 700 were linked by closed-circuit television (can you imagine if we had the internet then?!) at the hotel next door, and the auction rooms in New York were connected via satellite. The sale took three times longer than normal simply due to the number of those placing bids. The whole world was watching the drama unfold live around the world. Those with the means to bid on these historic pieces did so with abandon because there would never be a sale of this magnitude again. And of all the lots offered, this strand of natural pearls was by far the most coveted and arguably one of the most renowned ornaments in the world.
Magnificently matched, this strand has no equal. The drop pendant is a whopping 18.4 mm. There is also an iconic pair of pearl earrings in this sale that belonged to the Duchess–one sporting a black pearl and the other a white (I love black and white pearls worn this way–it’s a grown up version of rebel-chic—maybe it was Wallis’ way of thumbing her nose at British monarchy–heaven knows they wear their pearls conventionally and of the same color).
The December 4, 2007 sale will be notable for another reason too. I will be contributing my thoughts on jewelry and fashion as part of the catalog for this sale. In addition to the Windsor/Klein pearl lot, there are others jewels on offer that will definitely knock your socks off, from Boivin to a lyrical Van Cleef & Arpels watch/bracelet that was given to Princess Grace of Monaco (aka actress Grace Kelly). When I was up at Sotheby’s last, I tried it on and it is breathtaking (and fit me perfectly, I might add). The yellow gold and diamonds are scrumptious and the metal has been fashioned to look like a lace bow–I picture it with a wasp-waisted suit from Dior’s New Look (the late 1940s/early 50s). Life in jewelry is sparkling and I usually don’t desire everything I see, however this piece spoke of a time when fashion returned to its glamorous coordinates and all I could say to myself was, if only
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