How to become a jewelry collector with style? Barbara Hutton, a famous American woman of the last century, did it, she collected a lot of legendary jewelry in her life, making herself a part of the "legend", she always customized jewelry according to her own aesthetics without blindly following the fashion, and became a trend-setting icon with unique taste.
Barbara Hutton (Barbara Hutton) came from the United States, her grandfather was the founder of the Woolfus retail chain, her father was one of the co-founders of the New York investment bank E. F. Hutton, she inherited a large inheritance at the age of 21, becoming one of the richest women at the time, but because her father was careful, her mother committed suicide when she was 4 years old, she grew up in various relatives' homes, in fact, raised by tutors, so although she is a veritable "white rich beauty", But the psychology is still buried with deep inferiority and trauma.
Barbara has 7 marriages in her life, but all of them ended in failure, in addition to the two husbands who really care about her, the others are not lacking in some "scumbags" who come for money, it can be said that Barbara's taste for men is very general, but her taste for jewelry is absolute, becoming a legendary jewelry collector.
Barbara chose to soothe the emotional hurt with jewelry, which was a habit cultivated by her father, and the banker would only use "jewelry" to express "fatherly love", for example, in order to let her daughter travel with him, he would take her to Cartier, let her choose a piece of jewelry of her choice, and they would take out plates of exquisite rubies for her to choose. Once she made her choice, the manager laughed, and of course her father wasn't so ecstatic: the ring she had chosen was the best ruby in Cartier's inventory, costing $50,000, more than 10 times his budget, but it convinced him that her taste for jewelry was impeccable.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="19" > Hutton-Mdivani emerald necklace from the Qing royal family</h1>
Barbara is one of the few European and American jewelry collectors who like jadeite, she was influenced by a proprietor of an antique shop specializing in oriental objects in San Francisco when she was young, under his introduction, Barbara collected a lot of jadeite ornaments because of her love for this mysterious oriental gemstone, and later she also collected very exquisite jadeite jewelry, most of which came from Cartier.
Cartier Cartier
Hutton-Mdivani necklace
Emeralds, rubies, diamonds
One of the most notable was the wedding gift she received from her father at her first wedding, one of two legendary necklaces, later known as the Hutton-Mdivani Emerald Necklace. The necklace consists of 27 huge emerald beads of emerald green color, excellent light transmission, extremely fine texture and majestic proportions, ranging in diameter from 19.20 mm to 15.40 mm. In 1933, barbara's father bought it from Cartier for $55,000 and gave it to his daughter as a wedding gift.
Barbara wears a Hutton-Mdivani emerald necklace
There is no accurate argument for the origin of the jadeite in the necklace, but many experts speculate that given the impressive size and quality, the beads on the Hutton-Mdivani necklace are likely to have come from the Qing royal family, and in the early 20th century, a royal jadeite beaded necklace purchased by a successful Indonesian Chinese businessman Oei Tiong Ham from Tieh Bao Ting, a famous jadeite dealer in Beijing, was still inferior in quality Hutton-Mdivani emerald necklace.
When Barbara received the necklace, its buckle was studded with a Navette cut diamond, a year later, Barbara commissioned Cartier to redesign the necklace buckle, as a passionate jadeite lover, she asked experts for advice, experts believe that the choice of rubies, through the contrast between red and green can further enhance the rich color of the gemstone, finally, Cartier designed with Art Deco style gold buckle set with rubies, rectangular diamonds, In the end, the necklace produced a completely different effect of colliding Eastern and Western cultures, and it was this design that led Cartier to develop an interest in Chinese culture and gemstones in the 20th century, making a series of designs.
Barbara's first husband was Prince Alexis Mdivani from Tsarist Russia, and the marriage lasted only 2 years, Barbara later gave the necklace to her "little" Louis van Allen, and Louis also married into the Mdivani family, so the necklace was preserved in the Mdivani family for more than 50 years, and reappeared in front of the world in 1988, when Princess Nina Mdivanni ( Princess Nina Mdivani was commissioned to be auctioned in Geneva, hence the name Hutton-Mdivani Emerald Necklace.
Princess Nina Mdiwani wears
Hutton-Mdivani
Emerald necklace
Eventually, the necklace was auctioned again at Sotheby's hong Kong in 2014 and Cartier acquired it for $27.44 million, setting a new world record for jadeite jewelry auctions.
Emerald inlaid ring
Gold, emerald, rubies, diamonds
In addition to this jadeite necklace, Barbara also owns a series of exquisite jadeite jewelry, mostly from Cartier, including a jadeite ring that Barbara customised to Cartier in 1934, set on a gold band with rubies and diamonds.
Twisted ribbon emerald bracelet
1998
Sotheby's Hong Kong Auction
Realized price: HK$7,040,000
Another of Cartier's masterpieces of jadeite is a finely carved jade bracelet designed with a twisted ribbon design, which was sold by Sotheby's Hong Kong in 1988 for HK$7,040,000.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="144" > Marie Antoinette pearl necklace from Queen Louis XVI</h1>
Barbara's first wedding received two necklaces from her father, just said that the jade necklace from the Qing royal family is said to be from the Qing royal family, Ba Zhu Sister will introduce another Marie Antoinette pearl necklace from the French court.
Marie Antoinette, Queen louis XVI
This pearl necklace once belonged to Marie Antoinette, queen of King Louis XVI of France, hence the name Marie Antoinette Pearl Necklace, a natural pearl belonging to the French royal jewelry that was lost during the French Revolution, and in 1933, Barbara's father bought it from Cartier as a wedding gift and gave it to her, which she wore during the wedding chapel ceremony.
Barbara was worn at her first wedding
Marie Antoinette pearl necklace
This magnificent necklace consists of 44 gradients of natural pearls, ranging in size from 8.7 mm to 16.3 mm, with a total weight of 1,816.68 glyphs. The pearls are white and pearly in shape with a perfect spherical shape, with the bright luster and orientation characteristics of natural seawater pearls. The two largest pearls in the necklace form the central ornament, located in the 22nd and 23rd positions from one end of the necklace. The size of the pearls gradually decreases from these central pearls to the ends, and pearls of the same size occupy a symmetrical position. The pearl's clasp is set with a rectangular black opal surrounded by a single row of 16 small diamonds.
Pearls, opals, diamonds
According to Cartier's records, barbara received the necklace with a total of 53 pearls, and in 1934, Barbara asked Cartier to readjust the length to fit the popular length of the necklace at the time, and redesigned the buckle, replacing the original turquoise with her favorite opal.
Barbara fell in love with the pearl necklace after receiving it, supposedly wearing it day and night, and eventually she became one of the jewels that accompanied her to the end. After her death, in May 1992, the Marie Antoinette pearl necklace was first publicly auctioned at Christie's in Geneva, where the identities of the seller and buyer were kept secret and sold for $580,000, and then in November 1999, the Marie Antoinette pearl necklace was auctioned again at Christie's in Geneva, and finally acquired by an anonymous buyer for $1.47 million, setting a world record for a natural pearl necklace at auction at the time.
Left: Cartier gold bead necklace Right: Bulgari black and white pearl earrings
Barbara's passion for pearls is ignited by this Marie Antoinette pearl necklace, but she still prefers more niche and unique designs, such as black and white pearl earrings from Bulgari and double-stranded gold beads and opal necklaces from Cartier.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="145" > from the Tsarist royal family, Romanov emerald</h1>
Remember the jewelry collection of Catherine the Great that Ba Zhujie introduced to you earlier? His Majesty loved diamonds and emeralds, and after the October Revolution, the Romanov family of the Tsarist Russian royal family fled To europe, and the royal jewelry flowed into the hands of the rich in Europe and the United States, and these huge emeralds were collected by Barbara.
The Grand Duchess of Vladimir wears the Catherine emerald brooch on her chest and the Romanov emerald inlaid in her hat
The earliest of these emeralds belonged to Catherine the Great, and the last to be inherited in the Romanov royal family was Maria Pavlovna, the Grand Duchess of Vladimir, which was a wedding gift from her father-in-law, Tsar Alexander II, including the famous Catherine emerald brooch, and a hexagonal emerald weighing 100 carats, which the Grand Duchess liked very much, often worn in different ways, at a ball, She set it as a diamond-surrounded headdress and wore it with a radiant head that became the center of attention in the crowd.
Archduchess Vladimir was the last member of the Romanov royal family to flee Russia, and when she died in Paris in 1920, her stunning jewelry collection was sold by her son, such as the Vladimir Crown, which was later collected by the Queen, as well as these Romanov emeralds (excluding the Catherine emerald brooch), which were acquired by Cartier and subsequently sold to John F. Kennedy. Edith, daughter of John D. Rockefeller, the Romanov emerald was inlaid with a long necklace to match a straight striped dress from the 1920s, and in 1932, after Edith's death, the bead executor resold the Romanov emerald to Cartier.
Romanov emeralds are inlaid with Edith as a long necklace
In 1935, Barbara collected Romanov emeralds for more than $1,000,000, and in 1947 she asked Cartier to re-inlay them into a charming, striking oriental-style dual-purpose jewelry that could be worn as a crown or as a necklace, and asked to be decorated with diamonds and gold— contrary to the platinum trend of the time, but well matching her fascination with orientalism, Barbara liked to wear the Romanov in an exotic sari The Emerald Crown hosts a great party at her Sidi Hosni Palace in Tangier.
Romanov emerald necklace/crown
Gold, emeralds, diamonds
Barbara wears a Romanov emerald crown on her head
In 1965, Barbara sold it to Van Cleef & Arpels, and given the aesthetics of the time, Van Cleef & Arpels chose to re-cut the crown and sell it separately, in which the gold necklace was recombined with pearls into a new necklace and sold to Brooke Astor, a famous woman in New York. Romanov emeralds were scattered everywhere, and there was no real news.
Van Cleef & Arpels
A necklace redesigned with the Romanov emerald necklace skeleton
Gold, pearls, diamonds
It can be seen that Barbara's taste for jewelry is always different, she always favors niche gemstones and unique designs, in her collection, you can also see moonstone, opal, onyx and other rich materials, she once ordered a complete set of moonstone jewelry with Van Cleef & Arpels, because she likes the light changes of moonstone.
Left: Barbara wears a moonstone necklace
Right: Barbara's collection of moonstone and opal jewelry
Barbara is also one of the few celebrities in fashion circles who can hold Cartier's "Big Cat" jewelry collection, and she has purchased a brooch, a pair of earrings and a bracelet from The Cartier's Director of Fine Jewelry Design, Jenny Toussan, as a tiger carved from diamonds and onyx, in 1957, 1961 and 1962.
Left: Barbara's collection of Cartier "Big Cats" series
Right: Barbara wears a Cartier tiger brooch
Barbara Hutton's lifetime collection of jewelry is not only a showcase of her immense wealth, but also a source of comfort, in which she finds a combination of durability and perfection that she could not have found in her lifetime.
From her collection experience, it is not difficult to see that this jewelry collector has a unique aesthetic and clear style, every time she acquires gemstones, she will ask the jewelry brand to redesign the setting according to her own ideas, she is not a trend follower, but a trend leader, it can be said that a tasteful jewelry collector will become part of the legendary jewelry "legend", and a style collector can make a jewelry legend.
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