In the June issue of “Vanity Fair plus Jewellery”, I read four fantastic stories of eccentric women and their extravagant jewelry.
THE DUKE OF WESTMINSTER AND COCO CHANEL
The 2nd Duke of Westminster was renowned for his habit of giving expensive jewellery not only to his mistress but also to his wives. His second wife, Loelia, writes about his unusual ways of giving jewellery in her memories. He stashed one of her engagement presents, an oblong platinum powder box with two ribbons of diamonds, and sapphires running across it, in her suitcase. Later that night she woke up and found she’d been sleeping on a diamond and emerald brooch. The next morning, when she was fishing in her bag for her passport, she discovered a diamond and ruby bracelet with a long diamond tassel. His generosity may have stemmed from guilt: he was in the process of breaking off a long-standing affair with Coco Channel. They had nearly married but she declined, noting: “There are a lot of duchesses, but only one Coco Channel.” They were a volatile couple and had a famous row aboard a cruise liner. The duke sought her forgiveness by giving her an emerald that he kept in his traveling safe. She was standing on deck as he approached her with the stone. She took it and, without a word, dropped it overbroad. He married Loelia shortly after.
THE HOPE DIAMOND
The Hope Diamond is probably the most famous jewel in the world, but it has always brought bad luck to whoever owned it. It originated in India and was sold to Louis XIV. The bad luck started with his grandson Louis XVI: he and his wife Marie Antoinette were executed in the French Revolution. The gem disappeared until 1839, when it was sold to Henry Philip Hope of Hope & Co. banking company. They eventually sold it to pay off gambling debts. Cartier acquired the diamond in 1910 and sold it to the American socialite Evalyn Walsh McLean, wife of Washington Post owner Edward McLean. Soon afterwards everyone around her started getting ill or dying. First her mother-in-law died of pneumonia and then six years later her son was killed in a car accident. Her husband ran off with another woman and then went on to die from alcohol poisoning. In 1932 the Post went bankrupt and Evalyn was forced to auction it. Finally, in 1946, her 25-year-old daughter took a fatal overdose of sleeping pills. Evalyn herself died the next year, owing money, and the diamond was again sold to pay off debts- to Harry Winston. Harry Winston, having decided that he didn’t want to have the diamond’s bad luck rub off on him, donated it to the Smithsonian Institution. He was so unconcerned about the fate of the stone that he is said to have put it in the post.
LA BELLE OTERO AND LIANE DE POUGY
Pairs in the 1890’s was the domain of “les grandes horizontals”. These glamorous women were high-class prostitutes who only slept with their clients for extraordinary sums of money. Their favorite watering hole was the restaurant Maxim’s, where the demi-monde used to gather night after night. Two of the most famously beautiful courtesans were Liane de Pougy and Caroline “La Belle” Otero. Between them, they’d been to bed with just about every crown head of Europe, and nearly married one or two of them. Of course they detested each other. One evening La Belle Otero turned up at Maxim’s wearing a magnificent diamond necklace that a rich admirer had given her. While the crowd at Maxim’s ooh-ed and ahh-ed over her spectacular new acquisition, Liane did nothing but scowl in the corner. The next night she appeared dressed entirely in black, without a piece of jewellery anywhere on her. But behind her was her maid, wearing every single piece of jewellery that Liane owned.
THE DUCKESS OF WINDSOR AND THE DUKE OF VERDURA
The Duchess of Windsor was not known for her tact and never was this trait more visible than when she boasted to everyone that the jewellery she wore was always her own design. Jewellers would be irritated, but what could they do? Her patronage was too important to the trade. Finally, one jeweler decided to teach her a lesson. Fulco Santostefano della Cerda, the Duke of Verdura , was an Italian aristocrat and a genius when it came to jewellery design. His work was characterized by witty takes on nature, with motifs of shells, animals, birds, and flowers. According to Ward Landrigan, the current owner of Verdura, his jewellery complemented the “excellent taste of women who did not need to impress with their wealth”. The Duke of Verdura and the Windsors were very close-they even took a holiday together. Naturally, the English duke bought lots of jewellery for the duchess from his Italian friend. Once he bought her a fabulous ruby and diamond brooch, which the duchess wore everywhere, telling anyone who would listen that she had designed it herself. Eventually she tired of wearing it and tried to return it to Verdura, hoping he would exchange it for something else. He promptly told her that, as he only exchanged pieces that he had designed himself, he didn’t think he could take back a piece which he’d heard was her own creation. She never returned to his shop again.
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