The Fine Jewels

As you might expect, Mrs. Onassis owned pieces designed by the pre-eminent jewelers of the twentieth century. Van Cleef & Arpels of France seems to have been one of her favorites. Among the many Van Cleef & Arpels pieces are a pair of gold earclips designed to look like tiny Chinese masks. With an estimated worth of $600-$800, they sold for $23,000. Van Cleef & Arpels also designed the whimsical 18-karat gold scarecrow brooch. The tiny figure, whose head is a dyed green chalcedony cabochon, wears a top hat and scarf and is decorated with rubies, sapphires, and diamonds. Estimated at $1,200-$1,500, the scarecrow sold for $101,500. An unusual pair of hammered gold cuff bangle bracelets also came from Van Cleef & Arpels. There’s a fabulous photo of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis wearing them as she clasps hands with Muhammad Ali. With an estimated worth of $1,500-$2,000, the gold bracelets sold for $167,500.

There are also several pieces by the American jewelry designer David Webb whose bold designs were collected by socialites and celebrities, including Elizabeth Taylor, Doris Duke, Gloria Vanderbilt, the Duchess of Windsor, Diana Vreeland, Nan Kempner, and Jackie’s sister, Lee Radziwell. Jackie not only had a long 18-karat gold Webb chain necklace, but 18-karat gold and green enamel earclips signed by Webb, which were estimated at $2,000-$3000 and sold for $23,000. Wearing charm bracelets is a custom that may go as far back as the ancient Egyptians who wore amulets for protection and luck. Queen Victoria is credited with making charm bracelets popular in the Europe, and after World War II, there was revival of interest in them when soldiers brought home handmade trinkets for their wives and girl friends. The idea was that each charm was connected with a memory or an event. The catalog gives no hint of whether Jackie’s charms were connected with events in her life, but the bracelet had so many charms--25 in all—that they hung from both top and bottom of the connecting gold links. Sotheby’s describes them as being made of gold, enamels, glass, and hardstones. Among them are a watering can, a golden fish with a turquoise eye, a heart-shaped padlock, a slipper, a number of fruits, a tiny cowrie shell framed in gold scrollwork, a scimitar, and a hand with a fist (which I believe is a Figa, a Brazillian good luck charm). Sotheby’s appraised the bracelet as being worth $1,500 to $2,000. It sold for $68,500. One style from the Classical and Hellenistic periods that has remained popular is animal head” jewelry--bracelets and rings where one or both ends are in the shape of an animal head. Mrs. Onassis had quite a few pieces in the Classical Revival style, including a gorgeous pair of gold “antelope head” bangles, set with tiny rubies and sapphires. With an estimated value of $2,000-$3,000, they sold for $28,750. One of the more spectacular pieces-and there are many-is an emerald and diamond pendant-brooch and chain necklace. (This means the pendant could also be worn as a brooch, and there’s a 1992 photo of Jacqueline Onassis wearing it as a brooch as she stood beside Rudolph Nureyev at a benefit for the American Ballet Theater.) The brooch itself is described as lozenge-shaped with a dark green emerald-cut emerald (approximately 18.00 karats) in the center, surrounded by approximately 9.00 karats of diamonds. Even the chain for the pendant is gorgeous—each delicate rectangular gold link is connected by two emeralds and a diamond. Appraised at $10,000-$12,000, this piece sold for $74,000.