Of the many public images that we will remember Lady Dianain addition to the iconic days of her wedding to Carlo in 1981, there are those associated with one of her last public performances on the occasion of the performance “Swan Lake” at the Royal Albert Hall in London. It was June 3, 1997, just three months before her tragic death, and that evening the Princess of Hearts was wearing a fabulous Jacques Azagury blue beaded mini dress, Jimmy Choo satin neckline and a South Sea pearl necklace designed for her by court jeweler Garrard.. Fairy A custom-made creation for Lady D, complete with diamond and pearl stud earringsnow back in the spotlight as the protagonist of an auction on June 27 in Guernsey at the Pierre Hotel, on New York’s Upper East Side.
But what is the history of this parure known as “Swan Lake Suites”from the name of the famous ballet to the music of Tchaikovsky?
History of pearl parure, Lady Diana’s last jewels
The Princess of Wales was known to be a fan of South Sea pearls, and for this reason she commissioned a special necklace from the famous jeweler of the royal family, consisting of five identical pearls of 12 mm each and 178 diamonds, 51 diamonds in total. carat with earrings with two pearls en parure, which, however, were only completed after his death. “Jewels that [Diana] everything she wore was lent to her by the queen or belonged to the crown,” explains vvd Guernsey President Arlan Oettinger. “So often she was seen wearing jewelry, but usually it wasn’t her jewelry.”
The peculiarity of the set lies precisely in the fact that these are Diana’s purely personal jewelry, and not bequeathed to her sons Harry and William. The princess designed the creation in collaboration with David Thomas, then president of Garrard, who oversaw the crown jewels until his retirement in 2007. Based on information received from the house, Dom d’Este believes that the suite was a gift from the then Heir of Harrods Dodi FayedHowever at the time of the death of the spouses, the jewelry had not yet been paid for, so they remained in stock in the jewelry store.
Garrard, in need of a buyer, contacted a regular buyer, an anonymous British lord. The nobleman wanted to buy jewelry for his wife, but when he discovered that they belonged to Diana, his former school friend, he refused the gift. A year and a half after Diana’s death in 1999, Thomas contacted Ettinger and offered to put her up for auction. It was bought by Texas furniture store mogul Jim Mackingwale for $1 million and his daughter got married in the set. However, in the midst of the 2008 financial crisis, he decided to sell it privately to the prominent Ukrainian Ginzburg family of collectors who had collected “culturally significant” art for many years and who now decided to sell the precious family heirloom that accompanied the last months of the princess’s life.
How do you study for vvdThe Ginsburgs want to honor Diana’s legacy by donating a portion of the proceeds from the upcoming auction, where the set is valued at between $3 million and $5 million, to help rebuild their war-torn home country against Russia. Lady D., who has devoted so much of her life to charitable causes such as AIDS prevention, would certainly take the Ukrainian cause to heart, the Ginzburgs are convinced. Luckily, this summer, the American Ballet Theater in New York, within walking distance of the auction site, will stage a production of Swan Lake. After Kim Kardashian’s extraordinary purchase of the Diamond and Amethyst Atalla Cross that Diana wore in 1987, who knows who will win this other part of the story.
Source: Elle