A ruby and diamond bracelet that legendary star Marlene Dietrich ordered from Van Cleef & Arpels in 1937 and wore to the 1951 Academy Awards is headed for auction. It will be part of Christie's upcoming auction on June 7 in New York, entitled “The Magnificent Jewels of Anne Eisenhower.”.
Eisenhower was an interior designer who died last year and was the granddaughter of President Dwight D. Eisenhower. She was also a private collector of many fine jewelry pieces, from a Panthère de Cartier brooch to a Tiffany and Co. Art Deco diamond bracelet. Its design depicts a rose made of rubies and emeralds. Both are part of the auction, which includes a total of 31 items.
But Dietrich's bracelet, which Eisenhower bought anonymously at an auction in 1992, is the undisputed star of the sale. As well as the lot with the highest estimate - $2.5 to $4.5 million.
“This bracelet is legendary in many ways,” says Claibourne Poindexter, vice president and jewellery specialist at Christie's. “It was one of Dietrich's favourite pieces of jewellery. It's bold. It's very large in scale and has a wonderful curvature.
He wore it so beautifully in Stage Fright, an Alfred Hitchcock film in 1950, and you get this appreciation for how sculptural the design is. It doesn't really fit any period, it's not art deco, it's not retro jewelry. It's just a kind of high glamour. It's a real work of art.”.
Perhaps what led to such a unique creation is the curious origin of the material. Dietrich's grandson Peter Riva spoke to the New York Times at the time of the bracelet's sale in 1992. He said it was All Quiet on the Western Front author Erich Maria Remarque, a Dietrich admirer, who suggested the star “take all the pieces of her jewelry and make them into one magnificent piece. It consists of diamond earrings, a diamond necklace, matching bracelet and ruby earrings, some pins, a total of 30 things.”.
The resulting piece was designed by Louis Arpels and is known as the Jarretière bracelet (from the French word for garter).
Includes cushion-shaped Burmese rubies and round, single, rectangular and baguette-cut diamonds, all set in platinum. It is accompanied by a Mark Cross leather case bearing the initials M.D. When the bracelet was sold in 1992, the price was $990,000, more than double the presale estimate of $300,000 to $400,000.
The New York Times has described Dietrich's Jarretiere piece as a “modern platinum handcuff”. It features “an exaggerated, asymmetrical circle covered with cushion-cut rubies set on two strips that resemble a diamond buckle.” In the jewelry world, the bracelet is iconic enough that Van Cleef & Arpels, features the piece on its website. It has even gone so far as to create and release a new bracelet inspired by the original in 2021.
Throughout her life, Dietrich had a love for jewelry, especially statement jewelry. Some were given to her by the men in her life, such as Maurice Chevalier, Josef von Sternberg and Jean Gabin.
Other jewellery, such as a set of emeralds, had an origin that even her daughter, Maria Riva, could not guess.
As Riva wrote about emeralds in Marlene Dietrich's 1992 biography of her mother, “they were “mysterious” jewels. Their origin was unknown. While they were part of our lives, they reigned majestically. They became like my younger sisters; I was in charge of them. Their safety and well-being were my responsibility. They were in a brown leather case, the size of my mother's gramophone and about as heavy. Every piece was perfection.”.
But towards the end of her life, these emeralds were no longer in her possession, as were most of the jewels she loved so much. Peter Riva, in his interview with the Times, said that his grandmother's Jarretière bracelet “was the only jewelry she kept. She also loved her emeralds, but she lost them, probably to the IRS for back taxes. She kept the ruby bracelet in good times and bad.”.
Since 1992, Dietrich's bracelet has had only one other owner, Eisenhower. Within a few months, it will likely have a third.
“From Marlene Dietrich to President Dwight D. Eisenhower, the Anne Eisenhower Collection is part of the history of the last century. Through a collector's brilliant passion for fine jewelry,” said Christie's Americas President Marc Porter.
“Anne Eisenhower had a keen eye for the finest examples of the art of jewelry.
Thus her collection tells fascinating and interconnected stories of sponsors and collectors.” Highlights from the Magnificent Jewels of Anne Eisenhower sale will be previewed at Christie's Los Angeles gallery in Beverly Hills on March 23. Additional presentations will be held in Paris, Geneva and Hong Kong prior to the June 7 auction.
Cartier - Panthere de Cartier - Brooch - The Magnificent Jewels of Anne Eisenhower - Christie's Auction
“Panthere de Cartier” brooch with coloured diamonds, onyx and Cartier emeralds, estimate $100,000 to $150,000. “Many of the great style icons have had or own Panthere jewelry, people like Daisy Fellowes and Barbara Hutton,” says Poindexter.
Van Cleef & Arpels earrings with rubies and diamonds in the form of a waterfall, estimate $40,000 to $60,000. “Commissioned by Anne Eisenhower to Van Cleef after purchasing the bracelet at auction to be combined with Marlene Dietrich's bracelet. It was really that era where women wore these incredible jewelry sets. Even though they didn't quite match, they were all coordinated and worked perfectly together,” Poindexter says.
A Van Cleef & Arpels sapphire and diamond waterfall-style necklace with oval and cushion-shaped sapphires and round, oval and pear-shaped diamonds. All in platinum, signed Van Cleef & Arpels, estimate $300,000 to $500,000.
A 20.54-carat emerald-cut diamond ring with calf's head diamonds, set in platinum, estimate $1.2 million to $1.8 million. The diamond, Poindexter says, “is D-colored and internally flawless. It really comes alive in your hand when you wear it. It has a wonderful light.”.
Van Cleef & Arpels necklace with emeralds and diamonds, estimate $200,000 to $300,000.
Epee Pener
Source: www.hollywoodreporter.com
