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Suzanne Belperron hammered gold and cushion-shaped diamond
engagement ring, circa 1923. Photo courtesy Sotheby’s.
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From the much-married Elizabeth Taylor to King Edward VIII,
who gave up his throne to marry the woman he loved, Wallis Simpson, the love
affairs of the rich, royal or merely famous have fascinated the public for
decades. And by extension, their choices in engagement rings, the tangible
expression of a couple’s pursuit of a romantic happily-ever-after, are every
bit as compelling.
While they say you can’t put a price on love, making sense —
and dollars and cents — of the value of the engagement rings of those in the
spotlight is an entirely different matter. “A prestigious provenance certainly
adds to the value of the rings,” says Patrick van der Vorst, a former director
at Sotheby’s London for over 12 years and founder of the online appraisal
service, ValueMyStuff.com.
Observing the sales of celebrity rings over the past decade
has allowed van der Vorst to gauge how an “interesting provenance” affects the
price achieved at auction. Choosing a selection of engagement rings belonging
to twentieth-century headliners, from Hollywood stars to iconic designers, he
has compiled a list of “notable” engagement rings and their celebrity
pedigrees. While some feature diamonds, which, says van der Vorst, “have always
been popular and will certainly remain the preferred stones for engagement
rings,” others feature alternative stones and settings. The common denominator
is that the original owners all celebratedtheir engagements with distinctive
rings.
Audrey Meadows, who played Alice Kramden in the classic
1950s American television comedy, “The Honeymooners,” married Robert Six,
aviation pioneer and president of Continental Airlines, in 1961. Her engagement
ring starred a 3.75-carat pear-shaped diamond flanked by two tapered baguette
diamonds in a platinum setting. It sold at Sotheby’s New York on December 4,
2007, for $34,600*, more than double the presale estimate of $12,000 to
$15,000.
Screen icon Deborah Kerr (1921-2007) opted for a three-stone
ring with three brilliant-cut diamonds in a yellow tint for her first marriage
to Squadron Leader Anthony Bartley in November 1945. The diamonds, weighing
2.32, 2.98 and 2.17 carats respectively, were each mounted within a four-claw
setting. Bonham’s London sold the engagement ring for $53,000 in December 2008.
Hollywood actress Ila Rhodes was supposedly once engaged to
then-actor and future U.S. President Ronald Reagan. She ultimately moved to
Brazil, where she married a Brazilian industrialist who gave her a diamond and
platinum ring created and signed by famed French jewelry designer Pierre
Sterlé, circa 1950. Taking top billing was a rectangular cut diamond, weighing
7.29 carats, centered within a crossover bombé mounting of pavé-set round
brilliant and baguette-cut diamonds weighing approximately 3.30 carats total.
Bonham’s sold her engagement ring in New York in 2011 for $122,500.
Elma Rumsey was the daughter of Moses Rumsey, a wealthy
industrialist from St. Louis. Her 19.01-carat, cushion-cut, F color, SI1
diamond was given to her by her fiancé, Pierre Cartier, on their engagement. He
was one of the three legendary Cartier brothers who created the well-known
jewelry house. The center diamond is flanked by baguette-cut diamonds and
mounted in platinum. Estimated at $500,000 to $600,000, it sold at Christie’s
New York in April 2001 for $545,000.
When sculptor Alexander Calder (1898-1976) put an engagement
ring on his wife Louisa’s finger, it was of his own design and making. Calder
created the ring by heating a single piece of gold wire, hammering it flat and
then shaping it into a triple-band ring with a spiral plaque on top.
Influential French jewelry designer Suzanne Belperron came
to prominence in the 1920s and ’30s as a designer for René Boivin. She went on
to establish her own shop in the Rue de Châteaudun, where her customers
included the Duchess of Windsor, according to the November 15, 1937, issue of
American Vogue. For Belperron’s own engagement ring, circa 1923, featuring an
old mine diamond, she created a singular hammered gold crossover design. The
so-called “Yin and Yang” ring was auctioned, along with a selection of other
jewels from her personal collection, on May 14, 2012, at Sotheby’s Geneva.
Estimated at $12,300 to $19,000, the ring sold for $67,042.
And whether the love affairs are short-lived or last a lifetime, the cachet of the famous pair-ups lives on, influencing not only prices, but the popularity of vintage styles. For centuries, styles that were fashionable in the royal courts became trends that trickled down through
society. And when it came to far-reaching jewelry trends, perhaps the best
example is the ring Albert gave Queen Victoria (1819-1901). The design of a
coiled gold and emerald snake — combining both the symbol for eternal love and
the queen’s birthstone — brought the vogue for snake jewelry to its peak, van
der Vorst says. And, he adds, with the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of
Cambridge, and the passing of Princess Diana’s famous sapphire and diamond
engagement ring to the next generation, cluster rings have very much come back
in favor. When it comes to other vintage engagement styles that are popular
right now, van der Vorst says jewels from the Art Deco period are “encountering
great success.”
*All prices include buyer’s premium.
Article from the Rapaport Magazine - September 2012. To subscribe click here.