If you follow fashion news, you know that New York's Christie's
auction house will offer its annual Magnificent Jewels sale April 25.
The Baroda Pearls, a two-strand natural pearl necklace strung with 68
of the finest and largest pearls from the famed seven-strand natural
pearl necklace that once formed the cornerstone of the Royal Treasury
of the Maharaja of Baroda, will anchor the show. Christie's expects to
sell the necklace for more than $7 million.
The back story behind the famous pearls is fascinating. From Vogue:
Dubbed the Indian Wallis Simpson in 1943, when the Maharaja
Pratapsingh Gaekwar of Baroda left his first wife to marry her, Sita
Devi was as famous for her jewels as she was for her flamboyant
personality. After meeting her future husband at the racetrack in
Madras, the cigar-smoking 26-year-old publicly renounced Hinduism for
Islam, thereby conveniently annulling her first marriage. (She
promptly reconverted to Hinduism after becoming the maharani.) At a
time when maharajas eagerly embraced Western luxuries, the couple soon
decamped to Europe, taking along the Star of the South and English
Dresden diamonds and a collection of family jewels dating back to the
Mughal era, which included a seven-strand necklace of natural Gulf
pearls.
Dividing her time between Paris and London, Devi embraced her new
continental lifestyle. With the Indian gems her husband lavished on
her, she regularly commissioned the likes of Cartier and Van Cleef &
Arpels to create one-of-a-kind pieces for her. In 1953, Harry Winston
purchased a pair of anklets from Devi, refashioning the emeralds and
diamonds into a necklace that was then bought by none other than the
Duchess of Windsor. In a fabled 1957 encounter, the duchess wore it to
a New York ball where, hearing guests marvel at the size of the
stones, Devi declared how lovely they had looked on her feet. Sure
enough, Simpson returned it.
This month, 68 of the largest and most perfect pearls from Devis'
Baroda necklace will be offered at the Christie's auction. The
necklace is considered to be the most important natural pearl piece
ever to be sold at acution. As the head of jewelry for Christie's
America's says, "When you have spherical pearls of this size with such
luster, you get a sense of Indian decadence and what life was like
back then."
Indeed.
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