JACKIE’S BACK: Bonhams has become the go-to auction houses for fashion and jewelry that once belonged to America’s most stylish first lady, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.
One year after selling the haute couture Valentino dress she wore for her 1968 wedding to Aristotle Onassis for more than double the top estimate, Bonhams has come back with more of the former first lady’s personal effects.
As part of a wider fashion sale that runs until Thursday, Bonhams is selling Jackie’s simulated pearl jewelry, which was originally auctioned by Sotheby’s as part of her estate sale in 1996. The former first lady loved her pearl jewelry, and regularly paired the pieces with Chanel suits, shift dresses and evening gowns.
The diamond and simulated pearl earrings on sale at Bonhams.
The lots include a single-strand pearl necklace with a diamond-set sterling silver clasp. It comes with the presentation box, pouch and original lot tags. The estimate is 5,000 pounds to 8,000 pounds. A pair of earclips, each with a diamond-set chain and pearl drops, carries an estimate of 10,000 pounds to 15,000 pounds.
Meg Randell, Bonhams head of U.K. and Europe designer handbags and fashion, described the pieces as Jackie’s “most emblematic jewelry, which transformed modern style,” and said the sale offers collectors the opportunity to acquire “luxury pieces of modern historical resonance.”
The wider sale is being held in collaboration with My Wardrobe HQ, the luxury fashion resale and rental platform. It includes Karl Lagerfeld for Chanel clothing and accessories, including the designer’s “Brasserie Gabrielle” menu clutch bag, from fall 2015.
Jackie Kennedy Onassis’ simulated pearl necklace is going under the hammer at Bonhams.
The Chanel piece made its debut at the Grand Palais, which Lagerfeld had transformed into a Parisian brasserie complete with waiters, red leather banquettes and a sweeping bar. Made from burgundy leather to resemble a folded menu, it has a quilted black lambskin flap, brushed gold-tone hardware and a camellia motif. The bag’s estimate ranges from 5,000 pounds to 8,000 pounds.
The sale features another piece of recent history, a Louis Vuitton AmfAR vanity case designed by Sharon Stone, which carries an estimate of 8,000 pounds to 10,000 pounds. Stone collaborated regularly with Louis Vuitton on fundraising projects after becoming the top spokesperson for the American Foundation for AIDS Research in 1996.
The Karl Lagerfeld for Chanel handbag that’s selling at Bonhams.