THE UNIQUE COLLECTION OF WALLIS SIMPSON JEWELS. The Duchess of Windsor had impeccable taste and knew a lot about precious stones. This allowed her to assemble one of the most outstanding jewelry collections in the world. – Wallis Simpson Jewelry
Wallis Simpson, a married American woman who has already gone through one divorce and does not hide her love of luxury, is the worst candidate for the role of the king of Great Britain’s wife. However, this fragile woman managed to win the heart of the heir to the throne.
All her life she was accompanied by scandals: divorces, suspicions of espionage in favor of the Nazis in Germany, incessant rumors of promiscuous love affairs. But Edward in love was not stopped by any “shortcoming” of his future wife. In 1936 he renounced the throne, and in 1937 he married Wallis Simpson. After his abdication, he was given the title of Duke of Windsor, and Wallis became the Duchess.
Edward tirelessly pampered his beloved, presenting her with the most exquisite and expensive jewelry from famous jewelry houses. Some of the items were created according to his sketches. During their long life together, the couple have amassed one of the most impressive collections of jewelry in the world. In 1987, at the auction in Geneva, organized by the auction house Sothbey’s, she was sold for a record $ 53.5 million. We will tell you about some of them.
In 1935, Edward invented and the jewelers embodied in gold one of the first adornments of the collection – a brooch in the form of three ostrich feathers united by a crown. In the same year, he presented his beloved with a legendary bracelet with cross pendants from Cartier. Today its cost reaches 450 thousand dollars. Nowadays, different jewelry brands offer a large selection of bracelets and necklaces created “based on” this jewelry.
Another unique piece of high jewelry art – the Flamingo brooch – was invented by Wallis herself. If you believe the archives of the Cartier jewelry house, then to create this piece, the Duchess borrowed stones from her other jewelry. The brooch is encrusted with 103 diamonds, rubies, sapphires and emeralds (42 stones each).
On the 20th anniversary of their marriage, Edward presented the Duchess with a brooch in the shape of a heart: the spouses’ initials were woven into a magnificent pattern of emeralds on a diamond pillow. This decoration was crowned with a crown of rubies.
Thanks to Wallis Simpson, Cartier leopards became popular. She owned a bracelet and a pendant in the shape of this graceful animal. Decades later, this wild cat remains the symbol of the jewelry house.
The couple also respected the Van Cleef and Arpels home. The “Ballerina” brooch is still produced in one form or another, but the Duchess of Windsor was one of the first to own it. In a brooch in the shape of two holly leaves, the combination of transparent diamonds and rich ruby color is striking. By the way, the technique of the invisible frame was first used in this particular piece of jewelry.
Wallis Simpson also contributed to the iconic transformable zipper lock. In 1938, the Duchess invited Rene Puissant, creative director of Van Cleef & Arpels, to create a jewel – a necklace that, when zipped, would turn into a luxurious bracelet. This idea was realized only in 1950. The jewelry has become the hallmark of Van Cleef and Arpels. Since then, the jewelry house has released several versions of this necklace.
Wallis Simpson’s influence has not diminished over time. Even today she inspires jewelers to create precious masterpieces in the genre of high jewelry art – Wallis Simpson Jewelry
