The Timeless Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Jewelry Collection
Jacqueline Kennedy wore her jewelry with the grace, elegance and dignity fit for an American First Lady. Even today, years after Camelot and her death in 1994, Jackie Kennedy is remembered and admired.
Jackie and JFK met at a mutual friend’s dinner party in May 1952. JFK was a U.S. Representative from Massachusetts at the time and he would eventually become a U.S. Senator and then President of the United States. Shortly after meeting, Jackie left to cover the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in London and stayed in Europe for a few more months. Soon after returning, JFK proposed with a diamond and emerald engagement ring and the couple announced their engagement on June 25, 1953.
Jackie’s engagement ring was a lovely 2.88 emerald and baguette diamond ring, in 1962 she had the ring redesigned to include not only the emerald and diamonds but it was also set with an additional 2.88 square-cut diamond and marquise diamonds, as shown in the photo below.
The Diamond-and-Pearl Wedding Bracelet
The night before their wedding, JFK presented Jackie with a lovely diamond bracelet which she wore as her “something new”. The bracelet features 25 diamonds and 18 pearls with two borders on either side of thin and rather whimsical nautical ropes. Jackie wore the bracelet on her wedding day along with a pearl choker necklace and a diamond leaf brooch that she received as a gift from Joseph and Rose Kennedy, her new in-laws. Special Note: Jackie’s wedding bracelet was donated after her death to the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum.
The Van Cleef & Arpels Emerald Ring
For their tenth year wedding anniversary in 1963, JFK gave Jackie a special emerald ring. JFK commissioned Van Dleef & Arpels in New York and was designed as an “eternity ring” with ten emeralds representing each year of their marriage; she wore the ring next to her wedding band. Several years after the death of JFK Jackie had two of the emeralds removed to make two solitaire rings for her children. One was made for Caroline and the other for John Jr. who gave it to his bride, Carolyn Bessette, on the night before their wedding. After the death of her brother, the ring was given back and now Caroline Schlossberg owns all three rings.
The Tiffany Two Fruit Clips
To celebrate the birth of their son, John Kennedy Jr. on Nov. 25, 1960, JFK gave Jackie the Two Fruit Clip. The brooch is part of the permanent collection at The Kennedy Library in Boston and it’s among one of the first pieces Jean Schlumberger created for Tiffany. The American jeweler no longer makes a version in rubies, but they do the style set with other gems. Ruby Two Fruit Clips upon occasion appear at estate auctions or vintage jewelers. One sold for $16,250 at Christie’s in New York on April 16, 2013
The Kunzite Ring
In one of JFK’s most optimistic periods – when he and his wife were closest to each other after the loss their baby Patrick in 1963 – the excited President went Christmas shopping very early for his wife. He purchased this ring, no doubt because he felt its bright color reflected his hope for their long future together. Tragically, he was gunned down in Dallas before he had the chance to present the ring to her. The devastated Jackie would treasure the ring for the rest of her life – the last gift she would ever receive from her beloved husband. The ring had a kunzite stone and was 18k gold.
The Iconic Apollo Earrings
Originally commissioned by Aristotle Onassis for his wife, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, to commemorate the moon landing in 1969, the one-of-a-kind Apollo earrings became a piece of jewelry mythology.
Onassis presented them to Jackie for her 40th birthday, lending the earrings a trifecta of sentimental significance. In addition to celebrating the Apollo landing and her birthday, the earrings nodded to Jackie’s late husband, President John F. Kennedy, who had led America’s charge in the race to space. The earrings remained a prized piece of Jackie’s collection until they were sold in her 1996 estate sale at Sotheby’s. Aside from a few pictures in Lalaounis’s archives, no other records of the Apollo earrings remain.
The Ruby Drop Earrings
One of the most coveted items in Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis’ jewelry collection were ruby ear clips by Van Cleef & Arpels and a ruby ring. The items sold as a set for $301,959, within its pre-sale estimate in 2015. The jewels were a wedding gift from Aristotle Onassis in 1968. Each ear pendant top is designed as an openwork pavé-set diamond leaf, suspending a detachable cabochon ruby and brilliant-cut diamond cluster pendant. The ring is centered by a heart-shaped cabochon ruby within a brilliant-cut diamond surround to the pavé-set diamond shoulder.
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