Iconic Movie Jewelry
While a lot of us are stuck at home during the coronavirus pandemic, let’s stay entertained by recounting the most iconic pieces of movie jewelry.
Here are our top 10 favorites.
10. GONE WITH THE WIND
Image credit: Selznick International Pictures, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer & Loew’s Inc.
CAMEO BROOCH
While Vivian Leigh wore a lot of amazing jewelry in Gone With The Wind, the most memorable and iconic has to be the giant cameo brooch that she was wearing when Rhett Butler uttered the infamous line “Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn.” The enormous cameo features a young woman riding a bird set in gold.
While most of the jewelry from the film (and that entire era of films) came from designer Eugene Joseff, that particular brooch is said to have come from the mother of Walter Plunkett, the film’s costume designer. It also boosted interest in cameo jewelry during the time. If you had a cameo piece passed down to you, it was probably inspired by this film.
9. GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES
Image credit: Twentieth Century Fox
DIAMONDS, DIAMONDS, DIAMONDS!
As to be expected from the film that coined the famous phrase “Diamonds are a girl’s best friend”, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes sparkles with spectacular jewelry throughout, but the set Marilyn Monroe wears with her pink strapless dress is our favorite. The film is also said to have been part of the catalyst that made diamond engagement rings the standard from then on.
The film has a very old and famous diamond – The Moon of Baroda. It’s a 24.04ct pear-shaped canary diamond that had formerly been owned by the Maharajah of Baroda, India, the Empress Maria Theresa of Austria, and was even worn by Marie Antoinette. After the French Revolution, it was stolen and eventually returned to Baroda where it remained for another 200 years, until 1943 when it was purchased by Meyer Rosenbaum, president of the Meyer Jewelry Company of Detroit. In 1953, Meyer loaned it to the film, and it remained in this collection until 1991 when it was auctioned off by Christie’s to an undisclosed bidder. It was seen at an exhibition once in 2009, but has not again been seen in public since.
8. PRETTY WOMAN
Image credit: Touchstone Pictures, Silver Screen Partners IV
DIAMOND HEART RUBY NECKLACE
It may have been one of the most famous movie scenes of the 1990s. Richard Gere presents Julia Roberts with a breathtaking necklace in a black case, then jokingly snaps the lid lightly on her fingers, eliciting a genuine laugh.
The necklace was custom made by French jeweler Fred Joaillier and features 23 pear-shaped rubies set in heart settings of 18kt gold and diamonds. It also had matching earrings. Word from the set is that the necklace had its own armed escort. Then valued at between $500,000 and $1 million, it’s no wonder why!
7. BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY’S
Image credit: Paramount Pictures/ Jurow-Shepherd
PEARL STRANDS & DIAMONDS
Sure, the film is about a jewelry store, but the diamond and pearl necklace from the opening scene is made iconic by being paired with THAT Givenchy little black dress. Of course it didn’t come from Tiffany’s. In fact, none of the jewelry worn by Audrey Hepburn in the film is from there.
This is probably the most iconic outfit in film history and the necklace, by French designer Roger Scemama, has been copied and copied again. One of the most striking things about the necklace (besides the HUGE brooch in the center) is that the 5 strands of giant pearls perfectly fall over Audrey’s shoulders to emphasize the cut of the back of the dress.
6. MOULIN ROUGE!
Image credit: Bazmark Productions
THE DIAMOND NECKLACE
Designer Stefano Canturi was on set to watch Richard Roxburgh tear his beautiful design from Nicole Kidman’s neck and slam it on the ground. Three times. The good news? It was a “stunt double” necklace with a magnetic clasp. The REAL necklace was used elsewhere in the film and treated much more kindly.
The genuine necklace is now in a private collection in Antwerp. It was the most expensive piece of jewelry ever made for a film, costing $1 million at the time. It was made to capture the extravagance of jewelry in the late 1800s, inspired by the Louis XVI style. Nicole Kidman’s neck and décolletage were measured precisely to create a wire model and the actress had to have 3 months of regular fittings afterward. It was hand-crafted in 18K white gold and set with a total of 1308 diamonds (134 total carats). The largest was a 5-carat emerald cut diamond. A 2.5-carat cabochon-cut Sri Lankan blue sapphire accented the clasp.
5. HOW TO LOSE A GUY IN 10 DAYS
Image credit: Paramount Pictures
THE ISADORA DIAMOND
Fortunately, it was a fictional ad campaign that never caught on, but Kate Hudson certainly “frosted” herself in How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days with this yellow diamond necklace called “Isadora” by designer-to-the-stars Harry Winston. It’s disputed online whether it is 84 or 87 carats, but we think that doesn’t matter as much as how jaw-droppingly gorgeous it is.
During the fictional Warner Advertising Gala, the attendees were invited to “frost yourself” with diamonds by Harry Winston. The movie used $14.2 million in jewels in the film. The Isadora was by far the most expensive, selling after wrap for $5 million to an undisclosed buyer.
4. THE PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: THE CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL
Image credit: Walt Disney Pictures/Jerry Bruckheimer Films
THE AZTEC MEDALLION
Vying for the title of most dangerous piece of jewelry in this list is the Aztec Coin medallion worn by Keira Knightley in The Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. It was said to have been one of 882 gold coins cursed by the Aztec gods to punish them for eternity (and turn them into pretty gross zombies).
Created specifically for the Gore Verbinski film, the coin is made from cast metal and plated with a faux-gold finish. One side features a skull-and-sun symbol and the reverse displays an Aztec glyph.
3. SEX AND THE CITY 2
Image credit: New Line Cinema/HBO Films
BLACK DIAMOND ENGAGEMENT RING
Mr. Big lived up to his name in Sex and the City 2 with a whopping 5-carat black diamond. The designer of the ring, Itay Malkin, also designed pieces for the first film in the franchise. One of two rings he submitted, this one was chosen out of pieces by twenty other famous jewelry designers.
The ring features a 5-carat black diamond set in 18kt white gold surrounded by 78 white diamonds, tallying up to 0.43 carats on their own. “Because you are not like anyone else,” is the reason Mr. Big gives for choosing a black diamond. Which led to countless other brides-to-be wanting to not be like anyone else and also have black diamonds.
2. THE LORD OF THE RINGS
Image credit: New Line Cinema/WingNut Films
THE EVENSTAR PENDANT & THE ONE RING
The Lord of the Rings trilogy has so much amazing jewelry design, we had to go with more than just the One Ring. You get a twofer for number 2. We’ll start with the pendant of Arwen Evenstar. Gifted to Aragorn, true king of Gondor, by his elven love Arwen, the pendant is meant to symbolize her love for him by giving up her immortality. Jewelry designer Jasmine Watson partnered with Peter Jackson’s Weta Workshop to create this delicate and intricate necklace.
Then we come to the most powerful piece of jewelry in existence. The One Ring. Dozens of versions in all sizes and metals were created and used in the films. The inscription on the inside AND outside of the ring is in a spidery Tengwar Elvish script and says in the black tongue of Mount Doom “One ring to rule them all, one ring to find them, one ring to bring them all, and in the darkness bind them.” So to make a long story short, a bunch of dudes did a lot of walking and fighting and walking and splitting up and coming back together and walking so that they could throw it in a volcano. I can’t overemphasize how much walking happened.
1. TITANIC
Image credit: Paramount Pictures/20th Century Fox
THE HEART OF THE OCEAN
Number One on our list is probably because we spent SO LONG staring at it everywhere when Titanic came out. Everyone’s girlfriend wanted a Heart of the Ocean of her very own and it was done to death in all sorts of mediums. The original was, in reality, a blue cubic zirconium set in white gold created by London’s Asprey & Garrad.
The necklace, which ended up on the bottom of the ocean, was even re-created with a 170-carat Ceylon sapphire and 103 diamonds and sold at auction for $1.4 million. Another version, made with a 15-carat real blue diamond, was worn by the elder Rose, actress Gloria Stuart, at the 1998 Academy Awards.
Is there anything we forgot? Let us know what you think!