The Dodge Pearls

[Caitlin]

This is part of an email exchange I had with Josephine Olley of Bonham's
Hi Caitlin,

Yes please. Here are a couple of images for you to choose from, including one of Anna Thomson Dodge wearing the pearls. You have permission to use these until the day of sale.

Kind regards

Josephine Olley
Bonhams Press Office, 101 New Bond Street, London W1S 1SR
T: +44 (0)207 468 8229
F: +44 (0)207 468 8209 http://www.bonhams.com

-----Original Message-----
From: Caitlin Williams [mailto:caitlin@pearl-guide.com]
Sent: 02 October 2008 01:08
To: Josephine Olley
Subject: RE: THE MAGNIFICENT AND MYSTERIOUS PEARLS OF ANNA THOMSON DODGE TO BE SOLD BY BONHAMS NEW YORK


Hi Josephine
May I put this on the board? Also if you have a picture, it would really help spread the word about this sale.
Caitlin

-----Original Message-----
From: Josephine Olley [mailto:josephine.olley@bonhams.com]
Sent: Wednesday, October 01, 2008 8:54 AM
To: 'info@pearl-guide.com'
Subject: THE MAGNIFICENT AND MYSTERIOUS PEARLS OF ANNA THOMSON DODGE TO BE SOLD BY BONHAMS NEW YORK

THE MAGNIFICENT AND MYSTERIOUS PEARLS OF ANNA THOMSON DODGE TO BE SOLD BY BONHAMS NEW YORK

Did Catherine the Great, Empress of Russia, once own this necklace?

On 16 December 2008 at Bonhams' prestigious salerooms on New York City's Madison Avenue, a magnificent three-strand natural pearl necklace is expected to fetch US$500,000-700,000. Comprising 224 pearls and two Cartier diamond clasps, the necklace is currently owned by descendents of the founder of the US motoring company, Dodge Automobiles.

In 1920, Michigan-born Horace E. Dodge bought the pearls from The House of Cartier for his wife Anna Thomson Dodge in the belief that they had once
belonged to Catherine the Great, Empress of Russia.

The Michigan-born Horace Dodge was a self-made billionaire. A gifted mechanic, he moved, in 1886, with his brother John to Detroit and later founded Dodge Automobiles - a brand name that is recognised throughout the world today. For a time the Dodge brothers built engines for Henry Ford in a deal that included a share position in the new Ford Motor Company. When the brothers decided to sell their shares to Henry Ford in 1919, each receiving
US$12.5 million from the sale, Horace promised to buy his wife Anna any "earthly thing she wanted". Anna - a Scottish immigrant, born in Dundee - said that she wanted pearls.

Horace agreed and purchased a pearl necklace from Cartier. Anna is thought to have worn the necklace just twice in her lifetime and one of those occasions was for her daughter Delphine's wedding to H R Cromwell, the son of a prominent Philadelphia banker. Anna is said to have dazzled some 3000 guests and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, who played throughout the reception.

 

[Caitlin]

Here is a temporary picture. If requested, I can sitch to another one of the pearl or clasp

Designed with versatility in mind, the necklace was originally made up of five strands of pearls, which allowed its owner to change the combination and style of the jewellery. Anna gave these pearls to her daughter Delphine, but on her untimely death at the age of 44, the pearls reverted back to Anna. In 1968, Delphine's daughter Yvonne acquired the pearls from Anna and subsequently divided the strands amongst her friends and heirs. Three of these family members have decided to reunite their individual natural pearl strands to sell as one necklace at Bonhams' auction.

Ever since 1920, when Horace Dodge first bought the pearls from Cartier there has been much speculation over the necklace's early provenance. A Cartier sales invoice to Horace E. Dodge, Esq, dated 24 May 1920, states that the "five row pearl necklace, consisting of three hundred and eighty-nine (389) pearls weighing forty-three hundred and five (4305) grains" was accompanied by an "enamel clasp representing Catherine, Empress of Russia" and "two (2) diamond alternate clasps". Many newspaper articles written in the early 1920s and since then, including those from The New York Times and Detroit Times, have suggested that the pearls once belonged to Catherine the Great and furthermore, the heirs of Anna Thomson Dodge maintain that Horace bought the pearls from Cartier on that basis.

"I fear the truth will always be shrouded in mystery," says Bonhams'
International Director of Jewellery Matthew Girling.

Whilst proof of a direct connection between the pearls and the Empress currently remains inconclusive - despite research by Bonhams to uncover the necklace's early provenance - it is a fact that in the early 1900s jewellery from Russian aristocrats found its way onto the open market. Russian ?migr?s, fleeing the Revolution, who had lost their land and fortune and whose funds were quickly exhausted in foreign countries, had no other means to subsist than by selling the family jewels their wives were able to carry with them in their flight. Russian royal jewels found new owners in the wives of wealthy industrialists - many of them American.

Throughout history pearls have always been considered precious. The Romans invaded Britain for them and hundreds of years later Christopher Columbus sailed to the New World to bring the gems back for the Spanish Treasury.
They have been found in Egyptian tombs and Chinese burial grounds and they've been loved and worn by the Maharajas of India, Catherine the Great, Napoleon, and Queen Victoria, and Coco Chanel.

"Pearls are never out of fashion. Current famous women wearing them include Sarah Jessica Parker, Angelina Jolie, Gwyneth Paltrow, Keira Knightley and Katherine Heigl," adds Bonhams' Matthew Girling.

During the coming months, the magnificent pearls of Anna Thomson Dodge will go on view at Bonhams in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Dubai and London prior to them being sold in New York on 16 December 2008.

 

[Caitlin]

For further details and viewing dates, please email: jewellery@bonhams.com <mailto:jewellery@bonhams.com> or visit www.bonhams.com/jewelry <http://www.bonhams.com/jewelry> .

Thank you Josephine Olley and Bonhams!

This is an "important" piece, IMO!

As for feeling sad for the Dodges as someone said on another thread; I say they can always replace it with gem quality freshwaters!

 

[barbie biggs]

pearls

pearls

Wow Caitlin:
That's an incredible necklace isn't it? And that's a pretty riske' dress she's wearing to show off those pearls. And the furs. Beautifully done. Perfectly matched pelts. Tell me those aren't real.
She's from a totally different era. Very regal and beautiful. The pearls are amazing and she shines in them.
Lovely,
barbie

 

[Valeria101]

If requested, I can switch to another one of the pearl or clasp

Good question Show 'em all, ma'am!


[that is a portrait, not a picture, right? Otherwise, I am puzzled here: I can understand pushing decolletage for a good cause, but there's something about the proportions there that doesn't quite add up: I mean.. that much pearl display space? LOL!]

 

[knotty panda]

... replace it with gem quality freshwaters!

These are saltwaters?

 

[Sueki]

Good question Show 'em all, ma'am!


[that is a portrait, not a picture, right? Otherwise, I am puzzled here: I can understand pushing decolletage for a good cause, but there's something about the proportions there that doesn't quite add up: I mean.. that much pearl display space? LOL!]

Valeria,
The lady has silver hair - you're obviously too young to know that, with age, everything goes south, so lots of space for displaying pearls !!....

 

[Heidi]

Valeria,
The lady has silver hair - you're obviously too young to know that, with age, everything goes south, so lots of space for displaying pearls !!....

Oh my I am experiencing the beginnings of that right now!

Seriously, though: Clothing was very different drape and silhouette in that era. And undergarments were not at all what we are accustomed to today, which makes a difference to the drape of a neckline.

 

[pattye]

I can understand pushing decolletage for a good cause, but there's something about the proportions there that doesn't quite add up:

I noticed that also, but not quite sure how to say it! I can agree wholeheartedly that plenty goes south with age---------

 

[barbie biggs]

I still think she's very regal. Definitely from before the days of having all that has gone south removed bilaterally and having the kitty noses placed higher where they are more perky. Couldn't put those pearls so low if THAT had been done!
Lovely painting.
barbie

 

[GemGeek]

Kitty noses?

 

[Caitlin]

I thought from the wording, she meant one at a time. There is one closeup of the clasp.

 

[GemGeek]

That is exquisite!!!

 

[knotty panda]

Thanks for the close-up, Caitlin. Look at the luster on those! Almost spherical. I'd say it's a bargain a half a mil. Someone please refresh my memory. Wasn't Catherine the Great the one with the overactive libido?

 

[Caitlin]

I can believe those came from Royalty- they are so close to perfect and an amazing size

 

[Nerida]

I didn't catch this thread yesterday - amazing photos Caitlin, thankyou..

I'm not even going to enter into the "going south" debate. Don't we have a lovely member called "gravityalwayswins".... that's always made me smile.

Re the furs.. I was sitting at a friend's (very exquisite) home the other evening Under her coffee table was a mink stole ... turns out my friend had rescued it from a skip outside a house where the elderly occupant had sadly passed away and her family discarded unwanted belongings. My elegant friend, out for a walk, saw the fur, and thought those little critters shouldn't die in vain, so has given them another "airing". It was another time, with different values. I think our pearl wearer looks gorgeous in the furs.

 

[Amrita]

What an interesting thread - thank you Caitlin! The pictures are lovely, the lady is so regal (despite all the entertaining "going south" discussions! ), and the pearls are amazing indeed....

 

[barbie biggs]

Nerida:
I'm so happy to hear about the fur getting another airing. I hate to see so many animals die so we can wear their fur. But if they must it is so much better to care for and cosset the gift they have given us for as long as possible. Your friend must be a person of great sensitivity.
Fur jackets, stoles, and coats are truly beautiful despite the fact that they are no longer in vogue due to over hunting of so many species. But they really were beautiful when well made. It truly was a different era.
barbie

 

[Mervione]

I usually don?t like white pearls but these are kinda pretty. The clasp is really beautiful.

It?s quite amazing that they still have such luster.

The picture is really nice apart from the fur...

 

[nlerner]

Wasn't Catherine the Great the one with the overactive libido?

Right.
But also a very clever woman, and an effective ruler. Also the first of any sex to appoint a woman to a ministerial post.

She also collected a lot of jewelry.