Ellen Barkin is looking for a fresh start, by way of an empty safe-deposit box.
As part of her mission to begin a new life chapter after separating from billionaire financier and Revlon chairman Ronald O. Perelman, who filed for divorce in January, Barkin is selling an impressive collection of jewelry she received during their relationship. The 102-piece lot will be auctioned at Christie’s in New York on Oct. 10 and includes 17 pieces from reclusive Place Vendôme jeweler JAR Joel A. Rosenthal; pieces from the collections of the Duchess of Windsor and Doris Duke, and a number of estate pieces from Van Cleef & Arpels and Cartier.
“It’s not practical for me to keep it. I wouldn’t wear it. It’s just not who I am,” said Barkin in a phone interview from the Las Vegas set of “Ocean’s 13,” in which she makes a comeback on the silver screen playing the right-hand woman of the owner of a new resort, alongside George Clooney, Brad Pitt and Al Pacino.
Christie’s expects the sale to generate more than $15 million and interest from the world’s most renowned collectors.
“Less than 50 JAR creations have appeared in the auction market and all of them fetched considerably more than their retail price,” said François Curiel, chairman of Christie’s Europe and the auction house’s head of jewelry. “They are considered museum pieces, so rare that there is virtually no limit to what collectors are willing to spend to own one. Our estimates appear to be always ridiculously low and I have even considered no longer publishing them when JAR pieces come up for sale. JAR defies all the rules of appraising jewelry.”
Rosenthal, 63, a New York native who moved to Paris in 1966, is said to produce 70 to 80 pieces annually. He uses high-quality precious stones like Golconda diamonds, Burma rubies, Kashmir sapphires and Indian emeralds, and puts intense labor into each piece. Socialite Lily Safra and Princess Firyal of Jordan are said to be some of his top clients.
Lee Siegelson, president and owner of Siegelson, a third-generation New York jeweler that specializes in fine collectables, plans to check out the collection.
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“We buy at auction from time to time,” he said. “Any time you have an entire collection of important jewelry like that, it’s rare, especially when it’s pieces she worked on with Joel.”
Carol Brodie, chief luxury officer of CurtCo Media, which produces Robb Report and other luxury-oriented publications, said, “A diamond is a diamond, but a diamond owned by a star is a legacy. When we hear about Elizabeth Taylor or Doris Duke sales, you’re also buying a piece of history. For collectors, it’s a huge win.”
Barkin said she wasn’t always intrigued by fine jewelry, joking, “I wasn’t a big accessorizer until I was accessorized.”
She met Rosenthal, who she now calls a close friend, about seven years ago. Some of the most impressive pieces are a diamond ring with a setting fashioned after a gondola, inspired by a trip Rosenthal and Barkin took to Venice; a pair of demantoid garnet and diamond pendant earrings with intricate openwork; four of the designer’s signature thread rings in which a stone is set in a delicate, thread-like micro pavé setting, and a 16.94-carat diamond briolette pendant necklace Barkin wore regularly — even to sleep. There are also JAR earrings and a diamond ring. The necklace alone is expected to fetch up to $800,000.
“I didn’t treat it with preciousness,” said Barkin, adding she wore a Doris Duke emerald necklace — estimated to go for up to $350,000 at auction — casually.
“So much of the jewelry is big and bold, and I wasn’t afraid to wear it,” she said. “I didn’t just take it out at night.”
Barkin said she is only keeping one piece from the period: a diamond ring from Rosenthal.
“He is the single greatest jeweler of our time,” said Barkin. “It’s like looking at a Rothko; no one else could have made that painting.”
Ralph Esmerian, a fourth-generation fine jewelry dealer, who in April acquired Fred Leighton in cooperation with lending partner Global Asset Based Finance Group, a division of Merrill Lynch, said the sale could be harmful to the value of Rosenthal’s work.
“Having so much out there at one time could flood the market,” said Esmerian, who will also take a look at the lot. “And everyone wants to see what Joel’s been doing.”