Hollywood Jewellery Trivia

We're back with more jewellery related trivia, and this time the theme is HOLLYWOOD!

A new take on carrot cake?

Dinner parties are always popular in Hollywood, especially when there's a 37.4 carat surprise in the dessert!

The 'surprise' was Marlene Dietrich's emerald ring, which she accidentally baked into a cake and served up to a guest. Beats a silver sixpence in your pudding any day! You can find Marlene Dietrich's favourite Dutch Apple Cake recipe here.

The Real Heart of the Ocean

Everyone knows about the "Heart of the Ocean", the blue diamond necklace given to Kate Winslet's character in the 1997 movie Titanic (if you don't, you clearly haven't read this blog!).

In the movie, the heart-shaped blue diamond is said to have belonged King Louis XVI and was given to Rose (Kate Winslet) as an engagement gift from her fiancé. The 'priceless' necklace is thrown into the sea by an aged Rose at the end of the movie, but a replica was made to sell at a charity auction. The replica "Heart of the Ocean", created by Asprey & Garrard, featured a 170-carat sapphire set amongst 65 diamonds weighing a total of 30 carats. It sold at auction for $2.2million!

Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend

Marilyn Monroe famously sang these words in the 1953 movie Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, in which she played a diamond-digger looking to marry a man rich enough to keep her draped in her favourite gems.

For the rendition of the song, Marilyn wore an array of glittering white diamonds, but to promote the movie only one stunningly-gorgeous diamond was needed. The Moon of Baroda is 24-carat pear cut canary yellow diamond, originally owned by the Maharajas of Baroda. In the 1920s the Maharaja sold it to an unknown buyer, before it was later resold to American jeweller Meyer Rosenbaum, who lent it to Marilyn for the promotion of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. The Moon of Baroda is rumoured to be cursed, endowing bad luck on anyone who takes it overseas, and some consider the diamond to be the cause of the bad luck which haunted Marilyn from the time she wore it until her death ten years later.

The most expensive jewellery in a movie

Harry Winston, the famed Hollywood jewellery maker, holds the honour of loaning the most expensive jewellery ever used in a movie. The movie was the 2003 romantic comedy How To Lose A Guy In Ten Days, and the jewellery in question – $14-million worth all up – made its debut in the closing scene at The Frost Ball.

Andie, played by Kate Hudson, wore a necklace comprised of an 84-carat yellow diamond suspended from a diamond wreath chain, known in the movie as the Isadora Diamond.

The necklace alone was worth over $5-million and was so delectable that Andie's gown was designed around it. The necklace remains the single most expensive piece of jewellery ever made for a movie.

Picture credit: Paramount Pictures

Joseff of Hollywood

Not all Hollywood jewellery was made with precious gems - some of the most elaborate pieces were costume jewellery! Eugene Joseff began tinkering with the process of jewellery making in the 1920s after completing an apprenticeship in an art foundry. From small beginnings in his garage, and lots of trial and error, Joseff's attention to detail soon saw him becoming the number one supplier of movie jewellery in Hollywood. Eugene Joseff's jewellery was seen in many movies from the 1930s to the 1970s – including Cleopatra in 1963 and Gone With The Wind in 1939 – with his wife taking over the business following his untimely death in 1948. Joseff only ever loaned his pieces to movie studios, meaning he could re-use them over again, and noticed an opportunity when actresses began requesting replicas for their own collections. 'Joseff of Hollywood' launched a sideline selling replica pieces in high street stores so that every woman could feel like her favourite heroine. You can read more about Joseff of Hollywood's amazing collection here and here.