PEARLS OF GREAT PRICE

Southland Times, Issue 19311, 1 August 1924, Page 7

PEARLS OF GREAT PRICE

FAMOUS FRENCH NECKLACE. PURCHASER PAYS £160,035. Amid great excitement and after much eager bidding, the famous pearl necklace of the Louvre, once the property of Mme. Thiers, wife of the first President of the Republic, was sold at auction at Paris on June 14 for £141,000, plus £19,035 State and city taxes, a total of £160,035. The sale took place in the vast Galerie Denon, in the Louvre, which was crowded with prominent people, jewel lovers and experts, who arrived in motor-cars which were parked along the entire length of the Louvre. Bids of millions of francs were shouted or nodded from every part of the room. Even the auctioneer seemed impressed by the formidable sums that so many persons were ready to give to possess the necklace, with its 145 pearls.

At one moment the excitement was increased by a bid in a woman’s low, thin voice. Everybody craned their necks to catch a glimpse of the bidder, whose pale face and grey hair were familiar to the merchants present. She is Mme. van Clees. Hundreds of thousands of francs rolled up almost second by second. The bidding rebounded to a couple of darkvisaged men, in a line with the auctioneerwho, from the first, had looked with cool determination upon their rivals. Eleven millions and a-quarter, and the ivory hammer quivered. A man added a few thousands. From the centre came another last effort, but the two dark men capped their bids again. There was a breathless pause, and then the hammer fell. The necklace was sold to M. Leon Hemsy and M. S. de Lopez, well-known Paris jewel merchants. The money realised will be divided between the Louvre Museum and two charitable organisations in equal parts. When the three rows of pearls were originally collected by Mme. Thiers and her sister more than 40 years ago, the necklace complete cost them about £9OOO. The historic necklace was bequeathed by Mme. Thiers to the French nation. For many years it has been kept at the Louvre with the Crown jewels.