Who knew pioneering broadcast journalist Barbara Walters was such a jewelry collector?
Next month in New York, 120 glittery pieces from her $8 million estate will go under the gavel at Bonhams. Coming of age in the era when millions watched the nightly news and actually dressed for dinner, Walters didn’t just break out the baubles for on-air interviews or red-carpet appearances. The seasoned journalist wore a little sparkle every day.
“She was definitely a woman, who genuinely loved jewelry,” according to Bonhams’ global head of jewelry Jean Ghika. So much so that of the 100 photos of Walters at different points in her career that Ghika examined as research, there was not one image of her not wearing any jewelry. “It was part of her persona whether she was working or in her personal life. She amassed a collection and it was obviously something that she enjoyed. It also made her feel dressed and was part of her look. She was also a woman, who took pride in her appearance.”
Through the years, she took a leading role at NBC’s “Today” show, ABC’s evening news, its “20/20” program and the all-women talk show “The View.” Walters, who died in December at the age of 93, was the first female to cohost the “Today” show in 1974 and the first female network news anchor on ABC Evening News in 1976. From Ghika’s standpoint, Walters didn’t view jewelry as materialistic frippery, preferring to use it “to project and amplify her image in, let’s face it, what was early in her career a man’s world.”
A former assistant of Walters from the 1980s described how the newswoman locked up the only interview with ex-Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was “enemy number one for the Western world.” When they were called to meet with Gaddafi in a tent in the middle of the desert nearing dawn, Walters wore a pale pink Chanel suit. The assistant initially considered that fashion choice to be a misstep until she realized “Barbara knew exactly what she was doing. It was part of the image that she was projecting — that she was in command,” according to the former assistant’s recollection.
For Walters, jewelry was always part of that equation and she used it to her advantage professionally — even before the former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright did so with broaches, according to Ghika. When she interviewed the former Shah of Iran Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, she donned a “very beautiful turquoise broach on her left shoulder. We have to ask, ‘Is it a coincidence that the very best and most highly prized turquoise is mined in Iran?’ I think she understood what it could bring and add to the party,” Ghika said.
A whopping 13.84-carat Harry Winston diamond ring is estimated to generate between $600,000 and $900,000 in sales and a pair of JAR-crafted gem-set earrings with garnets, tourmalines and round brilliant-cut diamonds have a pre-sale estimate of $200,000 to $300,000. Those and other pricey keepsakes will be part of “The Estate of Barbara Walters: American Icon” sale at Bonhams, which will also feature American art, fashion, furniture and decorative items that belonged to Walters. The online sale will run from Oct. 29 to Nov. 7 and the main event is scheduled for Nov. 6.
Carolyne Roehm, Audrey Hepburn and Barbara Walters.
Ron Galella Collection via Getty
In the coming weeks, the collection will travel to the Bonhams Skinner salesroom in Boston {Walters’ hometown}, as well as stops in Los Angeles, Europe and Asia. In keeping with her wishes, the net proceeds will benefit charities that she supported.
Walters bought a good deal of jewelry from American designers including Fred Leighton, Seymour, Angela Cummings, David Webb and Harry Winston and wore them on a regular basis. “She picked pieces that went with her lifestyle and her wardrobe,” Ghika said.
The Belle Époque 11-carat diamond bow brooch that will be auctioned was something that she wore to nonworking private events like Elton John’s 60th birthday party in New York in 2007. There will also be some of her Oscar de la Renta gowns and Hermès and Chanel handbags. Walters once described de la Renta to WWD as “one of the wisest, kindest, funniest friends that you could have.” De la Renta and his wife Annette was among the notables that Walters routinely welcomed into her home. Her gatherings of 50-plus often included Henry and Nancy Kissinger, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Condoleezza Rice, Hugh Jackman and Colin and Alma Powell among others. The Georg Jensen sterling silver acorn-patterned flatware that they were likely to have made use of will be auctioned too.
Art from Walters Mario Buatta-designed Upper East Side apartment will include John Whorf’s “Swan Boat, Boston Public Gardens,” a work that reminded her of her mother that she kept above her bed. Another painting “Flower Girls (Peonies) (1888-1889)” by Childe Hassam will also be up for sale, as will “The Tenth Street Studio (1884-1915)” by William Merritt Chase. A key item in the sale will be John Singer Sargent’s “Egyptian Woman (Coin Necklace)” (1891), which is expected to fetch between $1.2 and $1.8 million.
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