When Pearls Outpaced Gems

Many people today are unaware of the fact that years ago, a good pearl necklace was more often than not far more valuable than diamonds - or any other gem. (We are talking about the period prior to the early 1900s when Kokichi Mikimoto created the process of successfully culturing pearls.)

Why more valuable?  Because only 1 in 10,000 oysters might contain a round natural pearl, and it might take up to ten years to create a perfect strand. During the time of Julius Caesar, pearls were so sought after and expensive that he barred women below a certain rank from wearing them. Of course this had an effect on culture (no pun intended) and a good strand of pearls became de rigueur for any woman of note.  Edith Rockefeller McCormick was  no exception.

She rarely, if ever was seen without her favorite piece of jewelry; a necklace which consisted of 33 large perfectly matched pearls, three large diamonds and two flexible bards of diamonds containing 100 round and 12 square diamonds. She had many other significant pieces of jewelry - most notably a necklace containing emeralds that once belonged to Catherine the Great - which rarely came out of the vault for use. Her pearl and diamond necklace was her mainstay.

Miss Marjorie Brown is pictured with two necklaces that belonged to Edith Rockefeller McCormick

About three months after Edith's death in August of 1932, the picture shown above appeared in many newspapers across the country. The larger necklace contains stones that once belonged to Empress Catherine of Russia; a hexagonal emerald weighing 110 karats, nine other large emeralds and 1657 diamonds. The value placed on it at the time of inventory was $183,966.13. (In today's dollars it would amount to $3,055,224.32.)

When it came to Edith's favorite necklace the value was entirely different. Yes, it contained a large amount of diamonds  which were primarily part of the clasp, but the 33 perfectly matched pearls had their impact. The 1932 appraisal was $406,684.16. In today's dollars that amounts to $6,754,022.26 - well over double the value placed on the Catherine the Great emeralds.

A newspaper clipping from January of 1936, announcing the sale of Edith's emerald necklace. (Edith purchased the necklace after the death of the Grand Duchess Vladimir in 1920.) 

I don't know what became of Edith's beloved pearl necklace. The Catherine the Great necklace, however, languished for over two years without and acceptable offer for purchase from her estate. In 1935 a probate judge signed an order extending the amount of time for  Cartier (who handled the original transaction with Edith) to dispose of the piece. It was determined that in order to sell, the gems in the necklace might have to be sold separately even though an $800,000 offer had been made (and refused by the executors) for both of Edith's necklaces in January of 1934.

 Barbara Hutton, wearing the emeralds which were reset in a tiara/necklace designed by Lucien Lachassagne and fashioned by Cartier in 1947.

In 1936,  the emeralds would end up in the hands of Barbara Hutton who would pay $460,000 in cash. In 1947 the emeralds would be incorporated into a tiara with diamonds designed by Lucien Lachassagne of Cartier, that could also be worn as a necklace.  She is reported to have given the piece to her seventh husband (Prince Pierre Raymond Doan) whom she married in 1964. The stones were sold separately by him after their separation and some ended up in the collection of Elizabeth Taylor.

As for pearls today, they can still outpace gems. Desirable natural pearls are extremely rare, and hence remain prohibitively expensive.  Natural pearls have always been deemed precious (remember, 1 in 10,000!), and are universally costly. Most of the natural pearls on the market today are vintage pearls, as virtually every pearl producer now relies on cultured pearls. Natural pearls are simply too risky, rare, and expensive to find and sell. 

A Bridge Party

In September of 1922, Edith Rockefeller McCormick threw open the doors of Villa Turicum  for the first time since her return from Switzerland the previous year. It was the  scene of a bridge party; arranged by Mrs. Samuel T. Chase for the benefit of the Girl Scouts.  A who's-who of prominent ladies attended; some from North Shore circles and some from downtown, representing Chicago's "gold coast."  Their numbers were upward of 400, and they came to play bridge.

Mrs. Benjamin Carpenter, active commissioner of the Girl Scouts of Cook County received the guests as Edith was unable to attend. It was estimated that the party netted more than $1,200 ($18,000 if adjusted for today) for the organization. These ladies certainly knew how to play cards - we suspect skills were honed during afternoon larks at the Casino. 

Guests enjoy the south gardens and promenade terrace of Villa Turicum in 1922. This was the first time the house had been opened for the public in seven years.

Prizes were of course awarded, and  Mrs. Charles MacDowell went home with first; a new picture hat. Mrs. Allen Bell, second prize, received two red glass compotes. Mrs. David A. Noyes, third prize, was awarded a silver encrusted glass bottle. Mrs. Richard Barnum received fourth prize, five pounds of candy; Mrs. Benjamin H. Marshall, fifth prize, a suitcase of toilet soaps; Mrs. T. Phillip Swift, sixth prize, a silver and silk purse.

What threatened to be a serious accident occurred late in the afternoon, when Miss Josephine Landon of Winnetka stepped backward into the marble pool located in the Pompeian Room. The pool was empty, and she was only slightly injured and was able to return to her home with her sister, Mrs. William M. Hoyt.

Villa Turicum Today

Every so often I will receive an email asking me either a: if anything of Villa Turicum still exists, or, b: if it (does) can it be visited? I always smile at the former question as it makes it obvious to me that the correspondent has not visited the Villa Turicum website proper - where there is a page titled appropriately, "Today."

The front of the former pool house/changing rooms and the tunnel to the house elevator. (Photo by Charles Birnbaum [2003] The Cultural Landscape Foundation)

As for the question of visiting Villa Turicum, I try to discourage it. The property was originally 300 acres, and when Robert Kendler purchased it in the 1950s it had only shrunk slightly due to some sell-offs to pay various delinquent bills over the years. The residential real estate development he cultivated on 1-3 acre sites was named "Villa Turicum," and the community has more than a few homes located on Edith Rockefeller McCormick's former estate.

The dolphin fountain on the second terrace below where the house was situated. (Photo by Charles Birnbaum [2003] The Cultural Landscape Foundation)

There are some elements of  Edith's Villa Turicum that remain extant, but they are located on private property. Fortunately, the Cultural Landscape Foundation has a page on their website that is almost a virtual tour for the curious. I highly encourage a to visit it; it saves gasoline,  and in our hectic lives, time. The pictures give a true sense of the place, and the map function can alternate between traditional and satellite views.

(The Cultural Landscape Foundation - Click Here)

Emile Ammann Redux

In a previous post ("The Chauffeur Speaks") I introduced Emile Ammann, who was Edith Rockefeller McCormick's driver in Switzerland for seven years until she dismissed him prior to her return to the United States in 1921. Ammann eventually made  his way to the Chicago himself, where he wrote letters to both Edith and her companion/business partner Edwin Krenn requesting aid. Today I acquired a picture of Emile, as I have long been curious to see what the fellow looked like:

Emile Ammann in 1923

This photo appeared in many newspapers at the time,  as Ammann had voluntarily admitted himself to a "psychopathic hospital" because he believed Edith held an hypnotic influence over him that affected his life. (Weeks later he would go to trial before a sanity commission in the Psycopathic Court.) A Dr. Francis J. Gerty, superintendent of the psychopathic hospital testified that, "Ammann had told him several times that Mrs. McCormick's weird influence followed him all over the world and destroyed his finer sensibilities."

"He was unable to resist the hypnotic influences cast upon his life by Mrs. McCormick, Ammann told me,"  Dr. Gerty testified. "Though once he broke away from the so called influence and returned to his wife and children in Mauritius, an island in the Indian Ocean, the spell followed him, he said, and he returned to Switzerland, only to find that Mrs. McCormick had returned to the United States."

In court, a Dr. Max Schwendimann (executive secretary to the Swiss consul) testified on Ammann's behalf, claiming that he considered Ammann not only sane, but quite intelligent. When all was said and done, Emile Ammann was indeed declared sane, and he denied that his former employer had hypnotized him. He would return to Europe, and eventually write his book "Au Service d'une Milliardaire Américaine," which would be published in 1930.

In the News

May 8th, 1930 in the Prescott Evening Courier:

1947

Harold In Flight

Today I discovered this remarkable footage taken by Harold McCormick while in flight with his pilot; Charles C. Witmer. Many people aren't aware that Harold was an aviation aficionado, or that he owned a few aeroplanes at the beginning of the twentieth century. One of them, the "Edith," was actually housed in a hanger on the beach at Villa Turicum. Harold would frequently fly from Lake Forest to Chicago - landing in Grant Park, the city's only airfield at the time.

At the end of the summer season in 1913, "Mme. X" wrote in her column News of the Society World: "Another of the summer's features at Lake Forest - Harold McCormick's flying boat, Edith - is out of commision and tucked away in it's winter quarters; it's keeper or exploiter, C.L. Witmer has gone to other flying grounds, and locally aviation is ended for the year." 

This footage (c.1913-1914) is remarkable as it captures the Chicago lakefront in the years prior to WWI. Most notable is the expanse of East Lake Shore Dr., with only two of Benjamin Marshall's luxe buildings  constructed thus far.

Of course Edith herself  made it into News of the Society World as well that September of 1913. Mme. X wrote: "Perhaps some day Mrs. Harold McCormick's scheme of a chain of islands and harbors stretching from the naval station to Chicago may be realized and suburban residents may still have other means of transit from home to office." Indeed:

Photos of Harold, the "Edith" and Charles Witmer can be viewed on the Villa Turicum website, here.