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According to the Gem Society, wearing jewelry dates back to 25,000 years ago. One of the earliest pieces of jewelry found was a fishbone necklace uncovered in a cave in Monaco, a country located on the northern coast of the Mediterranean Sea.
Archaeologists have also found jewelry from ancient civilizations worldwide, including ancient Egypt, Iran and the Mediterranean. For thousands of years, people have used jewelry for many purposes, including trade, gifts to the gods, spiritual significance and even protection.
Today, jewelry continues to be a way for people to showcase their personalities, give precious gifts and increase their net worths. Jewelry is valued not only because of the materials it is made from but also because of the creativity of the designers who make it. Below are several famous jewelry collections of the super-rich.
Kazumi Arikawa
While the phrase “jewelry collection” might conjure up images of queens and famous female celebrities, Kazumi Arikawa breaks the mold.
Arikawa is a wealthy Japanese jewelry collector with a collection valued close to $500 million, according to the Financial Times. As part of his collection, Arikawa has 170 historical tiaras.
Interestingly, Arikawa used to be a Buddhist monk but left and began working in the jewelry business. His company, Albion Art, buys and sells jewelry and conducts historical research.
Arikawa’s goal is to preserve as much jewelry as possible through museum preservation. He explains that he funds his collections thanks to the generosity of sponsors and through working with banks, rather than from his personal wealth.
Heidi Horten
Heidi Horten was an Austrian billionaire who died in 2022, days after she opened her own museum in Vienna to share her collection with the world.
In 2023, Christie’s auction house had a record-breaking sale of Heidi Horten’s collection, The World of Heidi Horten. The collection featured 700 high-end jewelry pieces. Horten’s estate put these pieces up for auction to fund her wishes to donate money to philanthropic causes.
The collection was initially valued at $150 million, but it exceeded expectations and raised $202 million.
Horten’s wealth came from her marriage to Helmet Horten, a German businessman who increased his fortune by purchasing Jewish businesses that Nazis forced the owners to sell.
Because of Helmet Horten’s history, Christie’s auction house agreed to donate part of its commission as well to organizations that conduct Holocaust research and education. Although the auction house intended to have more than one sale, Christie’s canceled the second auction due to the controversy surrounding Horten’s husband’s ties to the Nazis.
Elizabeth Taylor
Elizabeth Taylor, a well-known actress who passed in 2011, was known for her extravagant jewelry collection. She owned an incredible array of pieces by jewelry designers such as Bulgari.
Taylor married numerous times, and her most famous husband was Richard Burton, who she married twice. Burton lavished her with jewels including an 18-carat Colombian emerald and a spectacular natural pearl called La Peregrina. La Peregrina was once owned by Spanish royalty, according to an article in Tatler.
Another well-known piece was Taylor’s nearly 70-carat diamond, called the Taylor-Burton Diamond.
After Taylor’s death, Christie’s hosted a live auction with 80 lots of Taylor’s jewelry. The collection garnered nearly $116 million. The La Peregrina pearl was part of the collection and the highest-earning piece in the auction at nearly $12 million.
Ellen Barkin
Ellen Barkin, who is currently 70, is an actress who was married to billionaire Revlon executive Ronald Perelman for six years. After Perelman served her with divorce papers, Barkin went to famed auction house Christie’s with her incredibly valuable jewelry collection that included pieces designed by JAR.
JAR stands for Joel Arthur Rosenthal. He is an American jewelry designer who only creates 70 to 80 pieces a year. Because his pieces are rare, jewelry collectors pay top dollar for his intricate designs and craftsmanship.
Barkin’s collection at Christie’s had an astonishing 17 pieces by JAR. As such, Christie’s called it “one of the most important collections to have appeared at auction.”
Barkin’s collection earned over $20 million at auction. The prize was a diamond ring weighing nearly 23 carats, which earned just over $1.8 million at auction.
Jewelry has long been a symbol of wealth, and the famous collections above are no exception. Many of these priceless pieces went to private sellers at auction, but thanks to the vision of some of the collectors who cherished them, many other pieces will be on display at museums for generations to come.
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