So last weekend I was scrolling through auction house archives again – yeah, I know, wild Saturday night – and suddenly thought, man, Wallis Simpson had some serious bling back in the day. People keep saying “iconic pieces” but like, which ones actually mattered? Decided I had to figure out the top five myself. How hard could it be?
Turns out, stupidly hard. My first mistake was just Googling “Wallis Simpson jewels”. Holy moly, every fancy magazine article said something different. One site claims Cartier made this giant emerald thing, another swears it was Van Cleef. Nobody had the same pictures either! Found myself down a rabbit hole comparing blurry black-and-white photos from like 1937. My eyes started crossing after an hour.
Right, needed a plan. Grabbed my laptop and fired up three tabs: one for Christie’s past sales catalogues (thank god they archive that stuff), one for the Cartier online heritage collection, and one old-school – pulled out my dusty copy of that heavy biography “That Woman” by Anne Sebba. Figured checking real auction records and what the actual jewellers said they made was smarter than trusting random lists.
Started scribbling notes. The Cartier panther bracelet? Absolutely everywhere, Christie’s sold it in 2010 for mad cash, Cartier themselves brag about it. Made the list. Then that flamingo clip thing? Van Cleef & Arpels archives confirmed it, plus it’s in tons of photos where you can actually see her wearing it. List number two. This felt like detective work, honestly.
But then came the arguments. Everyone goes on about the “Prince of Wales Feathers” brooch Edward gave her. Okay, super famous story, super personal. But finding real proof that Cartier made that specific piece Edward designed… like pulling teeth! Old Cartier records are messy! Almost gave up until I found this obscure interview snippet in an old Sotheby’s PDF where a former Cartier designer casually mentioned it. Jackpot! Eyeballs were saved. Brooch made number three.
The fourth one was messy. Cross-referencing got brutal. That diamond and onyx “mystery clock”? Cartier heritage site lists it as hers, but the actual auction listing description when it later sold was annoyingly vague about her direct ownership. Had to dig through Sebba’s book again – phew, she mentions it specifically. Fine. Clock gets spot four.
Then, number five… ugh. Flip-flopped like crazy. Was it the huge amethyst “cat’s eye” necklace? Lots of talk, but photos proving she owned that specific one are shaky. What about the huge sapphire engagement ring? Definitely hers, but kinda gets lumped in with the other stuff, less visually iconic than the animals or clips. Settled on the diamond-set “My Wallis” bracelet Edward gave her. Christie’s sold it in their big 1987 auction of her stuff, and the inscription seals it – sappy but historically solid.
So, after basically turning my dining table into a detective board covered in sticky notes and empty coffee mugs, here’s my final top five. Learned the hard way you gotta trust the paperwork, not the gossip!
Top 5 Most Famous Wallis Simpson Jewels:
- Cartier Panther Bracelet (no surprise there!)
- Van Cleef & Arpels Flamingo Brooch (looks crazy, totally hers)
- “Prince of Wales Feathers” Brooch by Cartier (the royal drama piece)
- Cartier Diamond & Onyx Mystery Clock (weird and wonderful)
- “My Wallis” Diamond Bracelet (proof that Edward was seriously lovesick)
