Jayne Wrightsman's Jewelry Collection Was the Stuff of Legend

When philanthropist and socialite Jayne Wrightsman died last Saturday at the age of 99, she was rightly lauded for her impeccable eye for fine art and antiques Starting in the 1950s, she and her late husband, former Standard Oil of Kansas president Charles Wrightsman, studied, purchased, and lived with rare paintings by European masters and exquisite pieces of 18th-century French furniture and decorative art, many of which they ultimately donated to the Metropolitan Museum of Art.Less known is the fact that Jayne was a connoisseur of fine jewelry, and her possessions the subject of fevered speculation In 2012, Sotheby's auctioned some of Wrightsman's jewelry with pieces from the collection of Estée Lauder, and the total of the combined sale was $64 million, a then one-day record for the auction house.

"Mrs Wrightsman was a great connoisseur, so her collection was very much design-driven In the Lauder collection, there was a heavy emphasis on important gemstones" Although Wrightsman had an excellent sense for what would appreciate in value, she bought jewelry primarily to wear.

Wrightsman developed close relationships with many top jewelers and collaborated with some on pieces they made for her When buying art and antiques, Wrightsman was interested in provenance and culturally significant moments and the same held true for jewelry. . Source