Two heiresses, born days apart in New York City, had many similarities in their lives including spectacular jewelry collections. Both the press and the public were fascinated by these two rich girls — Doris Duke and Barbara Hutton — who both lost a parent at a very early age, married multiple times (even to the same man) and faced media scrutiny for their every move. Dubbed the “Gold Dust Twins” by the media, they were at times friends and other times the best of enemies, they attended each other’s coming out parties, made the Best Dressed List and were both removed from the New York Social Register for their scandalous lifestyles. Through it all they both managed to acquire enviable jewels.
Barbara Hutton: The Million Dollar Baby
Barbara Hutton was the granddaughter of the founder of Woolworth’s, a chain of retail stores, on her mother’s side, her father was a banker and the co-founder of the financial firm E.F. Hutton. At birth the press nicknamed her “the million dollar baby”. When she was either four or six-years old, accounts vary as to her age, Barbara found her mother dead, an event which impacted her for life. She lived with relatives growing up, moving from location to location.
When Barbara turned 18, in 1930, she had by all accounts a very extravagant coming out party complete with multiple events, including a ball, that generated much criticism and outrage for such an overt display of wealth, when the depression had recently taken hold and people were standing in soup lines for food. After this event, the media continued to follow Barbara for the rest of her life. When she turned 21, Barbara inherited somewhere around $50 million. Her spending was so over-the-top that public outrage prompted boycotts and strikes against Woolworth’s. She lived a life of luxury with several homes, clothes, jewelry and seven marriages. She was married to actor Cary Grant, as well as to three princes, a baron, a count and an international playboy, most of whom helped to drain her bank account with large settlements when they divorced.
Barbara Hutton’s Jewelry
Jade was a favorite of Barbara’s, so when she married Prince Alexis Mdivani, her father gave her a jadeite bead necklace as a wedding gift. Soon after she had the clasp changed by Cartier. A favorite jeweler, she owned a number of pieces from the design house. The clasp featured rubies, diamonds, gold and platinum in a circular form. It sold at a Hong Kong Sotheby’s auction in 2014 to the Cartier Collection for $27.44 million.
Barbara loved pearls, acquiring a strand once owned by Marie Antoinette. The strand became a favorite and Barbara had it restrung a few times to lengthen and shorten it according to the whims of fashion.
Another of her treasured jewels was the Pasha Diamond, set in a ring by Cartier. The 40-carat diamond had belonged to Ibrahim Pasha, Viceroy of Egypt during the Ottoman Empire. He was overthrown and exiled in 1879, fleeing the country and taking the diamond with him. It ended up with King Farouk in 1933, who sold it to Bulgari, who then sold it to Barbara. In addition to Bulgari, Barbara had numerous pieces from Cartier in her collection as well as from Van Cleef & Arpels including a Spirit of Beauty fairy brooch.
As the years passed, Barbara became addicted to alcohol and drugs. Her fortune dwindled and when she died at the Los Angeles Beverly Wilshire hotel in 1979, she had only $3,500 in her bank account.
Doris Duke: The Richest Girl in the World
Doris Duke was the daughter of James Duke, who in 1890 formed the American Tobacco Company. When Doris was 12, her father passed away, telling her to “never trust anyone”, just before he died, leaving her most of his fortune. That’s when the press dubbed her “the richest girl in the world” and from that moment on, Doris made every effort to avoid media attention. Doris, who had an eye for design and was a collector of Islamic art, often had a hand in the making of her custom jewelry.
In 1935, when she was 22, Doris married James Cromwell, an up and coming politician who served as U.S. Ambassador to Canada and ran an unsuccessful campaign for the U.S. senate. The couple built Shangri La, a house in Hawaii, before divorcing in 1943. In 1947 she married Porfirio Rubirosa, a diplomat from the Dominican Republic with a reputation as a ladies man (he later married Barbara Hutton), the duo divorced the following year and Duke never remarried, instead she had many high profile affairs. She also had a rather adventurous life, learning to surf, play jazz piano and in 1945 she was a foreign correspondent for International News Service, reporting on the war in Europe. After World War II she worked at Harper’s Bazaar in Paris for a brief time.
Doris Duke’s Jewelry
Doris had a museum worthy jewelry collection and in fact some pieces landed in the Smithsonian Institute in Washington D.C. including a Belle Epoque Cartier floral motif diamond necklace with over 400 diamonds in various shapes and sizes.
She also had an emerald bead necklace thought to have been acquired in India during her two year honeymoon with Cromwell. She often purchased gemstones during her travels, taking them to various jewelers including David Webb to set. She had a penchant for Cartier, Seaman Schepps and Tiffany & Co. as well as a collection of Mughal jewelry.
Doris Duke died in Los Angeles in 1993, after naming her butler Bernard Lafferty, who had been with her for years, the executor of her will. He died a couple of years later. In 2004, The Doris Duke jewelry collection, comprised of 150 pieces, was auctioned at Christie’s New York, garnering $11.9 million. The money benefited The Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, which supports medical research, child welfare and environmental causes.
Doris Duke and Barbara Hutton, sometimes friends, sometimes rivals, both extremely wealthy and both with stellar jewelry collections that revealed a love of beauty and refinement.
Top: Doris Duke, from the 1951 edition of The Chanticleer, the yearbook of Duke University, courtesy WikiCommons; Barbara Hutton, from the Los Angeles Times, 1930s, courtesy, WikiCommons.
Authored by Amber Michelle