Windsor

On October 10, Christie's will host an auction of jewelry from the collection of actress—and recent divorcer of billionaire Ron Perelman—Ellen Barkin.

Among the more than 100 objects from her collection, a 22.76 carat diamond ring is expected to fetch $800,000 to $1,200,000. A ruby and emerald Art Deco evening bag formerly belonging to the Duchess of Windsor is estimated at $60,000 to $80,000.

The New York viewing will begin on October 6.

The Transom is pleased to announce the appointment of Trevor Butterworth as its official correspondent on the luxury goods market of Manhattan. For too long, this column has turned its demi-Marxist nose up at $20,000 timepieces, rugs threaded with precious metals, and jewel-encrusted whatnots. Consider this attitude, as of right now, thoroughly corrected!

Dazzling though the diamonds may be, the most striking reminder of Princess Margaret now on display at Christies in Rockefeller Center is a smallish ivory-toned photograph, a copy of the photograph that is lot number 542. The photograph itself carries an estimate of £500-800. (The collection, formally called Property from the Collection of Her Royal Highness The Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdown, has highlights on view in New York through June 7; next stop is London, before the auction there on June 13 and 14.)  read more »

Taken by Cecil Beaton in 1965, the photograph shows Margaret, then aged 35, with her arms crossed, directly facing the camera. She has the look of someone who imagines herself the only woman in a world populated by adoring men. And she looks adorable: the spell of power and vulnerability is so utterly mesmerizing that it eclipses everything else in the room; Margaret is terrible and beautiful and proud and, in the arc of her life, already doomed.

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