When thinking of famous jewelry in the movies, Gone With The Wind isn’t a film that typically springs to mind. But we shouldn’t let this iconic film’s jewelry go unappreciated. If you think about it, the O’Hara family was pretty wealthy until the ravages of war came home to roost. And we know that Rhett was quite the entrepreneur and made money hand over fist during the reconstruction. But there was also his friend Madam Belle – she had done well during the war and was herself a very wealthy woman. Even the staff (we’re going to call them that, not to be disrespectful, but because we really dislike the other term(s) used) had jewelry in the movie. Mammy had a brooch on at the scarf around her neck, a ring and earrings in most scenes.
But we’ll stick with Scarlett for tonight since her jewelry alone offers up plenty to discuss. Where do we start? Maybe with the large gold brooch she wore with her mourning outfit? It was actually borrowed from the costume designer’s mother! But…. which brooch is it?! Miss Scarlett lost a couple of husbands before marrying handsome Rhett. And then there was the loss of her daughter. We haven’t been able to determine which one was the borrowed piece, so we have included at least three in our photos here; all fairly spectacular.
Then there was the restaurant dining scene with Rhett. She’s decked out to the nines and shoving fabulous food in her mouth non-stop (photo at the top). Most of the pieces in that scene are costume, created by famous movie jewelry designer Eugene Joseff. He was a smart man. After heading to Hollywood in the ‘30s to make his fortune, he was wise enough to realize if he made jewelry for a movie and sold it to the movie house, it was gone forever, but if he instead rented it out, he could do so eight or 10 times each. That led to a beyond-words collection that is, for the moment, still intact. It is about to be auctioned off, piece by piece, this coming November by @Juliens_Auctions out of Culver City, CA. Yes, you can own a piece of Hollywood movie jewelry history, if you can get your trigger finger ready to hit enter on your keyboard fast enough come November 18 -19th.
We’ve added a few additional favorites of Scarlett all blinged out: like the body hugging red evening gown scene – if only we could see those earrings up close! Her “coral” necklace from the opening scene of the picnic at her family’s home. And a picture featuring Rhett Butler’s one-of-a-kind cigar case, as well as his belt buckle and Scarlett O’Hara’s necklace from the aforementioned dining scene.
Which piece of jewelry from Gone With The Wind is your favorite? Tell us in the comments. We’d love to compare notes! And we’ll see you in November with our much exercised and trigger happy “enter” finger.
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7 Responses
The brooch Scarlett wore when she was in mourning will always be my favorite. Gorgeous beyond words!!
If you look closely, there were actually two (remember, she lost two husbands). But the larger one is the more memorable and has the great story to go along with it! And seems oh so very Scarlett. 😉
The coral necklace she wears at the Wilkes’ is my favorite. I’ve always wanted to find a similar one so that I could give it to my mother as a present: she’ s a fan of it too!
I had forgotten about the coral necklace and had to go down the google rabbit hole. It’s lovely and I occasionally see necklaces similar, but most are in the UK and coral can’t be shipped out of country, so I never get to purchase any. If you can find one, it would make a lovely gift!
If you are still interested, there is a beautiful replica of the coral BBQ necklace available on Etsy! There is also a replica available at gwtw4ever!
I would like more info from anyone on Mammy’s jewelry.
Only recently noticed her ring from the opening scene and deeply admire the actress who played her.
I wish we had more info on the pieces she wore. We’ve researched them and best we can tell they were made by the same costume jeweler that made most of the pieces in the film. Much of his work was auctioned off in November.