The Hartington Opal Necklace, Made By Cartier, Makes Its Red Carpet Debut

The press tour for the new Wuthering Heights adaptation has brought us some interesting jewelry moments, including a special Cartier opal appearance on the red carpet in London last week.

“Wuthering Heights” director Emerald Fennell stepped out for the film’s London premiere wearing a red Vivienne Westwood gown with a very special opal and diamond necklace. (As her name suggests, Emerald knows a thing or two about gems. Her father is the jewelry designer Theo Fennell.)

The jewel is made of platinum and set with diamonds and fabulous black opals, which have intense multicolored fire. As the Art Deco design elements of the piece suggest, it was made in the 1930s. It’s also, thrillingly, convertible, as it can be placed on a frame and worn as a tiara.

The jewel was commissioned from Cartier in the coronation year of 1937 by Edward Cavendish, Marquess of Hartington, who was then heir to the Devonshire dukedom. The piece was displayed in the recent Cartier exhibition at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, and the accompanying book revealed more about the source of the opals: “According to family tradition, the gems, which are of exceptional quality and probably Australian, were supplied by the client, Mary Alice Cavendish—they were a gift from her husband, Edward, Marquess of Hartington, given to her while they were on a government tour of Australia and New Zealand in 1936-37.”

The Marquess and Marchioness of Hartington became Duke and Duchess of Devonshire in 1938. Twelve years later, the Duke passed away. But the Dowager Duchess, then just 55, soldiered on with public life, serving as Mistress of the Robes to Queen Elizabeth II from 1953 until 1967. Mary memorably wore the opal and diamond necklace for Elizabeth’s coronation in June 1953.

The necklace/tiara also features another exciting convertible feature: some of the individual opal and diamond elements can be removed and worn separately as clip brooches. Mary wears two of them on her jacket here in a photo taken during the 1940s.

The Cartier exhibition book attributed the necklace to a “private collection,” but, interestingly, it was Sotheby’s that loaned the necklace to Emerald Fennell for the film premiere last week. A press release from the auction house notes that the event was the first time that Sotheby’s had loaned jewelry for a red carpet appearance in the United Kingdom.

The release also explains that the appearance was “the first time the highly original and dazzling necklace has been worn in public in over 70 years,” adding that the necklace “is estimated at £700,000 – £1 million.” (What is left out of the press release, interestingly, is any mention of the Cavendish family.) I’m guessing we’ll see the Hartington opals heading to auction sooner rather than later?

In case you missed it, there was another blockbuster jewelry moment on a red carpet during the film’s press tour at the end of January, when star Margot Robbie borrowed the Taj Mahal Diamond, once owned by Elizabeth Taylor, for the Hollywood premiere. We discussed the diamond in much more detail in last week’s free Wednesday newsletter over at Hidden Gems.