World's most expensive pearl necklace: When Calvin Klein gifted ex-wife $4.8 million jewel that belonged to Queen Mary

The iconic Wallis Simpson pearl necklace, originally owned by Queen Mary, features 28 natural pearls and a diamond clasp, gifted to Kelly Klein by Calvin Klein.

Calvin Klein's romantic life has attracted nearly as much attention as his fashion line. The interest rekindled when he was featured in Love Story: John F Kennedy Jr and Carolyn Bessette. He first married his high school sweetheart, Jayne Centre, in 1964, and was also married to Kelly Klein from 1986 to 2006. Like his marriages, the designer's once gave Kelly a million-dollar gift that also grabbed many eyeballs.

Calvin Klein with his ex-wife Kelly Klein.

The iconic designer, who launched his namesake brand in 1968, had gifted his then-wife a $4.8 million pearl necklace. The Wallis Simpson pearl necklace, which came with a set of matching earrings, is the world’s most expensive pearl necklace. Reportedly, he had purchased it at Sotheby’s Geneva auction for $3,00,700. 20 years later, she sold it for $3,625,000.

History of the Wallis Simpson pearl necklace

The necklace originally belonged to American socialite Wallis Simpson, the wife of Prince Edward, Duke of Windsor. The necklace belonged to the duke’s mother, Queen Mary. Signed by Cartier, the necklace features 28 thick natural pearls, a diamond clasp, and a natural pearl with a diamond cap, suspended from a horseshoe-shaped structure.

She had paired the necklace with original Van Cleef earrings - one a white gold piece surrounded by 16 pear-cut diamonds and 32 brilliant-cut diamonds, and the other, identical in shape, boasts a slate grey pearl. The first earring was gifted by Lord Mountbatten, and the other was gifted by Prince Edward, who designed it in collaboration with Cartier and Van Cleef & Arpels.

The pearls in the necklace vary from round to near-round, button, oval and near-baroque. Meanwhile, the pendant is a large natural pearl, weighing 9.53 grams.

The most expensive pearl necklace

15 years later, they fell into the hands of Kelly Klein. Simpson died on April 24, 1986, and some of her possessions were auctioned off by Sotheby’s in Geneva. Later, Kelly first wore the jewellery at the 2006 Costume Gala and the 1989 CFDA Awards, unexpectedly channelling the Windsors’ glamour.

“The first time I wore them, it created a lot of drama. I hadn’t realised just how much buzz there was surrounding these pearls. All evening long, people came up to me and asked, ‘Are those the pearls?’ It was quite a spectacle,” Kelly told W magazine in 2007, calling the pearls ‘the ultimate feminine jewel.’

According to Sotheby’s jewellery expert, Catherine Becket, “Queen Mary handed the Pearls down to her son Edward VIII, bequeathing the accidents of mother-nature to Wallis Simpson as her way of reconciliation, “perhaps, not of approval, but a sort of approval of Wallis”.