Jewelry for a diva – Style

December 2 marked the 100th anniversary of the birth of the great opera singer Maria Callas. She was born in New York into a family of Greek immigrants who moved overseas shortly before her birth. The girl’s vocal talents emerged at a fairly young age, and her professional debut happened on the stage of the Royal Athens Opera, when Callas was not yet 20. The development of the opera career of the singer, owner of a unique soprano, was greatly facilitated by the wealthy Italian industrialist Giovanni Battista Meneghini, who first became her impresario, and then a spouse, despite the 28-year age difference. From him, Callas received her first jewelry as a gift. Subsequently, they became part of her bright stage images: Norma in Bellini’s opera of the same name, Amina in his “La Sonnambula,” Floria Tosca in Puccini’s opera and many others.

After the brilliant premiere of Cherubini’s Medea at La Scala in December 1953, Meneghini presented her with a ruby ​​and diamond necklace, bracelet and clips, which became one of her favorite pieces of jewelry. The jewelry was purchased at the Faraone jewelry store in Milan, which represented, among others, the American brand Harry Winston. This gives experts reason to believe that the jewelry was produced by jewelers of this brand, although there is no official confirmation of this.

Another gift from Meneghini – and also without the name of the manufacturer – was a set with emeralds and diamonds, which included a necklace, bracelet, a pair of earrings and a ring with a large step-cut stone weighing 37.56 carats. Callas received it after her brilliant debut performance as Violetta in La Traviata (1955). The premiere of Luchino Visconti’s production also took place on the stage of La Scala.

Callas rarely went on stage without jewelry. She did not recognize costume jewelry, preferring precious parures with colored stones and diamonds. Especially for her performances, she borrowed jewelry from prestigious jewelry houses or wore her own.

Greek tycoon Aristotle Onassis also gave jewelry to Maria Callas – their stormy romance began in 1959, and in 1968 Onassis married Jacqueline Kennedy, which Callas learned about from the newspapers. “Ari’s entire idea of ​​women comes from the Van Cleef & Arpels catalog,” the singer joked. They met in 1957 in Venice at a party thrown by socialite Elsa Maxwell. That evening, Callas wore an emerald necklace, a gift from her husband, and accessorized her hair with two Flame diamond brooches from Van Cleef & Arpels. She generally loved things from this French house, especially a gold evening bag, a bracelet and earrings with corals, diamonds and turquoise (a gift from Onassis) and a brooch in the form of a leaf with six Burmese rubies weighing 15.77 carats, with which she often pinned her dress on the left shoulder in the manner of Greek tunic.

Pearls are another favorite of the opera diva, and certainly a large one. She wore both a classic string of pearls and multi-row collar necklaces, complementing them with long earrings with large teardrop-shaped pearls.

Maria Callas died on September 16, 1977 in Paris without leaving a will. After her death, the opera diva’s fortune, estimated at $8 million, was claimed by her ex-husband Giovanni Battista Meneghini and her mother Evangelia Kalogeropoulos and her sister. Most of Callas’s jewelry heritage was sold at Sotheby’s auction in 2004.

Nina Spiridonova