Henry Marcus took pity on a 14-year-old dropout from New Jersey. Marcus, who formerly worked at Tiffany and was striking out on his own, hired the boy (whose father was a railroad worker), as a doorman. The lad was mesmerized by the powerful clientele and the fantastic jewelry that Marcus & Co. had.
That lad, Raymond Yard, rose through the ranks, learning a lot about gemstones. A Marcus customer, John D. Rockefeller, encouraged Yard to strike out on his own and he did.
With Rockefeller’s backing, Yard started competing with his former mentor and Tiffany! Yard used only the finest gemstones. His reputation was established and continues.
This week, a New York City jeweler emailed us about an amazing brooch, complete with remarkable provenance. Not only is it signed, but with natural color diamonds, fine Burma rubies, and a rare 10mm Pinctada natural pearl with exceptional nacre and luster. Katrina, a GIA pearl certificate holder, was smitten.
But there’s more.
It came with a 1940s-era magazine advertisement (we date it by the wartime excise tax), showing a rendering of the exact same peacock brooch. That’s “icing on the cake” collectors dream about.
It was expensive. (New Yorkers seem to get all the good stuff and the high prices.) The price of $10,000 was firm, with no room for negotiation. We took the plunge and paid for the GIA papers.
Our price is $14,500 in the store. And if it doesn’t sell? Well, I might get the piece reclassified … not as inventory, but on loan to the Katrina Hess collection.
