Today marks the 95th Anniversary of the Birth of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, who was born on this day in 1929! The glamorous First Lady of the assassinated President John F Kennedy, who later married Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis, Jackie Kennedy may not have been a Royal or Noble but had a spectacular jewellery collection, which included these magnificent Van Cleef & Arpels Diamond Earrings!
Diamond Sunburst Brooch | Diamond Clips | Diamond Earrings
The future President John F Kennedy gave these spectacular Van Cleef & Arpels Diamond Earrings as gift to Jacqueline Kennedy on the birth of their first child, Caroline Kennedy, in 1957.
In January 1961, the First Lady wore her Van Cleef & Arpels Diamond Earrings for the President’s Inaugural Ball in Washington.
Later that year, Mrs Kennedy wore her Van Cleef & Arpels Diamond Earrings with her Diamond Leaf Clips in Paris and also for a Dinner hosted by the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh at Buckingham Palace.
First Lady Jackie Kennedy wore the Diamond Earrings with her new Diamond Sunburst Brooch for two Banquets during the Shah of Iran and Empress Farah’s State Visit to the United States in April 1962, in addition to numerous appearances of the Earrings at White House State Dinners, including a Dinner for Grand Duchess Charlotte of Luxembourg in 1963.
First Lady Jackie Kennedy also wore her Van Cleef & Arpels Diamond Earrings on Foreign Tours, like her visit to Pakistan and India in 1962 and in Mexico later that year.
Jackie Kennedy continued to wear the Van Cleef & Arpels Diamond Earrings in the years after the President’s assassination in 1963, including a notable appearance at the Seville Fair in 1966.
Like her Diamond Sunburst Brooch, Jackie Kennedy Onassis continued to wear her Van Cleef & Arpels Diamond Earrings into the 1970s and 1980s, including at the New York Public Library in 1984.
In 1993, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis wore the Van Cleef & Arpels Diamond Earrings for the Opening of the American Ballet Theater Season at the Lincoln Center in New York.
After Jackie Kennedy’s death in 1994, the Van Cleef & Arpels Diamond Earrings were inherited by her only daughter, Caroline, who has worn them on several occasions, including theAmerican Ballet Theatre’s Spring Gala Dedicated to the late Jackie Onassis at American Ballet Theatre in New York in 1995.
Caroline Kennedy also wore her mother’s Van Cleef & Arpels Diamond Earrings for the American Ballet Theatre Opening Gala at the Metropolitan Opera House in 1999.
The Van Cleef & Arpels Diamond Earrings were also worn by Caroline Kennedy at the American Ballet Theatre Gala at the Lincoln Center in New York City in 2001.
Caroline Kennedy also wore her mother’s Van Cleef & Arpels Diamond Earrings at the Metropolitan Museum’s Costume Institute Gala to celebrate the ‘Jacqueline Kennedy: The White House Years’ Exhibition in 2001.
Caroline Kennedy also honoured her mother by wearing the Earrings at the American Ballet Theater 67th Annual Spring Gala at the Metropolitan Opera House in 2007. Let’s hope these spectacular heirlooms are worn again soon!
Diamond Sunburst Brooch | Diamond Clips | Diamond Earrings
