Portrait of Dora Maar in ink and color pencil by Picasso set in carved yellow gold ring and polychrome enamel band, c. 1936-1939

At the auction, a chrome-metal watch with a brass plaque engraved with a portrait of Maar sold for about $63,000 – 19 times its estimated value of $3,300. A portrait ring in a metal frame of lattice flower work, estimated at about $16,500, sold for almost $108,000. An oval brooch with a colored pencil portrait of Maar fetched nearly $70,000. Not bad for quick sketches set in existing mounts.

“The sentimental value was what drove the prices up,” said jewelry expert Philippe Serret, who valued the jewelry for auction. He insists the estimates were not low, but that there were no precedents for mementos made by Picasso for a lover.

It was Maar’s face, with her intense dark eyes, regal nose, and rounded chin, that the artist was painting obsessively when he began distorting images, a style now considered his trademark. Her face appeared over and over during his prolific War years, looking increasingly tortured as the romance progressed. “Dora has always been a weeping woman for me,” Picasso would say, according to Pierre Cabanne in Pablo Picasso: His Life and times, 1977.”For years I painted her in tortured forms, not out of sadism or pleasure. . . . It was Dora’s profound reality.”

"Dora Maar au foulard" pencil drawing on board by Pablo Picasso, set in large open-worked steel brooch with simulated marcasite border, c. 1936-1939

Most of the jewelry Picasso made for Maar features miniature versions of this distorted portrait, mostly sketched in color pencil and mounted in metal brooches and rings. Picasso did not do any metalwork, merely inserted his drawings into existing jewelry that ranged from gold and enamel to steel with simulated marcasite.

“This was a woman who would not accept conventional jewelry,” says Serret, who cataloged the collection in addition to valuing the jewelry. “These were the only kinds of jewels she would accept.”

It was the more primitive carved amulets that I found most charming. During vacations with Maar along the French Mediterranean, Picasso would collect stones and pottery shards on the beach and engrave images into them with his pocket knife. These engravings were more commonly known among his friends than the miniature framed portraits.

“Ever since the Boisgeloup period, when a new inspiration gave birth to a rich production, he contented himself with making little sculptures, often inspired by lucky finds of bones or pebbles on which he carved classic profiles, heads of horned gods or monsters,” wrote Roland Penrose in Portrait de Picasso, 1956. (“Boisgeloup” was the country estate Picasso bought in 1932, 40 miles from Paris, whose vast grounds and open spaces allowed him to begin seriously exploring sculpture.)

Tête de Faune pendant amulet of engraved soft stone and Femme Qui Pleure engraved terra cotta amulet made by Pablo Picasso for Dora Maar, c. 1937

“I make things on the beach,” Picasso told Penrose. “The pebbles are so beautiful that I feel like carving them all . . . and the sea sculpts them so beautifully, gives them such pure and full shapes, that only a little effort is needed for us to make them into works of art. . . . Some of them suggest heads of women or fauns. . . .” And, of course, Picasso considered himself the true authority on the sea’s artistic intentions.  Two young boys once brought him a pebble, he said. “They claimed it was the head of a dog until I showed them that in reality it was a typewriter.”

Though a few were actually stone, among the engraved “beach pebbles” in Maar’s stash, most were of terra cotta, some with holes at the top so that she could wear them as amulets. A few were engraved with her portraits or the head of a satyr. Estimated between $1,000 and $8,300, they sold for eight times that on average. A portrait of Maar engraved on a bone amulet sold for $53,000 (estimated at $6,600) and a fawn engraved on terra cotta, estimated at $4,140, brought $34,770….

Continued: Jewelry by Picasso: the secret stash of Dora Maar, part 3

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Alexander Calder’s jewelry: going mobile

Salvador Dali: bejeweled surrealism

Jewelry by famous artists

Related product: (Purchasing through links on this site does not cost you more, but it does put a few pennies toward the continuation of this blog.)

                          

Ralph Esmerian arrested in November

Manhattan federal Judge Denise Cote also ordered Esmerian to perform 1,800 hours of community service and forfeit $20 million. Esmerian is 71.

Accused of defrauding creditors while seeking bankruptcy protection for Fred Leighton, Esmerian pleaded guilty in April to wire and bankruptcy fraud and concealing assets.

“Ralph Esmerian tried to game the financial system and the bankruptcy process for years to finance his businesses,” Manhattan District Attorney Preet Bharara said. “As a result of his frauds, the lenders who trusted him have lost tens of millions of dollars.”

The sentence puts the final disgrace on a respected family legacy. Esmerian and his forefathers were among the world’s most famous gem and jewelry experts, relied on by top-tier jewelry houses like Cartier. For the fascinating back story on Esmerian and a look at some of the treasures that made his fortune and reputation, check out these posts:

Bankruptcy sale of Ralph Esmerian’s historic jewelry

Ralph Esmerian: rise and fall of a jewelry connoisseur

Ralph Esmerian: lost legacy of jewels

Christie’s sells Fred Leighton jewels

                          

Personally, I preferred The Wind Cries Mary and, of course, Hey Joe and Wild Thing. I love his guitar playing but I love too his sad, soulful delivery. Having just watched footage of his performances at Monterrey and Woodstock, I have to say: you need to see Hendrix in action. How cool he moved! How fabulous he looked. And what a lot of jewelry he wore!

You have to be one bad dude to pull off orange velveteen bell bottoms, tie-dyed silk blouses, pink boas, masses of pearls and gems. Hendrix wasn’t rocking the scary death crosses and skulls of the classic rocker. He was wearing love beads, and brooches on his hats.

Jimi started his career at Harlem but found more creative freedom in the Village, where it was considered perfectly acceptable that a black musician considered Bob Dylan a major influence.

However, it wasn’t New York but mid-sixties London where Hendrix really found his personal style and launched his career. He was a major pop star there before he ever topped the charts in the U.S. It was in London that he discovered the vintage clothing shops where he found many of his signature pieces, including that full-regalia military jacket he performed in (above).

Sometimes, as at Woodstock, his costumes referred to his Cherokee heritage with long fringed leather jackets, head bands, layers of turquoise beads and rings.

Towards the end, it was anything goes. At first he seemed to be copping Little Richard with the mad hair – he traveled with pink hair rollers – and pencil-thin mustauche.

Little Richard supposedly criticized Hendrix for copying his look in the early days

He was every bit as flamboyant as Little Richard – for whom he played backup in his early days and from whom he picked up some obvious style tips.  Prince later stole some of his own stage presence from Hendrix, including the pink boas and  military jackets (stage right). But in the end, each just made it easier for the next to find his own wild thang – while paying tribute to those who came before.

In his performances, it was Chuck Berry (above left) that Hendrix paid tribute to, throwing a little of Berry’s famous chicken walk into his acrobatic performances. Later, Prince would do the same with Berry’s splits – as well as Hendrix’s boas.

Despite the fact that Hendrix was getting more and more flamboyant and feminine in his clothing choices in the final days, turning up on TV talk shows wearing an embroidered, sky blue silk kimono, for example – he lacked the hint of the queen that Little Richard and Prince flaunted. Maybe he beat the effeminate out of his persona by destroying his guitars, humping his speakers – roadies used to have to hold them up so they didn’t fall off the stage – and threatening to set the stage on fire? (I wrote this magazine story about the astronomical prices those guitar fragments were bringing at auction.)

I don’t know. Maybe it’s just something deeply heterosexual that Hendrix radiated.

Somehow he was the model of the hard rocker, a true member of the rock stars in the heyday of electric guitar aficionados. He played with Eric Clapton and Pete Townsend of The Who, who were all paying tribute to the same black American blues legends that inspired Jimi. Before he ODed on sleeping pills in 1970, ending what promised to be an endlessly interesting musical career, he gave them all a run for their money. And he managed, in a few short years, to leave behind a legacy of music, performance and style that’s as captivating today as it was 40 years ago. (And the wind…cries… Jimi.)

Related posts:

How to wear jewelry like a rock star

How to wear jewelry like a rock star, part II

How to wear skulls like a rock star

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Jewelry box of Olive ash burl handcrafted by John Farrar (johnfarrardesigns.com)

New jewelry is like new love. Once acquired, it’s difficult to part with. We want to take it everywhere. We struggle to keep our hands off it. Alas, the moment comes when it must be unfastened and put away.

One option is to return the beloved jewel to its velvet box and lock it in a safe. Very smart. Infinitely better than dropping it on the dresser where your cat can play hockey with it. (I speak from experience.)

My personal choice: put the treasure where it’s easily retrieved, in a container worthy of its contents. If you collect handcrafted art jewelry, it belongs in a handcrafted art jewelry box.

Jewelry chest in purpleheart wood by Mike Mikutowski ($300, mikutowskiwoodworking.com)

Wood has become the standard material for jewelry boxes, from craftshows to Target. Today, many woodworkers and furniture designers use exotic woods our grandparents never heard of, and apply aesthetics that evolved in the latter half of the twentieth century.

Tsunami jewelry box of Brazilian cherry with birdseye maple drawer pulls by John Traeger ($225, artistrycraftedinwoodworking.com)

One of the most famous contemporary wood craftsmen is Wendell Castle – and, yes, he makes jewelry boxes. These days they look something like this:

Wendell Castle standing beside his anthropomorphic jewelry case at 2010 Design Miami/Basel (photo Lindsay Pollock)

In Wendell Castle’s hands, a jewelry box becomes contemporary sculpture. A collector of cutting-edge art jewelry couldn’t ask for a more appropriate vessel. It’s also among the most accessible objects in the repertoire of Castle, one of the most inventive furniture designers alive today. His work has been in most major American art museums from the Metropolitan to the Art Institute of Chicago.

“It’s all a question of scale,” he says of his jewelry boxes. Castle’s boxes tend to reflect the aesthetic of the tables and chairs he’s designing. Thus, if you like the lacquered cone desk- and table-legs he became famous for in the early ’80s, you’ll probably go for the piece he cheekily dubbed Late Proposal for the Rochester Convention Center in the Form of a Jewelry Box. Likewise, if you prefer his metal platforms from the ’90s, you’ll covet the mahogany and ebony boxes that seem to float mid-air, carried by a wave of textured bronze.

The one pictured above is the most recent of Castle’s jewelry boxes, and it’s just exactly to my taste. This artist’s boxes may look like sculptures, but they all conceal places to hold rings, necklaces, and brooches, with various drawers and sometimes two levels of trays. “I will never know what people do with these things after they leave my studio, whether they use them or just look at them as objects,” Castle says. “But, oh yes, they’re all fully functional.”

My thanks to Lindsay Pollock for letting me use the photo of Wendell Castle. Check out Lindsay’s wonderful blog Art Market Views.

Related posts:

Thinking outside the jewelry box

Antique Chinese hair ornaments

More work by featured artists:

John Farrar

Mike Mikutowski

John Traeger

Wendell Castle

                          

2011 Super Bowl platinum ring designed by Jostens for the Green Bay Packers has 109 diamonds totally 3.35 carats set in 18kt gold (photo Jostens Inc.)

UPDATE: Here it is at last, the Green Bay Packers’ Super Bowl championship ring, presented to the team at a Thursday night celebration in Lambeau Field Atrium. The Packers bucked the recent trend to go with a name-brand jewelry designer like Tiffany or an edgier up-and-coming designer for Super Bowl rings, sticking instead with Jostens, the Minnesota-based company that has produced 29 of the 45 Super Bowl rings, and all four of the Packers’.

Green Bay Packers celebrated the inaugural Super Bowl in 1966 with this modest ring (Jostens)

Jostens’ approach to Super Bowl ring design  has come a long way since the first one they produced for the Packers in 1967 (right), set with a single one-carat diamond.

In keeping with the ever-increasing bling  of the big-time championship ring, this year’s has 109 diamonds – totally 3.35 carats – and weighs 116 grams (about four ounces).

Central motif in this year’s ring is the team’s G logo cast in 18kt gold and embedded with 13 diamonds representing  the team’s 13 NFL championships. The logo was placed on a green stone tablet and surrounded by four marquis-cut diamonds, representing the team’s four Super Bowl victories, and 92 more diamonds for their 92-year history. (A championship ring these days is a mathematical dilemma, measured out in diamonds.)

One side of the ring is engraved with images of Lambeau Field and the player’s name and team number, the other with an image of the Vince Lombardi Super Bowl XLV trophy. Inside the shank are the scores of Green Bay’s four postseason wins and the team motto: “One mind, goal, purpose, heart.”

Official statement from Packers president/CEO Michael Murphy: “The victory in Super Bowl XLV was a great achievement for the organization. Jostens has done a fantastic job of capturing the excitement of the win for everyone at the Packers.”

For the backstory on this ring and a short history of Super Bowl championship rings, see my February post: Super Bowl championship rings for the Packers

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Platinum and diamond open-work ring by Alex Sepkus (alexsepkus.com)

Not all designers work individually with couples to customize wedding rings, but sometimes galleries that represent those designers will serve as liaison. This allows designers who prefer to work independently to benefit from the demand for customized wedding rings and for couples to end up with a favorite designer’s work as a wedding ring, possibly tweaked slightly to taste or even using supplied stones.

My own ring was made with four diamonds from an eternity band my husband’s grandmother wore. I love the fact that my sisters-in-law all wear rings set with stones from that same ring. It seems to me that in the best world, marriage is about more than just the union of two people, it’s also about a union of families. We wrote our vows to reflect that. Why shouldn’t our wedding rings?

I also like that even though the diamonds match, each of our rings is unique. I had mine channel-set in a simple, modern setting. One of my sisters-in-law had hers designed by a jeweler who owns a gallery on Cape Cod. Hers is delicate and feminine, which suits her.

Queen Ring of iron, platinum, 18k gold and purple sapphire by Pat Flynn (PatFlynnInc.com)

If you spot a wedding ring you like in a gallery that specializes in studio jewelry, it’s worth asking if the designer makes custom rings. Even designers like Todd Reed and Alex Sepkus will often design around supplied stones.

Not all designers and studio jewelers are open to custom work, however. If you really love Pat Flynn’s jewelry, for example, you’ll probably have to settle for a ring he’s already made. You can rest assured it will be unique.

Flynn prefers to let galleries handle his ring orders. Because his rings often combine diamonds and precious metals with wrought iron, they appeal to men as well as women, and many buy them as wedding bands.

Occasionally, a fan will talk him into designing a custom ring, using supplied stones, but he often regrets taking those commissions. “Guiding clients in the right direction takes a certain skill and a certain confidence, the ability to tell people what you want to make and then convince them that’s what they want,” he says. “I’m not really good at that so I shy away. I prefer building work for myself, sending it to galleries and letting them put in out in the world.”

Ring fabricated from iron, 18k gold and moonstone by Pat Flynn (patflynninc.com)

He does occasionally give in to a request from friends, even though he usually sweats it out. “Frequently, the piece ends up being an amazing thing. I’m working with materials I don’t normally work with and that can turn into something quite remarkable, with a different scale and presence. It’s nice to push yourself sometimes, just give it a go and see what happens.”

He recently designed wedding rings for a friend and his wife that turned out beautifully, and everyone was happy. “It was a very pleasant experience,” Flynn says. “I have friends and clients who have worn my rings for a really long time and that’s a special thing.”

Best bet for couples who don’t happen to be close personal friends of the artist? Order rings through Twist, an online gallery that represents Flynn’s work, along with Cathy Waterman, Lisa Jenks, and a lot of other talented designers.

Related posts:

Weddings rings reinvented: hands-on collaborations

Wedding rings reinvented: customizing for couples (Jacob Albee)

Wedding rings reinvented: customized by Todd Reed

Wedding rings reinvented: recycling gold jewelry (Marne Ryan)

Pat Flynn: diamonds and nails

Todd Reed: reinventing diamond jewelry

                          

The Esmerians began like many jewelry businesses that relocated to New York in the early twentieth century, bringing their expertise in the old world European jewelry trade, then passing it on to the next generation. New York is full of successful third- and fourth-generation gem and jewelry dealers, but few rose as high as Esmerian.

Rockefeller Sapphire of 62.02 carats flanked by diamonds and mounted in platinum, sold for $3,031,000 in 2001 (Chrisitie's Images)

Esmerian’s grandfather Paul worked as a lapidary in Constantinople before relocating to Paris in 1890. His son Raphael entered the business in 1919 and began pioneering the cutting and trading of colored gems as we know it. Raphael Esmerian (1903-1976) became a leading gem dealer in Europe and began traveling to New York to supply stones for Cartier.

This famous sapphire (right) provided a steady source of income for the Esmerian family over the years. Raphael Esmerian appraised the stone, then owned by John D. Rockefeller, Jr., more than once. In the 1940s, he helped Pierre Cartier recut it for a brooch. Then, in 1971, he bought it at auction himself for $170,000 and resold it.

The Rockefeller Sapphire appeared again at auction in 1980, four years after Raphael passed away, and it was his son Ralph Esmerian who bought it this time – for $1.5 million. He had it repolished to its current weight of 62 carats, set in a platinum ring, and sold. In 1988, Esmerian repurchased the stone at auction, this time for the world record price of $2,850,000, and sold it yet again.

Butterfly brooch of fancy yellow diamonds set in oxidized steel and 18k gold with articulated wings by Ralph Esmeian, maker's mark Carvin French, c. 1997, sold at Christie's in 2001 (Christie's Images)

Over the next four decades, Esmerian built up the family business, joining forces with André Chervin at Carvin French to create jeweled creatures like the yellow-diamond butterfly (above) and pink-diamond flamingos (below). He also became a renowned collector of antique jewelry and folk art. It took decades to build his business and a collection worth many millions, but it all unraveled with breathtaking speed after he offered his personal collection as collateral to buy Fred Leighton.

Art Nouveau dog collar plaque by René Lalique of enamel and gold with carved glass profile of Narcissus, c. 1900, part of the canceled 2008 sale (Christie's Images)

Flamingo brooch (detail) of pink diamonds with black diamond beaks, ruby eyes and demantoid garnet grass by Carvin French from cancelled 2008 sale (Christie's Images)

Over the  years, Esmerian acquired some beautiful jeweled objects, including several rare examples of Art Deco gem-set desk clocks and Art Nouveau jewelry like the brooch (above) designed by René Lalique. Many were offered in the Christie’s auction arranged by Merrill Lynch in 2008 to pay off some of Esmerian’s loan. Esmerian called it “a fire sale.”

Esmerian’s name was not mentioned in the catalog for that sale, titled “Rare Jewels and Gemstones: The Eye of a Collector,” but in its introduction, François Curiel, head of jewelry at Christie’s, praised the “subtle taste and eye” behind the collection.

At 6:05 pm, as the sale was about to begin, a call came in. Esmerian had convinced the court to declare Chapter 11 bankruptcy for Fred Leighton. Curiel announced from the podium that the sale would not take place. “We had a room full of 100 people, 150 more lined up to be on phone, and all the internet bidders waiting,” Curiel told me. “People were disappointed, disgusted, not happy. One guy who had flown in from Hong Kong especially to buy several pieces, left the room.”

Curiel too was disappointed but all was not lost. The next morning, an agent from the Louvre called, inquiring about buying the most famous piece in the sale: the diamond bow brooch created for Empress Eugenie, wife of Napoléon III. It had been housed in the Louvre until 1887, when it was sold at public auction by order of the Third Republic, ending up in the possession of New York socialite Caroline Astor.

Empress Eugenie brooch of old mine diamonds set in silver-topped gold, c. 1855, in original case (Christie's Images)

Christie’s now had to get approval from both Merrill Lynch and Esmerian to sell the brooch. Esmerian was not interested in selling to a private party but a museum was a different story. “He has always been very hot for museums and patrimony, conservation, public display,” Curiel told me at the time. “He likes museums. Exhibits have always been his thing.”

The Eugenie brooch, estimated at $4-6 thousand, sold to the Louvre for $10.5 million.

Everyone was happy. Merrill Lynch was happy to get twice the estimated price. Curiel, a French citizen, was happy to see a royal jewel from the French court returned to France, and Esmerian, a founder and former chairman of the Museum of American Folk Art, was happy the brooch went to the Louvre.

Negotiating the sale was complicated, given the now questionable ownership of the jewelry. “The judge could have blocked everything and held things up. After all, the brooch has been out of country for 121 years, what was another six months?” Curiel said. “But we managed to do it so quickly, the brooch ended up at the Louvre within a month.”

Page from catalog for the 1887 auction of the Diamonds of the Crown, including Empress Eugenie's brooch, then housed in the Louvre (Christie's Images)

Now it appears Esmerian was doing a little private dealing of his own, putting up the same jewelry as collateral more than once (double-pledging), and quietly selling off choice pieces without notifying his lenders, including the now infamous $10 million diamond-and-ruby Endymion butterfly brooch by Boucheron.

Looking through the 2008 catalog of Esmerian’s treasures, I can’t help mourning the jewelry itself, now dispersed among personal collections around the world and hidden from view – except for the Eugenie brooch, which was, at long last, returned to the museum from whence it came.

I would have preferred to have it all waiting in a museum display case where I could come and admire it from time to time, along with the rest of the non-millionaire masses who love beautiful, sparkly, historical things.

I suspect Esmerian signed his collection over as collateral the way people pledge their homes, when the future looks rosy, never expecting someone to take him up on it. I think he felt proprietary towards those jewels, as collectors often do, and couldn’t resist trading them on his own, as he had done all his life. He may pay for that mistake by spending the rest of his life in jail.

Related posts:

Bankruptcy sale of Ralph Esmerian’s historic jewelry

Ralph Esmerian: rise and fall of a jewelry connoisseur

Christie’s sells Fred Leighton jewels

René Lalique: ultimate art jeweler

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Empress Eugenie brooch, once part of Ralph Esmerian's collection, sold to the Louvre in 2008 (Christie's Images)

Only a few years ago, Ralph Esmerian was riding high, a respected dealer and collector taking over the role of jeweler to the stars as the new owner of Fred Leighton. Charming and well-spoken, Esmerian was frequently photographed with famous actresses.

In November, a different kind of photo appeared in major news outlets: a grim, well-dressed Esmerian being led away in handcuffs.

On Friday, April 15, Esmerian pleaded guilty to bankruptcy fraud, after selling some of the antique jewels he had pledged as collateral against loans from Merrill Lynch. In all, he borrowed $217 million, most of which went to buy Fred Leighton. Sentencing takes place in July. Esmerian, at age 71, could get up to ten years in prison.

Esmerian filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy for Fred Leighton in April 2008, forcing a last-minute cancellation of a Christie’s auction arranged by Merrill Lynch to sell off some of the antique jewelry Esmerian had pledged. Soon after, Christie’s sold a showpiece of that sale to the Louvre, the Empress Eugenie brooch, with permission from both Esmerian and Merrill Lynch.

Several other pieces from that sale ended up at Christie’s again in October 2009. In the meantime, Esmerian secretly sold another prize, the Endymion Butterfly Brooch by Boucheron, for $2.5 million, then attempted to buy it back by selling a few others.

Endymion brooch of diamonds and rubies by Boucheron, c. 1894, sold by Esmerian for $2.5 million

In 2009, a few months before Fred Leighton was sold at auction and before all this became public, I asked Esmerian whether he would do anything differently if he could turn back time a few years.

“At this point in my professional life, I would have rethought this whole thing,” Esmerian said. “The times were right and good. I came in with a great passion for great vintage jewelry which is still with me. But in terms of developing a retail outlet in this country, I think I bit off much too much, much more than I should have.”

At the time, no one was using the word “embezzlement” and it was not public knowledge that Esmerian had used the same jewelry as collateral on a second loan. He was still referred to officially as an “advisor” for Fred Leighton, although he admitted he was “on the sidelines at this point.”

I’m sure Esmerian’s lawyer spoke for many people Friday when she declared it “a sad day.” While most people reading the headlines may not have recognized the man at the center of the drama, the name “Esmerian” has been famous in Manhattan and the jewelry world for a century. Ralph Esmerian’s father, Raphael Esmerian was an eminent gem dealer in his day, consulted by major jewelry houses such as Cartier.

A savvy dealer and devoted aficionado of the kind of antique jewels Fred Leighton specialized in, Esmerian probably seemed a good choice to succeed the chain’s founder in 2006. But he took on a major retail business just before the bottom fell out of the market.

Someone could make a riveting movie out of the story of Ralph Esmerian: a courtroom drama with a major auction canceled minutes before bidding began, sending the room into an uproar, a movie with the intrigue of Wall Street, a red carpet jeweler, at least one major auction house and museum, and an internationally famous dealer and collector.

Most of the drama played out away from the public eye in the luxurious Manhattan digs where millionaires like Esmerian live and play. But Esmerian was not an overnight, rags-to-riches story. His fortune took a century and four generations to build.

“We’ve discussed where Fred Leighton will end up. What about Ralph Esmerian – where do you see yourself in two years?” I asked him in 2009.

“I’m involved in the material in a very emotional and psychological way,” Esmerian said. “We will only continue and try to rebuild to a certain point.”

Esmerian is out on a $3.5 million bond and will be sentenced on July 22. It’s hard to imagine any rebuilding now, of either his famous jewelry collection or the family business that took four generations to build.

Up next: a look at the Esmerian legacy and the jewels they helped make famous.

Related posts:
Bankruptcy sale of Ralph Esmerian’s historic jewelry
Ralph Esmerian: lost legacy of jewels
Christie’s sells Fred Leighton jewels
René Lalique: ultimate art jeweler

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Packers won the first Super Bowl in 1967 and got this modest ring (Jostens)

[See my update on the ring unveiled on June 17.]

Now that they’ve won the Super Bowl, the Green Bay Packers have another challenge on their hands, literally – designing their championship rings. First step in the process was accomplished before the game even began.

Packers coach Mike McCarthy had the team measured for their rings on Saturday night. “I wish I’d have made a bigger deal out of it,” McCarthy said at a press conference on Monday. “I thought it would give us a boost of confidence to do it the night before the game.”

Measuring for a championship ring before the game may seem like an act of confidence but the team had to be measured anyway. Even the losers of a Super Bowl get rings.

Pittsburgh Steelers ring from Super Bowl XLIII (Jostens)

If the Steelers had won, their ring might have looked something like this (left), the one designed for them by Jostens after their 2009 Super Bowl win. The Steelers will get championship rings again this year but the Packers will get the serious bling.

Championship rings have come a long way on the bling scale since the Packers, coached by Vince Lombardi, won the first Super Bowl in 1966. Their ring (top right) cost about $750 with a one-karat diamond and looked more like a high school class ring than the blinding door knockers that typify today’s championship rings.

Last year, the New Orleans Saints had their Super Bowl championship rings designed by Tiffany & Co. with 44 diamonds designating the 44^th Super Bowl, 16 more on the face to represent 16 wins of the 2009 season, and a .06-carat sparkler at the center of a fleur de lis – which they opted for instead of the usual Lombardi Trophy.

On one side of the Saints ring: NFL shield, Super Bowl logo, game score, date and location. On the  other: the player’s name, number and position, a skyline with Superdome, Carnival float, and musical notes from “When the Saints Go Marching In.” But wait, there’s more! Underneath are inscriptions of the team’s mottos: Be Special, Finish, Smell Greatness.

New Orleans Saints championship ring from Super Bowl XLIV designed by Tiffany & Co.

Even with all that, Tiffany managed to produce a tasteful design, as championship rings go.

You can bet the Packers’ rings will have at least that many references and even more diamonds. Like all Super Bowl rings, theirs will be worth a lot more than they cost to make.

Each year, the NFL shells out $1,125,000 for Super Bowl championship rings – $750,000 to the winning team and $375,000 to the losers. That covers the cost of 150 rings for each team – one for each player and one for the main woman in their lives – wife, girlfriend or mom. The Green Bay Packers will have up to $5,000 to spend per ring. The Steelers will get about half that.

As we all know, five grand does not go as far as it once did – especially with gold at almost $1400/ounce. Tiffany absorbed the additional expense for the Saints’ rings, but recouped at least some of that by selling fan jewelry and commemorative items priced from $100 to $4,000.

The rings themselves are worth far more than they cost to make. Last fall, the Saints raffled off one of those Tiffany-designed rings and raised nearly $1.4 million to benefit people affected by the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

Green Bay Packers' last Super Bowl ring from Super Bowl XXI (Jostens)

Last year’s Super Bowl rings were produced in 14kt gold and weighed about two ounces on average. But Bob Bourbeau, who’s been producing championship rings for nearly 40 years with Masters of Design, says it’s not unheard of for a pro ball player to wear a size 20 – twice the size of the average man’s ring.

“Those size 20 rings are not necessarily going to get bigger diamonds but there is a lot more gold,” Bourbeau says with a laugh. “That’s probably 65 penny weight, which is more than three full ounces.”

In the past, both Packers and Steelers have gone with Jostens, a company that specializes in class rings, like Masters of Design. But big-league teams have been known to switch to designers with more cachet. After designing the Phillies’ World Series championship rings in 2009, Masters of Design was expecting to start on the Lakers’, whose rings they’d been designing for years, but the team went with Jason of Beverly Hills instead.

Championship rings are a fickle but lucrative business, which is why so many firms are trying to land them. They garner publicity you can’t buy, even with a Super Bowl commercial. Of course, you’re being asked to make a potentially hideous piece of jewelry. “They all go for big and glitzy,” Bourbeau says. “We never go into an opportunity like this without understanding that this is going to be a challenge. You’ve got to fit so many elements into the ring and still make it manufacturable and somewhat appealing.”

He admits many of the designs end up over the top, but he works hard to land them. “We look at this as a great adventure but it’s also a great responsibility,” says Bourbeau. “On the teletron, they showed each ring in 3000x size, so if there are any flaws and mistakes, you’re in trouble.”

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But there are theories that the heart symbol sprang from more erotic sources, such as the seed of the silphium plant, used as an ancient herbal contraceptives, or various parts of a woman’s anatomy.

Whether you lean toward sappy or sexy, artsy or elegant, there are valentine-style jewels out there for every taste and wallet. As with all gifts of the heart, just make sure it captures her sense of style because she’s going to be wearing this particular valentine all year round.

Here are a few that caught my eye:

From the original Techno-Romantic, Thomas Mann (art jewelry pioneer turned QVC star) offers an artsy take on the heart charm bracelet of sterling, nickel, bronze and brass. You can find this one on Artfulhome.com for $260.

Designed by Randi Chervitz, this pendant was crocheted from sterling silver with a handmade toggle clasp ($175, Artfulhome.com).

A ruby and diamond heart pendant by Loree Rodkin, whose fans include Michelle Obama, Cher and Goth chicks everywhere. This fab reinvention of an old standby sells for $20,150.

Suzanne Belperron, whom I wrote about recently, designed this pendant of smoky quartz, diamond, platinum and gold in 1950. It sold at Christie’s Paris in December for $101,493.

Limoges enamel cherub in a heart of gold and pearls, made in Renaissance Revival style by Carlo Guiliano in 1884, sold at Sotheby’s New York on Feb. 2 for $74,500.

Sorry, you missed your chance on this 28.28-carat diamond that brought $3,778,500 at Christie’s New York last April. Darn, she would have been so thrilled.

Another one that passed you by: this 5-carat, vivid blue diamond sold at Christie’s Hong Kong in June for $4,686,600. QVC has one kind of like this in blue topaz by Judith Ripka for $530. If that doesn’t work, I know where you can find a ring like this only six times bigger and free of charge – well, to look at anyway. Sometimes looking is bliss in itself and there are enough colored diamonds at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History to get you both punch drunk.

That’s right, find her a nice budget-priced heart and take her to a museum to look at gems and jewelry. Hey, I’d go for that.