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Barbara Hutton had many names. Born in 1912 to Edna Woolworth, she was first known as the "million-dollar baby"—the only granddaughter of the founder of the iconic Woolworth department store chain. At the age of 21, she inherited a fortune worth the equivalent of roughly $1 billion today, writes Vanity Fair.

Fabulously wealthy, she married seven times. Four of her husbands were aristocrats who bestowed upon her the titles of Princess Mdivani and Countess Haugwitz-Reventlow (while her marriage to Hollywood actor Cary Grant was tongue-in-cheek dubbed "Cash and Cary" by the press). But her most famous lifelong moniker became the "poor little rich girl." Despite her colossal wealth, Barbara's entire life was steeped in tragedy.

The early death of her mother, seven brief marriages of convenience, the death of her only son in a plane crash, severe mental health struggles, and alcohol addiction—Hutton lived on the edge of unimaginable luxury-tinged hopelessness and profound despair.

While her personal life fueled the tabloids, Barbara’s passion for jewelry transformed her into an iconic figure in the jewelry world. She didn't merely buy necklaces and rings; she collaborated directly with the greatest fashion and jewelry houses of her era to create masterpieces of rare craftsmanship.

The ultimate paradox of her story: the woman who once owned some of the world's greatest treasures died in a room at the Regent Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Los Angeles with a mere $4,000 left in her bank account. She lost everything to uncontrolled extravagance, bad investments, and insanely expensive divorces (she often had to part with pieces from her jewelry box just to pay her legal fees).

Her life story was so incredible that in 1987, actress Farrah Fawcett portrayed Hutton in the biographical miniseries Poor Little Rich Girl, earning a Golden Globe nomination for the role.

Out of her massive collection, five pieces of jewelry are still considered absolute legends of high jewelry art:

1. The Romanov Emerald Tiara

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The large stones in this tiara (which could also be worn as a necklace) originally belonged to Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna, wife of Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich. She was one of the last Romanovs to flee revolution-torn Russia. A portion of her smuggled treasures later ended up in London and was sold to Cartier.

In 1947, Barbara Hutton purchased these emeralds and commissioned designer Lucien Lachassagne to craft a tiara. Hutton frequently wore it at her villa in Tangier, where the legendary Cecil Beaton famously photographed her in the piece. In the mid-1960s, Hutton sold the tiara back to Van Cleef & Arpels to fund another divorce. The piece was later dismantled, and rumor has it that Bvlgari used these very emeralds to create Elizabeth Taylor's famous necklace.

2. "The Pasha of Egypt" Diamond Ring

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A massive, 40-carat, octagonal, flawless diamond was once considered the crown jewel of the Ottoman treasury and belonged to the Egyptian royal family. In the 1940s, King Farouk sold it to Bvlgari, after which Hutton purchased the stone.

Barbara asked Cartier jewelers to recut it into a round brilliant diamond (which reduced its weight to 36 carats) and set it into a ring. She couldn't have cared less about losing weight on the unique mineral—Hutton loved redesigning historic jewelry to suit her personal taste.

3. The World’s Most Expensive Jadeite Necklace

Barbara received this necklace of 27 perfectly matched jadeite beads—boasting incredible translucency and a rich green hue—as a gift from her father for her first wedding in 1933. In the 19th century, the piece most likely belonged to the Chinese imperial dynasty.

Hutton later replaced the platinum Cartier clasp with an Art Deco rubies-and-diamonds yellow gold ring lock. In 2014, at a Sotheby’s auction in Hong Kong, Cartier itself bought the necklace back for its archives for an astronomical $27 million.

4. The Ludo Bracelet by Van Cleef & Arpels

Hutton adored the house of Van Cleef & Arpels. In 1935, she ordered an exclusive version of their famous Ludo bracelet (the design of which was inspired by a men's belt buckle).

While it was typically crafted in yellow gold, Barbara insisted on a version in platinum completely covered in diamond pavé. Her public appearance wearing this bracelet instantly set a trend among high society in New York and Paris.

5. Marie Antoinette’s Pearl Necklace

Another wedding gift from her father, purchased from Cartier. Although direct documentary evidence of its provenance is lacking, experts who studied surviving wardrobe inventories of the executed French queen consider the necklace to be authentic.

Barbara Hutton, who grew up in Europe, idolized Marie Antoinette and even collected authentic furniture from Versailles. In 1999, this strand of pearls was sold at auction for a record-breaking sum for its time.

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