"I have so much and cannot wear it all, and I like you, Miss Gus." With these words, Barbara Hutton presented a stunning ring to her Swedish physiotherapist Karin Gustafson, called 'Miss Gus'. In a letter dated 13 February 1935, while Hutton was staying in Egypt in a hotel not far from the pyramids of Giza, Gustafson informed her aunt in Sweden of this precious gift.
The ring was from Cartier, one of Hutton's favourite jewellers. It was cut from a single rock crystal in the 1920s or early 1930s and crowned with a star-shaped platinum setting set with white diamonds in transitional and single cuts, making it a quintessential piece of Art Deco jewellery.
"It’s an absolutely lovely story about Hutton’s generosity," says Stefan Gustavsson, Head of the Jewellery Department at Kaplans Auktioner in Stockholm, where the ring will be auctioned on 3 June as one of the highlights of the Important Jewellery auction. "This ring has never been put up for sale before, which makes this auction particularly exciting."
Generosity had been one of Barbara Hutton's most endearing qualities. As a Woolworth heiress, she had an immense fortune and was one of the richest, if not the richest, woman of her time.
She liked to spoil herself and her jewellery collection was second to none. But, as Karin Gustafson described in her letter, Hutton simply "couldn't carry it all."
"Jewellery sold with this type of provenance at auction tends to attract a lot of attention," said Gustavsson. "We’re extremely honoured to be the auction house that brings this ring to the market."
The Important Jewellery auction will take place on 3 June at Kaplans Auktioner in Stockholm. The estimated price is SEK 320,000 (about £24,400).