D AV I D PAT R I C K C O L U M B I A marriage to the wife was back on track, which is where it stayed until the end of his life a few years later. Our Southern belle weathered that storm and later remarried an international businessman (whom she eventually divorced) before marrying another tycoon (who was much older than she, and eventually died). She was left a very, very rich woman who could buy her own jewels—which she did, whenever she felt like it. There is a misconception among us members of the unknowing that precious gems are mainly the interest
of women, not men. This, I am told, is untrue. Aside from their gift giving, many men of wealth are major collectors of precious gems and fine jewelry for their material value, transportability, and size of the cache. It makes it easy to conceal, disguise, and bury sizeable portions of substantial wealth in a box in a tiny corner of a closet—far from the probing eyes of the taxman. That said, incidents such as the Hatton Garden raid no doubt confirm the suspicion of many possessors that they should keep their jewels close by and closely watched, away from
the prying eyes and knowledge of anybody but themselves. My friend Joe Pacetti, a native and fulltime resident of the great state of Texas, is a purveyor of exquisite high-end jewelry and precious gems (he buys and sells). He almost always wears some of the goods he is selling—a brooch or two, as well as bracelets and necklaces—in public places and at private parties. He’s a burly looking guy with the kind of physical heft that looks like he might sell steel vaults, which he could physically deliver himself. He often sports the creations from
Tiffany & Co., Van Cleef & Arpels, Harry Winston, Cartier, Bulgari, et al. on his dinner jacket lapels, on the shoulder of a cashmere pullover, on his Harris Tweed, and on his thick, hairy wrists. He saves on overhead that way, and keeps the merchandise moving. It’s spring again: May time and high sparkle. Meanwhile, back in Manhattan, on a recent Tuesday night, the Whitney Museum of American Art hosted its Inaugural Dinner and First Look, a black-tie gala for 400 of the museum’s top donors and permanent collection artists to
INSTITUTE OF CLASSICAL ARCHITECTURE AND ART AT T H E H OM E O F C O U R T N E Y A N D N I C H O L A S ST E R N
Danielle and Jeff Hirsch 38 QUEST
Suzanne Santry and Nick Stern
Denise LeFrak Calicchio and Peter Lyden
Christina Davis and Courtney Stern
Sam and Elizabeth White
PAT R I C K M C M U LL A N
Jonathan and Elizabeth Kurpis