Earlier this month, I decided to visit Hearst Castle to get the scoop on the jewelry Marion Davies wore. I decided to take the Upstairs Rooms tour, as bedrooms seem to be the place we house our jewelry. I was able to chat with our tour guide for further information to go along with my online research.
The third floor of Hearst Castle was William Randolph Hearst’s private domain which included a suite of bedrooms for him and Marion Davies, as well as, a gothic style private office. Davies had her own bathroom, walk-in closet, and bedroom. Yes, you read that correct! Davies and Hearst had separate bedrooms with a sitting room that connected the two. I am assuming her jewelry was kept in the walk-in closet where she got ready for the day while she was at the ‘ranch’ as Davies and Hearst called it.
There are two pieces of specific jewelry gifts that come up when I researched Marion Davies’ jewelry. When Hearst first saw Marion, she was in New York acting in the Ziegfeld Follies. He bought her a diamond wrist watch which she lost immediately. One of her friends in the show told Hearst of her loss, and he promptly replaced it. According to many sources online, Hearst was jealous man. When the Princes of Wales was visiting, Marion was invited to a party to welcome him, and she was very excited about it. Hearst offered her a set of black pearl jewelry if she didn’t go. Marion chose the pearls!
My online research and tour guide questions seem to confirm the same thing. When Hearst was going through financial difficulties, Marion sold her jewelry and furs to give Hearst a check for $1million dollars. I asked the tour guide (and looked online) to see if it was recorded and tracked as to where she sold her jewelry to. The tour guide said it was not tracked. I can imagine if it was, there would be jewelry popping up claiming to have been Marion Davies’ jewelry. My guess is that she sold her things to private dealers and/or personal friends. One account online says that she had a check for Mr. Hearst overnight, so perhaps she sold it to one person or business. Unfortunately, we have to leave this as an unsolved mystery, but if you know of anything or find a website, please let me know! I am so curious!
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Picture from article: https://www.newyorksocialdiary.com/the-man-who-made-the-castle/
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