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Bette Davis Personally Owned and Worn Earrings Circa 1980s

bette davis earrings

If Jewels Could Talk, Bette Davis’s Earrings Would Tell All Because They Would Have Heard It All!

Movie star costumes and jewelry intrigue even folks who don’t generally care about costumes and jewelry. After all, clothing and accessories are some of the most intimate items any of us possess and the thought of the icons of the silver screen walking around in these pieces evokes a certain kind of magic.

AUCTION PREVIEWBette Davis Rhinestone Earrings by Eisenberg

I’ve always admired Bette Davis. She’s a classic. A Golden Age star of the stage and screen. As famous for her no-nonsense personality and biting wit as her stellar performances in films like Jezebel, Now Voyager, All About Eve, The Virgin Queen, and Whatever Happened to Baby Jane. In a career spanning 5 decades, It’s incredible to imagine the things this diva saw, the people she met, the places she traveled to.

These are the adventures I imagine when I’m looking at Davis’s personally owned and worn rhinestone, clip-on, semi-hoop earrings by Eisenberg. The star would have been 72 in the 80s when these are attributed to her, but Davis was far from inactive, continuing to perform, win awards and make the rounds of the popular talk show circuit of the day.

In the early movies, an earring was often a clue left behind on a counter or car seat, like Cinderella’s glass slipper. In a soft-focus closeup or a Hurrell portrait, the earring is a dazzling ornament upon some of the most beautiful faces in history. That the woman who wore these was Bette Davis, a star among stars?  It doesn’t get any better. These gems could be yours in our Dec. 5th Signature auction. “She did it the hard way.” – inscription on Bette Davis’s tomb.

Hope you sparkle at auction!

Catherine “Cat” Mansfield

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