What price for love? Well, if you’re James Packer it’s about $500,000 that’s what he spent on the Olympia diamond necklace created by French bling house Van Cleef & Arpels for his new squeeze Mariah Carey.
Featuring 1911 diamonds and weighing a staggering 33.95 carats, Carey is certainly getting plenty of wear out of her Olympia, a gift from James when she accompanied him to his latest casino opening in Macau a few weeks ago.
The Packer men have a long history of adorning their women folk in shiny baubles, with the late Kerry Packer known to have provided plenty of shiny objects for his wife Ros, who is said to have one of the most impressive collections of jewellery in the country.
Packer scoured the world to find the right rubies for his wife when they marked their 40th wedding anniversary, and thought nothing of dropping $80,000 on a Louis Vuitton charm bracelet back in 2001 which featured nine gem-encrusted charms, including a diamond-studded Eiffel Tower.
Even after his death in 2005 Ros continued the tradition, paying a million dollars a few years back on a spectacular diamond and pearl necklace at Paspaley, while her daughter Gretel and granddaughter Francesca have also been bestowed with the magnificent South Sea pearls.
Meanwhile both of James’ ex wives, Jodhi Meares and Erica Baxter, have both scored well in terms of jewels, so too his former fiance Kate Fischer who was given a $250,000 platinum and diamond engagement ring created by Nic Cerrone, which she later sold.
