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RARE JEWELLER ENDANGERED
First Post
http://www.thefirstpost.co.uk/30522,features, rare-jeweller-endangered-by-credit-crunch
April 22 2008
UK
Ralph Esmerian could lose the family jewels over an ill-fated venture
into Hollywood
Not even diamonds as big as the Ritz can save Ralph Esmerian from
the jaws of Wall Street now. A fourth generation rare jewels dealer
whose Armenian family fled from Paris in 1940, Esmerian enjoyed a
life of wealth, taste and art collecting in the old money enclave of
Manhattan's Upper East Side.
That all ended when he ventured into the brash new world of 21st
century finance and Hollywood glamour. First, he borrowed $57m from
Merrill Lynch for what he describes as "estate planning purposes". As
collateral, he pledged his 'Special Collection'.
This is not any old second-hand jewellery, but rather pieces for the
connoisseur, stuff you might find in the treasure chests at the Tower
of London. It includes the diamond brooch given to Empress Eugenie,
wife of Napoleon III, and later acquired by Mrs Astor, queen of 1950s
New York society. Esmerian is - for the moment - the owner of a Van
Cleef and Arpels brooch 'encrusted' with diamonds and a Rene Lalique
Art Nouveau bracelet, both of which are worth at least half-a-million.
And then he borrowed another $120m from his new friends at Merrill
Lynch. This time the money was for buying the showy Fred Leighton
jewellery shops on Madison Avenue and in the Bellagio casino in
Las Vegas.
Getting into the spirit of the age, Esmerian, 68, ventured from the
genteel parlours of Fifth Avenue to dress the stars in his bedazzling
gems for their red carpet appearances. Cameron Diaz, Mira Sorvino
(left) and Sarah Jessica Parker have all strutted in Special Collection
diamonds, emeralds, rubies and gold. Dolly Parton of the big boobs
and American vernacular was draped for the Oscars in jewels from the
Fred Leighton shelves and boasted: "These cost $1,200,000!"
With the money flowing in, Esmerian decided it was time to establish
a presence on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills. The shop opened last
September but, as he said, "That was in the good old cowboy days
when all this was fun." The name of the man he hired to run his
retail empire should have sounded an alarm: it was Peter Bacanovic,
the star-stroking Merrill Lynch broker who went to jail with his
friend Martha Stewart for diddling the stock market. Even Merrill
Lynch raised an eyebrow at that.
Shortly after his shop opened, the 'sub-prime' credit crunch began to
take its terrible toll, and sales of top-end jewels tumbled. Esmerian
could no longer make his $1.5m monthly payments and had to take back
his Folk Art masterpieces from museums, and sell them. With Merrill
Lynch doing even worse - it lost $30bn dollars on dodgy loans and
fired 2,900 employees - Esmerian discovered that the smiles of Wall
Street turn crocodile when debts go bad. They called in the jewels.
Problems came to a head when Merrill Lynch tried to cash in the
jewels at a Christie's auction in New York. "It's a fire sale
presentation!" complained Esmerian. "These are pieces that deserve
respect. It's like a magnificent Fifth Avenue Mansion being offered
for the price of a Third Avenue condo."
Old money is snobbish, new money ruthless. But ruthless wins. The
only way Esmerian could avoid the indignity of his family jewels going
on the block was by declaring bankruptcy. So now a judge will decide
who gets the diamonds and who gets the gold.
First Post
http://www.thefirstpost.co.uk/30522,features, rare-jeweller-endangered-by-credit-crunch
April 22 2008
UK
Ralph Esmerian could lose the family jewels over an ill-fated venture
into Hollywood
Not even diamonds as big as the Ritz can save Ralph Esmerian from
the jaws of Wall Street now. A fourth generation rare jewels dealer
whose Armenian family fled from Paris in 1940, Esmerian enjoyed a
life of wealth, taste and art collecting in the old money enclave of
Manhattan's Upper East Side.
That all ended when he ventured into the brash new world of 21st
century finance and Hollywood glamour. First, he borrowed $57m from
Merrill Lynch for what he describes as "estate planning purposes". As
collateral, he pledged his 'Special Collection'.
This is not any old second-hand jewellery, but rather pieces for the
connoisseur, stuff you might find in the treasure chests at the Tower
of London. It includes the diamond brooch given to Empress Eugenie,
wife of Napoleon III, and later acquired by Mrs Astor, queen of 1950s
New York society. Esmerian is - for the moment - the owner of a Van
Cleef and Arpels brooch 'encrusted' with diamonds and a Rene Lalique
Art Nouveau bracelet, both of which are worth at least half-a-million.
And then he borrowed another $120m from his new friends at Merrill
Lynch. This time the money was for buying the showy Fred Leighton
jewellery shops on Madison Avenue and in the Bellagio casino in
Las Vegas.
Getting into the spirit of the age, Esmerian, 68, ventured from the
genteel parlours of Fifth Avenue to dress the stars in his bedazzling
gems for their red carpet appearances. Cameron Diaz, Mira Sorvino
(left) and Sarah Jessica Parker have all strutted in Special Collection
diamonds, emeralds, rubies and gold. Dolly Parton of the big boobs
and American vernacular was draped for the Oscars in jewels from the
Fred Leighton shelves and boasted: "These cost $1,200,000!"
With the money flowing in, Esmerian decided it was time to establish
a presence on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills. The shop opened last
September but, as he said, "That was in the good old cowboy days
when all this was fun." The name of the man he hired to run his
retail empire should have sounded an alarm: it was Peter Bacanovic,
the star-stroking Merrill Lynch broker who went to jail with his
friend Martha Stewart for diddling the stock market. Even Merrill
Lynch raised an eyebrow at that.
Shortly after his shop opened, the 'sub-prime' credit crunch began to
take its terrible toll, and sales of top-end jewels tumbled. Esmerian
could no longer make his $1.5m monthly payments and had to take back
his Folk Art masterpieces from museums, and sell them. With Merrill
Lynch doing even worse - it lost $30bn dollars on dodgy loans and
fired 2,900 employees - Esmerian discovered that the smiles of Wall
Street turn crocodile when debts go bad. They called in the jewels.
Problems came to a head when Merrill Lynch tried to cash in the
jewels at a Christie's auction in New York. "It's a fire sale
presentation!" complained Esmerian. "These are pieces that deserve
respect. It's like a magnificent Fifth Avenue Mansion being offered
for the price of a Third Avenue condo."
Old money is snobbish, new money ruthless. But ruthless wins. The
only way Esmerian could avoid the indignity of his family jewels going
on the block was by declaring bankruptcy. So now a judge will decide
who gets the diamonds and who gets the gold.