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In public, Marilyn Monroe’s jewelry seemed inseparable from diamonds, but her personal jewelry collection was considerably more modest. The diamond ring given to her by Joe DiMaggio, the Mikimoto pearl necklace, and the Blancpain watch are reliably associated with her, but the famous “Moon of Baroda” did not belong to her—the actress only wore it to promote the film.
This list explains the paradox: one of the world’s most famous “diamond icons” did not, in real life, own a vast collection of fine jewelry.
To this day, Marilyn Monroe’s name is almost automatically associated with diamonds. The 1953 film *Gentlemen Prefer Blondes* and her performance of the song “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend” in it had the greatest influence on this. The pink dress, long gloves, sparkling necklaces, and the crowd of elegant men surrounding Marilyn became one of Hollywood’s most recognizable scenes.
However, the Marilyn on screen and the Marilyn in real life were quite different. Much of the jewelry we see in films and photo shoots was:
Therefore, when discussing Marilyn Monroe’s personal jewelry collection, it is essential to distinguish between three categories: what she owned, what was given to her as gifts, and what she wore only briefly on camera.
One of the best-documented pieces of Marilyn Monroe’s jewelry is a ring associated with her marriage to baseball legend Joe DiMaggio. The couple married in San Francisco in 1954. A platinum “eternity” ring, entirely encircled by baguette-cut diamonds, was later associated with Marilyn’s personal collection. Christie’s auction documents indicate that it originally featured 35 baguette-cut diamonds, although one stone was already missing at the time of the auction.
In 1999, at the famous “The Personal Property of Marilyn Monroe” auction, the ring sold for $772,500. Its value was not determined by the diamonds alone. The most significant factors were:
This is a perfect example of how a piece of jewelry that belonged to a celebrity can be valued entirely differently on the collectors’ market than a similar piece without such provenance. If you’re interested in contemporary designs, the closest match to Marilyn’s ring would be wedding bands adorned with diamonds all around the band.
Here, the story becomes less clear. One theory suggests that during the hastily arranged wedding, Marilyn may have worn a ring from the DiMaggio family, while the famous diamond “eternity” ring was given to her later. However, the details of this story are not as reliably documented as the platinum ring itself, which was sold by “Christie’s.”
The diamond ring certainly belonged to Marilyn and was connected to her marriage to DiMaggio, but the story behind the first family heirloom ring remains unconfirmed.
Although Marilyn’s public image is associated with diamonds, one of her most personal pieces of jewelry was far more understated. It was an Akoya pearl necklace associated with the Japanese jewelry house “Mikimoto.” In 1954, shortly after her wedding, Marilyn visited Japan with Joe DiMaggio. It was during this trip that she received the pearl necklace, which she later wore frequently. It was a classic Akoya pearl necklace, approximately 16 inches long—the complete opposite of the theatrical jewelry with which Marilyn was often photographed on movie sets.
A few years later, Marilyn gave the necklace to her acting coach and close friend Paula Strasberg. It later passed to Paula’s daughter, Susan Strasberg. In 1998, the necklace was acquired by Mikimoto, so one of Marilyn’s most personal pieces of jewelry ultimately returned to the history of the jewelry house that created it. It is also interesting to note that different historical sources cite varying exact numbers of pearls, so the well-documented history of the necklace’s origin is far more significant than this number.
Another exceptional personal item belonging to Marilyn Monroe is an ultra-thin diamond “Blancpain” jewelry watch. It is a platinum cocktail watch adorned with:
It is often claimed that the watch was a gift from her third husband, the writer Arthur Miller. However, this is not a confirmed fact. Blancpain itself, having researched the watch’s history in detail, now states that there are several theories regarding the person who may have given it to Marilyn, but none have been definitively confirmed.
It is also incorrect to claim that Arthur Miller gave it to Marilyn in 1930. At that time, Marilyn was barely a child, and Miller did not become her husband until 1956.
Current data from Blancpain indicates that the watch itself was most likely manufactured in the late 1950s or early 1960s. So here we have a genuine piece of Marilyn’s jewelry, but the story of how it came to be in her collection remains not entirely clear.
One of the gemstones most commonly associated with Marilyn Monroe is the “Moon of Baroda.” It is a historic diamond:
Marilyn wore it in 1953 while promoting the film *Gentlemen Prefer Blondes*. However, there is one crucial detail—Marilyn Monroe did not own this diamond. It was loaned to her. Therefore, the “Moon of Baroda” can be called one of the most famous diamonds Marilyn ever wore, but it was not part of her personal jewelry collection.
No. This is yet another frequently repeated myth. Marilyn wore the yellow “Moon of Baroda” in promotional photographs related to *Gentlemen Prefer Blondes*. The jewelry seen in the famous “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend” scene is costume jewelry. This distinction is very important because the photograph of Marilyn with the “Moon of Baroda” became so famous that the diamond eventually came to be mistakenly regarded as part of the film’s costume and even as part of her personal collection.
The diamond’s history began long before Marilyn’s career. It is associated with the Gaekwad dynasty, rulers of Baroda in India, and the historic Golconda diamond tradition. Marilyn’s connection to the stone was brief but culturally significant.
In 2018, the “Moon of Baroda,” along with its historical provenance, reappeared at a Christie’s auction and sold for approximately $1.3 million. Marilyn never actually owned it, but her photographs became an important part of the diamond’s history.
This is perhaps what is most surprising. Marilyn was:
However, there is no evidence that she amassed a vast collection of fine jewelry. Even Blancpain itself, when discussing her watch, emphasizes that Marilyn owned relatively little luxury jewelry. This stood in stark contrast to Hollywood icons such as Elizabeth Taylor, whose name is inextricably linked to a massive collection of historic diamonds and other precious stones.
Marilyn’s luxury was largely an image created by:
Marilyn did not shy away from jewelry that was not fine jewelry. On the contrary—the following played a particularly important role in her on-screen and stage looks:
Such jewelry could create a very strong sparkle on camera, even though its material value was incomparably lower than that of a real diamond. Marilyn’s story therefore perfectly illustrates one principle of jewelry—an impressive look doesn’t necessarily require the largest or most expensive stone.
In 1999, Christie’s in New York held an auction titled “The Personal Property of Marilyn Monroe.” It featured more than 500 items related to Marilyn’s life:
The entire collection generated over 13 million U.S. dollars. This auction became one of the most important sources for distinguishing Marilyn’s actual personal belongings from the Hollywood legends that had accumulated about her over the decades.
Her public image was very closely associated with diamonds, but her documented personal collection of fine jewelry was relatively small. Much of the jewelry seen in films and photo shoots did not belong to her.
No. The 24.04-carat yellow “Moon of Baroda” diamond was loaned to her to promote the film *Gentlemen Prefer Blondes*.
A platinum “eternity” ring set with 35 baguette-cut diamonds is associated with her marriage to Joe DiMaggio. One diamond was already missing when the ring was sold at a Christie’s auction in 1999 for $772,500.
Yes, the Akoya pearl necklace associated with Marilyn was a Mikimoto product. It is linked to Marilyn and Joe DiMaggio’s 1954 trip to Japan, and in 1998, the necklace was acquired by Mikimoto itself.
This is a commonly repeated story, but it has not been confirmed. Blancpain states today that there are various theories about who gave Marilyn the watch, but there is no definitive answer.
Marilyn Monroe became a symbol of diamonds even without owning a massive diamond collection. Her story intertwined genuine personal jewelry, gifts with sentimental value, movie costume jewelry, and historic gemstones borrowed briefly for photo shoots. Perhaps that is precisely what is most fascinating: the luxury of Marilyn’s image far exceeded the contents of her personal jewelry box.
If you’d like to discover contemporary diamond jewelry, browse the premium diamond jewelry collection or all “Auksinė Svajonė” jewelry.
And to learn more about the jewelry of other global icons, read the article “Famous Women and Their Luxurious Jewelry”.
