Born in 1897 in Louisville, Kentucky, Mona Travis Atrader had already been married twice by the age of 27, first to the wealthy businessman Henry Schlesinger in 1917 and then to affluent banker James Irving Bush – said to be the most handsome man in America. In 1924 Mona settled in New York where she soon met Harrison Williams one of the richest men in America and 24 years her senior. They married in 1926 and after their round-the-world honeymoon they moved into a neo-Georgian mansion on upper Fifth Avenue in New York, and acquired Oak Point a large property on Long Island North Shore, as well as a home in Palm Beach and the Villa Il Fortino in Capri. Mona was able to indulge her passion for the arts, and she purchased works by Goya, Tiepolo and Fragonard to furnish her New York estate, and contemporary decorators were commissioned to decorate her homes.
A very fine emerald and diamond ring, circa 1910
We fell in love with this jewel when it was offered in 1986 in the auction of The Magnificent Jewels of the late Countess Mona Bismarck held in Geneva. The sensational emerald, close to 10 carats in weight, is set in a double frame of circular-cut diamonds - these simple, clean borders are so typical of the settings seen during the Edwardian era. Mona Bismarck was known to adore exceptional gemstones and this emerald was certainly the finest from her collection.
‘one of the few outstanding beauties of the thirties…who represented the epitome of all that taste and luxury can bring to flower’
Cecil Beaton, photographer and Mona’s lifelong friend
The year after her husband Harrison died at Oak Point in 1953, Mona married Edward, Count von Bismarck, and they moved to Europe. In 1956 they purchased a hôtel particulier in Paris which Mona completely redecorated.
Mona was a glamorous and renowned hostess in Paris and Capri, her guests included the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, Winston Churchill, Aristotle Onassis and Maria Callas. On these occasions she was always magnificent in her jewels and the finest couture gowns.
‘In a rather miraculous way, everything that was hers was out of the ordinary…She lived a life which would be difficult for anyone to repeat today, but her ageless jewels survive to adorn other beauties in other settings.’
Diane Vreeland (1903-1989), from the introduction to the 1986 auction catalogue
For further information on the emerald and diamond ring: info@understanding-jewellery.com
