Ellen Barkin pockets $20 million in Christie's jewelry auction

Like any divorcee wanting to rid her self of momentous from the "old life" with an ex-husband, Ellen Barkin decided to have a jewelry sale. She even included her wedding ring. However, since she was married to a billionaire, Revlon's Ron Perelman, and her baubles were, oh, in the hundreds of thousands, her jewelry sale was an auction at Christie's in New York.

According to Rahul Kdakia, head of Christie's jewelry department, Ellen's sale represents "the highest single-owner jewelry sale of the past 15 years in the U.S. and also places it among the top four ever worldwide."

Prior to the auction on Oct. 10, Christies had pictures of each piece up for auction. Now that the auction is done, all the pictures are down. I had a chance to peek at the site a few days ago, and let me tell you that it is was fascinating to see the collection. I was trying to imagine what it must feel like to get a pair of diamond earrings worth 1/2 a million bucks for a present.

The top selling piece sold for a little over $1.8 million and was a:

DIAMOND "THREAD" RING, BY JAR
Set with an elongated al-cut diamond, weighing approximately 22.76 carats, within a diamond-set two-tiered threadwork gallery and hoop, mounted in platinum, i a JAR pink leather fitted case
Signed JAR, Paris
With report 14150450 dated 18 January 2005 from the Gemological Institute of America stating that the diamond is D color, VVS1 clarity

Honestly, I don't know what any of that jewelry jargon means, but I do know that divorce is painful. I do know that money cannot buy you love, devotion, or a happy relationship. A life filled with pretty, expensive jewels cannot mask the painful truths underneath. Life may be prettier and easier when you are rich, but it is not necessarily better. I bet Ellen is thrilled to see the jewels move on. I wish her much joy.