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María Félix
was the main leading lady in Mexican cinema. She was talented, beautiful, had a great sense of style, and an imposing personality, which earned her the title “Mexico's diva.”
She was born on April 8, 1914, and died 88 years later, on the same day.
During her lifetime, Mexican actress María Félix was a great fanatic of luxuries and collecting what she called “expensive stuff”, including antiques, paintings, furniture, clothes, and her biggest weakness, according to what hse once told Verónica Castro: jewelry.
La Doña’s favorite house of jewelry was Cartier, which made her some of the most iconic pieces she frequently wore in her public life and some of her movies.
After Félix’s death in April 2002 and after it was revealed she had left her fortune to her assistant Luis Martínez de Alba, little was known about the whereabouts of many of the belongings of the Mexican star. Some are known to be in places far away from Mexico and to be owned by Hollywood celebrities like Meryl Streep, Thalía, or Monica Bellucci.
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Meryl Streep
In 2007, the American actress wore one of María Félix’s most iconic pieces during the Academy Awards at which she was nominated for the film “The Devil Wears Prada.” The “Beetle” necklace is a piece made with 18k gold, chalcedony, coral, onyx, and diamonds of French origin.
The necklace belonged to María Félix and was auctioned in Genoa, Switzerland to then arrived in Meryl Streep’s hands. The jewel was auctioned once again in April 2010 as part of the lot “Always in Style: 150 Years of Artistic Jewels,” at Sotheby's New York for a total of USD $ 28,750.
Monica Bellucci
Another of the most emblematic María Félix's jewels was her Cartier crocodiles necklace which was custom-made for the Mexican actress in 1975. This piece was made in gold and has two emerald cabochons and two ruby cabochons as eyes, over a thousand yellow fantasy diamonds, and over a thousand emeralds.
Legend has it that in 1975, Mexican actress María Félix went to the Cartier store in Paris carrying a baby crocodile and a very peculiar request. The Mexican diva wanted the jewelers to make her an accessory resembling the animal.
At María Félix's request, Cartier created one of the most iconic jewelry pieces in the world.
The design was formed by two intertwined crocodiles that could also be worn as brooches.
One of the crocodiles was made of gold and was encrusted with over 1,000 diamonds. The other was made with white gold and encrusted with over 1,000 emeralds.
The crocodile's eyes were encrusted with emeralds and rubies, becoming one of the most iconic and unique pieces in the world.
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After María Félix passed away, this jewel became part of the jewelry historical archive and is a priceless unique piece; it was Cartier itself which lent the iconic piece to Monica Bellucci for a red carpet in 2006 during the Cannes Film Festival.
The Italian actress was so amazed by the necklace that she wore, 13 years later at the same French film festival, a new version of the crocodile necklace that was part of a new collection designed by Cartier with María Félix as inspiration.
Thalía
In August 2018, the Mexican Singer an actress, who was always declared herself a fan of La Doña and even attended her funeral in 2002, showed a necklace that used to belong to the iconic actress.
In a pre-birthday party, Thalía showed the jewel that belonged to Félix and which she purchased some years ago in an auction. She spent nearly USD $8 thousand. The piece was made in gold and was hand-painted by Antoine Tzapoff, María Félix’s last sentimental partner.
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