Miss Anna Case
This incredible Art Deco style necklace was designed by Cartier in 1931 for Clarence Hungerford Mackay, the son of a wealthy telegraph mogul, who gave the necklace as a wedding present to his second wife Miss Anna Case, a lyric soprano of the New York Metropolitan Opera.

The Family Doctor
Mackay’s first wife ran away to Paris with the family doctor in 1910, and Mackay finally divorced her in 1914.

Religious Restrictions
Two years later Mackay met and fell in love with the young songstress Miss Anna Case, but due to religious restrictions of the Catholic Church, he was not able to marry Miss Anna Case until after the death of his first wife.

Fourteen Long Years
For fourteen long years, Mackay and Miss Anna Case were lovers. When one evening in 1930 Mackay learned of the death of his first wife, he sent Miss Anna Case a carload full of white roses and a diamond engagement ring set with a tiny enamel bluebird.

A Wedding
Mackay and Miss Anna Case were married one year later, and Mackay gave the iconic emerald necklace to his beloved wife.

A Death
Mrs. Anna Case outlived her husband by 45 years. She never remarried and bequeathed the necklace to the Smithsonian in 1984.

The Mackay Necklace Today
The Mackay necklace is set in platinum with the 167+ carat Mackay Emerald, 35 smaller emeralds and more than 1,200 colorless diamonds and is currently on display in the Gem Hall at the National Museum of Natural History.