'Treasures Of The Titans: 1900-1950'

"What makes this show very different is that these objects are very personal. It's that walking stick, it's that gun, it's that matchbox. It's John D. Rockefeller Sr's dressing set. What could be more personal than the brush that goes through your hair? That's what is extraordinary about it," says Price.

One of the standouts in the exhibition is General George S. Patton's ivory-handled "Peacemaker" Colt pistol, 1916. In a major coup, this is the first time the gun has been loaned from the Fort Knox Museum. Also on display is a ring that Patton's wife, Beatrice, gave to him on their wedding day in 1910.

Included in the exhibit is an item from Kip Forbes' personal collection. "There's a modest item, my grandfather's sqian dubh (skeen-dube), which is a small dagger and pouch that you wear in your sock when you're wearing your dress kilt. It was the only jeweled object of his that I could think of - Grandfather didn't spend a lot on jewelry. I know he wore it; I'm not sure he used it," muses Forbes. The dagger dates to around 1904 when his grandfather, B.C. Forbes, arrived in the United States.

While most of the items are from the time period the individuals were alive, one of the most striking on display is also the oldest - a Fifteenth Century buffalo horn drinking cup that belonged to William Randolph Hearst. The cup was bequeathed to San Simeon and is on loan for this exhibition. "My grandfather made his reputation because he was the business columnist for Hearst newspapers when Hearst started the Journal American. They wanted something from Hearst because he certainly was one of the titans of the age," notes Forbes.

Heads of state figure prominently in the exhibit. One of the standouts is a striking cigarette case that Winston Churchill commissioned Cartier to design for his son Randolph's 21st birthday. The cover of the gold case resembles an envelope, complete with stamp and postmark (London, June 20, 1932, 6:15 pm) and is addressed to Randolph in Churchill's own engraved handwriting.

There is also a stickpin that Franklin Delano Roosevelt designed for the ushers at his wedding to Eleanor along with his 10K gold ring with silver, diamond and rubies in the shape of a "V" for victory.

"In the old days, the presidents and the first lady were allowed to keep gifts that were bestowed upon them," explains Price. "Eleanor Roosevelt was more concerned about intellect as opposed to getting all dolled up. In the show we have a gold crown encrusted with colored stones that the sultan of Morocco gave her. So it's kind of a funny juxtaposition of this very plain woman with this crown, but it's her personal object," says Price, knowing the crown will prompt such queries as to where she met the sultan and what kinds of things did they talk about.

As it happens, the Forbes Galleries have an extraordinary archive of presidential papers and memorabilia and concurrently is running an exhibition of letters and documents penned by first ladies. This corresponding exhibit, along with the gallery's permanent presidential collection and an extensive archive of Winston Churchill's papers, complements perfectly an exhibit featuring letter openers, rings, watches and jewelry of these American and European royals. It is only fitting, therefore, that one of the most colorful of American presidents is represented. The exhibition displays a six-piece gold dressing set belonging to Theodore Roosevelt. It features the presidential seal on two of the pieces and on one side of the gold razor it reads "dull" and on the other side "sharp."

Painstaking research was done to gather as much information and memorabilia on the various individuals represented in the exhibition. Titians were chosen and then gallery representatives fanned out across the globe to contact estates and ancestors who might have personal items from their historic bloodlines. "What happened in a lot of the cases," explains Price, "especially with Europeans, is that during the war, items were lost, so these things don't exist anymore - or there were robberies."

In spite of various roadblocks encountered along the way, the exhibit features almost 125 artifacts from the most legendary people in history: there is a Dunhill Lighter, 1932, of Pablo Picasso's, which he engraved on the top and gave to Dora Maar; a Cartier vanity case, 1924, owned by Coco Chanel; the Medal of Freedom and a pair of cufflinks that were awarded to Jesse Owens for his success in the 1936 Olympics; a beige leather notebook with a diamond and citrine lily on the cover that was given to Sarah Bernhardt by Edmond Rostand after completion of La Princesse Lointaine, in 1900; a pair of Cartier ladybug earrings, 1936, that belonged to Marian Anderson, who broke the color barrier as the first African American opera singer; and a winged fairy pin, 1944, given to Barbara Hutton by the Duke of Westminster.

Watches play an important role in the exhibition, as Price explains, "A lot of the watches from 1910 to 1920 almost look like female watches, but they weren't. They were male executive watches. There are about 15 items that we have that we don't have names to, but we put them in because they were so gorgeous. There's a man's dressing fob watch with diamonds and lapis, a Bucheron - and you'd say, oh no, this belongs to a woman - but a man would have it in his little vest pocket. We also have a watch from Bucheron that is wood and leather from the 1930s and it looks like a female watch, but it's not. Fashions have changed."

Among the watch collection is a 1929 Cartier owned by Fred Astaire, an Omega Aviator Chronograph wristwatch, 1915, owned by Thomas Edward Lawrence, better known as Lawrence of Arabia, and a stunning watch pendant brooch, 1921, owned by fashion designer Jeanne Lanvin.

Accompanying each object is a photo of the titan along with a story of the item and the individual's relation to it. Not always an easy feat, as Price tells it, but in some instances pure luck won out over intense investigation. "The funniest was Jeanne Lanvin," recalls Price. "We went on the Internet, couldn't find a picture of her, that was it. As it happened, I was Paris one week and I ran into Bernard Lanvin. I hadn't seen him for 15, maybe 20 years, but I knew who he was. I asked him, 'Bernard, what was Jeanne Lanvin to you?' He said, 'Oh, that was my great-aunt.' I said, 'You wouldn't happen to have a picture would you?' He said, 'Actually, I do.' I said, 'Can you make a copy?'"

Price talks about another item that may take people by surprise. "We have pens. Wonderful. You never thought of a pen as a piece of jewelry. There are Harry Winston's pens. He was a very clever guy and what he eventually did was to make a copy of this pen he owned and gave them out to all of his good clients."

Titans come from all walks of life, and one of the more interesting items is not so much for the object itself but the colorful persona of its possessor - Meyer Lansky. "In every show you have to have one little 'hey what's all this about?'" says Price. "Lansky was a renegade and yet he went to Tiffany in 1947 and commissioned a moonstone bracelet for his wife, Teddy. Here is this underworld figure going to Tiffany; it's very sweet."

For the Forbes Galleries, "Treasures of the Titans" is such an obvious replacement for an exhibit that put them on the map. "Replacing Fabergé is focusing on the doers and their doings," says Forbes, who noted that the first issue of Forbes magazine started by his grandfather B.C. was called Doers and Doings in 1917. "The whole premise of Forbes, from the beginning, is that it's about the people behind the business, the titans of the day. The people who are really the movers and shakers and not just the industry itself. So to have the personal items of all of these huge, larger-than-life figures is something that folds in quite nicely with what our editorial mission has always been," says Forbes.

Such an exhibition may not be as successful in the future, Price points out. "Today, people get paid for going into whatever store it is or get paid for wearing a shirt," she says. "Before 1950, they weren't comp'd - they went and bought. Winston Churchill went into Cartier and bought that cigarette case for his son. It's even more special because he had to pay for it, he wanted it, he chose it. It was more than money; it had to do with personality.

"I think the show will appeal a lot more to the average folk because they'll say, 'I have that. My walking stick may one day be in a museum. Maybe I will give it to my son or my daughter or my friend or my niece, and if she or he accomplishes something, maybe then they will say, 'That belonged to Sally O'Brien, and one day that will be in a museum.' It's much more easily translatable than what I call a 'precious jewelry' show. You'll be able to understand it much more."

The second half of the exhibit, "Treasures of the Titans: 1950-2000" will open in the spring of 2006.

The Forbes Galleries are at 62 Fifth Avenue and are open to the public at no charge from 10 am to 4 pm, Tuesdays through Saturdays.

For information, 212-206-5548 or www.forbesgalleries.com. For information on the National Jewelry Institute, 212-541-9459.