Some estate sales are worth a good ol’ Texas road trip.
One coming up this weekend in Graham, 90 miles west of Fort Worth, sounds like a Neiman Marcus pop-up partnered with fine Dallas’ jewelers and art galleries.
“I want everything in the house and I never want anything,” said Janelle Stone, president and owner of Dallas-based Janelle Stone Estate Services. She wouldn’t value the inventory but said the quality and quantity are unequaled.
The New Yorker magazine called her “the estate sale queen of Dallas” in an article last year.
Stone, 64, who runs the business with her 30-year-old son Wen, rarely holds estate sales outside the Park Cities, but said this one will be one of her Top 10 in the 40 years that she’s helped wealthy Dallas families empty out mansions.
The Graham address of the sale is being withheld until Thursday evening at 6 p.m. for security reasons.
All fine jewelry has been removed from the house until Friday. There will be five armed police officers on duty, and the house is fitted with interior and exterior cameras that will be monitored.
In the mix are a 7.07-carat emerald-cut diamond ring, designer clothing, scarves and wraps, shoes, handbags, belts and hats. For the lover of fine home goods, there are silver serving pieces, linens and 40 artists represented among the original art, including Dale Chihuly, André Hambourg, James Sword and Guillaume Romain Fouace. The library is described as extensive with antique books, first editions and coffee table books.
The 7-carat diamond engagement ring has an estimated value in the six figures. It will be sold to the best and highest bidder on a sealed bid basis.
“We’ve already had lots of out-of-town calls from New York and California for the ring,” said Wen Stone. He’s been working full-time with his mother for six years.
The line for the sale that begins at 9 a.m. Friday will probably start the night before.
“There’s a lot of camaraderie in the line,” he said. “Everyone has the one thing they collect, and they end up making friends.”
Three dozen luxury jewelry brands are represented in the collection including a vintage Oscar Heyman ruby and diamond ring and fashion jewelry from Chanel and Ippolita. Luxury watches include a Van Cleef & Arpels Alhambra and Piaget Polo watch. Elizabeth Gage and Elizabeth Locke and Henry Dunay pieces are included.
Not everything will be expensive.
“No one wears fine jewelry all the time,” Wen Stone said. There’s costume jewelry that’s priced at $65 and other lower-priced items such as books, tools and fishing gear.
Designer shoes and boots are mostly size 7.5 to 8.5, or 38 to 39.5 in European sizes, and fit Janelle Stone, but she said, “I can’t afford to buy all the shoes I want to buy.”
The staging and pricing crew has been on site for more than five weeks.
“We know customers are coming with moving trucks,” Janelle Stone said. “Most of this will go into other peoples’ homes. It’s pristine.”
Twitter: @MariaHalkias
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