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Jane Lathrop Stanford's
Jewelry
including Stanford Family Patek Philippe Pocket Watch.
"In the spring of 1898, Jane Stanford, wife of railroad magnate Leland Stanford, commissioned A.D.M. Cooper, San Jose's celebrated artist and bon vivant, to paint a still-life study of her jewelry. Mrs. Stanford was planning to raise money for the Stanford University Library by auctioning off a large collection of her diamonds, rubies, emeralds and sapphires, but she wanted to maintain an artistic record of her treasures for posterity. ... " —From "A Painter Comes Home."
Oil painting of Jane Stanford's jewelry painted by 19th century California artist
Astley
David M. Cooper.
Patek Philippe Antique Pocket Watch,
Originally owned by Leland and
Jane Stanford
18 karat gold with rose
cut diamonds and black enamel on outer case.
(Detail of Astley David Middleton Cooper painting
showing the watch, above.)
The engraving on the watch reads, "J. Lathrop Stanford from Leland Jan. 1st 1868." Jane Stanford was with child at the time. Leland Jr., the Stanford's only child, was born 4 months later on May 14, 1868. Tragically, the Stanfords lost their son just two weeks shy of his 18th birthday when he contracted typhoid fever and died. It was after this devastating event in their lives that Leland Sr. made the statement, "The children of California shall be our children."
Jeweler: J.W. Tucker, San Francisco, CA.
Timepiece (case #29.421) was manufactured in Geneva, Switzerland, 1866. Drive
train is made of white gold. The outside diameter of the watch case is 44 millimeters.
The overall length of the watch, from the bottom of the case at the hinge to
the top of the bow, is 61mm. The total weight of the timepiece is 71.7 grams.
Courtesy William Paul and Lori Paul.
"Thanks
to donor, watch returned to Stanford University." By Lisa M. Krieger,
San Jose Mercury News, October 27, 2005. (News Article):
Gone for almost a century, an elegant gold watch that once belonged to Jane Stanford
has returned home, thanks to a Palo Alto entrepreneur ... The watch ...was bought
on eBay last
week for $28,000 by the self-educated scholar and software
engineer Pierre Schwob ... he is donating the Patek Philippe watch to the university,
where it
will go on display at the university's museum.
Sold by the university to buy books during its cash-strapped early days ... "It's
gorgeous,'' he said. The gold case is lustrous and unscratched. Old-fashioned
"rose cut'' diamonds glitter against black enamel. ... The watch was bought by
Leland Stanford in San Francisco on Oct. 1, 1867, when he was president of Central
Pacific
Railroad and Jane was scarcely one month
pregnant with Leland Jr. Leland Sr. gave it to Jane as a gift on New Year's Day
1868. "Jane gave it up to benefit the university during lean times ... .'' Stanford
doesn't regret the original sale of the watch and Jane's other jewels, which
built a book fund now valued at well over $750,000. ... [More]