SOTHEBY'S THE ELEGANT JOHN TRAINA : A PORTRAIT IN STYLE

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SOTHEBY'S THE ELEGANT JOHN TRAINA : A PORTRAIT IN STYLE NEW YORK DECEMBER 7TH 2011 THIS CATALOG CONTAINS 84 PAGES AND 92 LOTS SALE 8805 B-4HIGHLIGHTS:John A.Traina, Jr. (1931-2011) has been described as the gentleman youwanted to be seated next to at dinner, a charming raconteur, elegantlydressed, beautifully mannered and perennially interested.Born in San Francisco, John was the son of a homemaker who loved opera. His fathers candybusiness was sold to Sees Candies just before the 1906 earthquake. He graduated from Stanford,which his son, Todd Traina, said gave our father the confidence to do business everywherefrom the ports of the Far East to the Vineyards of the North Bay of San Francisco. He was along-time shipping executive, workingfor both the American President Linesand Prudential Cruises and GraceCruises. He started Pearl Cruises, thefirst western cruise line to sail to China.A man of many interests, John was alsoa vintner, a film producer and anentrepreneur.His first wife, Dede Wilsey, explains,John Traina was a born collector. Becausehe had excellent taste, he quickly learnedthe difference between good and bad andsought out excellence. His unfailing abilityto identify treasures provided both of uswith enormous pleasure. He startedwith armies of toy soldiers as a child andgrew into jewels and Fabergé as anadult. He loved gems and he loved theintricacies of workmanship in jewelry pieces. He was also fascinated by the design houses andstoried owners of great jewels. He shared his fascination by writing Extraordinary Jewels in 1994.His collection of Fabergé cigarette cases was the largest in the world at one time and he lent several to the 1996 Fabergé in America exhibition at the New York Metropolitan Museum ofArt and the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. Again, to share his passion, he authored TheFabergé Case: From the Private Collection of John Traina in 1998.His collection offered for sale here of dress sets and cufflinks, cigarette cases, watches andFabergé-like objects reflects, as Trevor Traina described his father, an artistic person who livedlife with great flair and great style. According to his daughter, Samantha Traina, her fatherssense of style and worldly elegance was legendary and innate. To his second wife, Danielle Steel,there was no more dazzling sight than John Traina in white tie. John Traina in a dinner jacket wasa close second. John preferred to wearthe more formal dress sets for majorsocial events and the more whimsical formore intimate occasions such as black tiedinners at peoples homes. All the majordesign houses are represented— diamondsand colored stones from Harry Winston,classics from Cartier and Van Cleef &Arpels, Schlumberger sets from Tiffany &Co., a menagerie of animals from DavidWebb, ancient coins from Bulgari, ColePorter-inspired Night and Day fromVerdura, Venetian blackamoors fromNardi, fluted turquoise from Taffin andperiod sets from Fred Leighton. Hiscollection of watches, several of which areoffered in the December 6th sale ofImportant Watches, are just as variedincluding timepieces from Cartier, PatekPhilippe, Tiffany & Co., Rolex, Harry Winston, Versace and Verdura. His elegant cigarette cases,were made much use of during the years that he smoked, and were still lovely to look at inthe years after hed stopped. One is a pink and yellow gold basketweave box that used to belong to Cole Porter. John loved provenance. And the Fabergé-inspired carved hardstoneanimals, flowering pots and bell pushes are wonderfully decorative and reminders of Johnsaffection for the real thing.John was a wonderful father to all of his children, a wonderful husband and ex-husband, loyaland caring and is greatly missed by all who knew him. He was a man who not only collected thebeautiful things being offered for sale... read more

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