Filthy Rich

Has a penchant for pendants

By KARI JAICK

del.ico.us | digg it! | reddit!

print | email | 2 Comments

At the very tip of Hanover Street, she waits. Past the endless pastry shops, she is standing at the top of the stairs, gracefully tossing a handful of flowers at a desperate group of bachelorettes, each of whom is likely hoping they can someday tell their daughter they caught the bouquet of Jackie Kennedy Onassis.

This is one of many photographs that accent the walls of the North End's new jewelry store, Filthy Rich. Here, you'll find exact replicas of Jackie's favorite jewelry, including the pearl-and-diamond bracelet worn opposite her bouquet-pitching arm. When purchased, each piece comes with a photo of her wearing it, a brief history of how it was obtained and details on what the piece is made of.

For old-timey fanatics whose taste predates even the '60s, FR also boasts the Golden-Era Hollywood Collection. These too are exact replicas, ranging from one of Marilyn Monroe's pendants to the earrings Vivien Leigh wore when she so famously fashioned a dress out of curtains in Gone with the Wind.

"Having so much history here in Boston with the Kennedy family, this is big," explains store owner Amy Montminy, who unveiled Filthy Rich just two months ago. Though not herself a Jackie-O-phile, she got the idea for FR after realizing how much she enjoyed making jewelry with her 12-year-old daughters, Julie and Jackie (their line, JJ's Beadery, is quite adorably also sold at the store). Camrose and Kross, a N.J.-based jewelry company, manufactures the replicas, and Montminy purchased the exclusive rights to sell their goods everywhere from Boston to the North Shore and even the Cape—which she has all intentions of doing some day with multiple FR locations.

If a golden necklace delivered to Jackie via breakfast plate while she rode aboard a yacht isn't enough to turn your crank, FR also offers the Contemporary Collection, featuring jewelry inspired by current celebs'. Angelina Jolie's green, emerald-drop earrings from the 2009 Oscars are requested quite often. So is the famous tri-colored ring of Lindsay Lohan, though most buyers won't be wearing it on a hand whose sole use is to cover their face from the paparazzi. Both these and the other collections are priced ridiculously low (the Jackie necklace replica sells for $80; the original was auctioned off at $48,000), making the store's name a confusing, if not untrue, play on words.