You read that headline right. For a limited time only, you can purchase an emerald necklace allegedly derived from the Musk family jewel mine.
The necklace is being sold off through RR Auction house under the header “a golden gift from the future Tesla CEO” by Jennifer Gwynne, one of Elon Musk’s college ex-girlfriends. The lot including the piece of jewelry also comes with two original photos of Musk. The first shows him along with Gwynne and his mother, Maye. The second is a photo of Musk and Gwynne posing in a group at a college formal.
“His mom had a number of these necklaces in a case in her bedroom and Elon told me they were from his father’s emerald mine in South Africa,” wrote Gwynne in a description of the jewelry piece on the RR website. Though previous reporting from Business Insider on the Musk mine has described it as located in Zambia, not South Africa. She said Musk gave her the necklace while on a holiday visit to his mother’s Toronto home.
In addition to the necklace lot, Musk’s ex is also auctioning off other personal effects from her time with the to-be-Tesla CEO. The full list includes about 20 photos of the billionaire from the mid-90's and a signed birthday card.
The sale began at the end of August and ends on 9/14 so this is the last full day to get your bids in before the lots close.
Thus far, the necklace has attracted 36 bids, and is currently going for $8,784. Which is less than the current high bid on the birthday card of $13,314. “Happy Birthday Jennifer (aka. Boo-Boo) Love Elon,” reads the inside of the card. The outside of the card is emblazoned with multi-colored, stylized text that says “Love Love Love Love Love Love You.”
Nearly all of the photos heave received at least a dozen bids. However, the most popular has 30. It’s a picture of a young Musk seated in front of a computer with a bottle of lotion prominently visible on the desk, currently going for nearly $3,000. Make of that what you will.
Gwynne and Musk reportedly dated for a period of time spanning 1994-1995, while the tech mogul attended the University of Pennsylvania. They met as they were both working as Resident Advisors in campus dorms.
Last month, Gwynne told Inside Edition that she was selling the items to help fund her 13-year old stepson’s future college education, and that she was inspired to do so after she saw a story from 2021 about another Musk-related auction.
To which Gizmodo says: good for her. It’s probably healthy to be able to let go of the past. Especially when that letting comes with a five-figure payout.
Click through to see more of the photographs, and to transport yourself to the world of Elon Musk’s youth.
Update 9/13/2022 5:55pm: This story has been updated with additional images provided by RR Auction house.
