March 2000 Image Gentlemen Prefer Pearls Chicago jeweler turns touring necklace into special event Marilyn mania broke out during a black-tie event and in-store display in October at C.D. Peacock, Chicago, IL. Mikimoto (America) Co. Ltd. cohosted the two-day event to display one of its most famous necklaces, a cultured pearl choker actress Marilyn Monroe received from one of her husbands, baseball legend Joe DiMaggio, on their honeymoon in 1954. Guests also had a chance to see a collection of rare photographs, letters and mementos from Monroe’s wardrobe that accompanied the necklace. An evening reception kicked off the exhibit, generating proceeds for the Ronald McDonald House Near Loyola University Medical Center. Gene London, the exhibit’s artistic director and an authority on the Golden Age of Hollywood, told stories about the blond bombshell while guests sipped champagne and viewed Monroe memorabilia. – by Stacey King Seymour Holtzman (center), owner of C.D. Peacock, and Joe Murphy, the store’s president, pose with “Marilyn models” and Marilyn Monroe’s famous Mikimoto necklace. The cultured pearl choker was the highlight of a two-day exhibit in the store.