Centering on an oval mabé pearl (12.8 x 18.4 mm) bezel set within an oval surround with rope twist detailing below a square frame set with a full cut round diamond accent weighing approximately .33 carat total (H-I color, VS2-SI1 clarity) and suspending a round cultured pearl (8mm) drop with a ring surmount set with diamond melee accents.


1.5 in.

18.3 dwt.

From the Collection of the late Sara McCoy, Chapel Hill, North Carolina

Sara McCoy’s jewelry was of a piece with the drape of her dress, her smile and her thick hair. She was elegant, warm and welcoming.

The landscape of Sara’s life changed often, beginning in childhood. Her father was a U. S. Army officer, and Sara grew up primarily on Army bases in California and, after World II, in Frankfurt, Germany, where she graduated from high school. She went to Mary Washington College in Fredericksburg, Virginia and, through its art program, studied painting at the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, DC.

On her twentieth birthday, Sara Hart married William O. McCoy, a Marine. Because of his military service and then his career with iterations of the Bell Telephone Company, the couple moved every year or two as they raised their two daughters. With each move, Sara rooted the family, organizing and creating a new home, each of which became a blank canvas for her talents in design and sewing. She was named one of the best-dressed women in New Orleans in the 1970s, garnering the recognition for clothes she’d made herself that were often complemented with her wonderful jewelry choices creating her unique style and flair. She was unstoppably creative, widening her scope as a Master Gardener curating her gardens, getting serious with photography in her own dark room, and producing a cookbook of family recipes.

After Sara and Bill’s last move — to Chapel Hill from Atlanta, in 1995 — she became active with the University of North Carolina, joining several boards and supporting Bill in his roles in the administration of the school.

Maybe because Sara knew so well the feeling of being the new girl, she had a knack for making people feel at home, and for finding out what made them sparkle.

Mabe pearls display a white bodycolor with orient, good luster, lightly spotted surface, and acceptable nacre. The round cultured pearls display a white bodycolor with rose overtones, good luster, moderately spotted surface, and acceptable nacre.

Good condition.

$1,000 - 2,000