Beautiful Rare large statement Helena Rubinstein Paris enamelled necklace and clip on earrings set in cream & black enamel and gold plate, stunning design art deco style geometric. In very good condition apart from the chain is discoloured in parts. Helena was born in Krakow's Jewish Ghetto in 1872 and nothing in her early life suggested she was destined to become such a powerful woman. As the eldest in a family with eight daughters, she would have been married off to a rich old widower if her parents had had their way. But Helena had other plans, and at 22 her free-spirited nature drew her away from the family home and over to Australia. Her mother worried she wouldn't have enough face cream, so she slipped a dozen little pots of it into her departing daughter's luggage. In Australia, Helena's alabaster complexion and feisty personality instantly appealed to the women and they began asking her for beauty tips. She was a salesgirl in her uncle's grocery shop when she realised her secret knowledge could be a ticket to greater things – maybe even a whole different life. Her plan was to recreate the formula of her face cream and teach these women the rules of beauty. Helena doggedly pursued her goal through trial and error, eventually finding the right formula, and began to dispense her first beauty tips: protecting skin from sun and wind, moisturising skin and getting enough restorative sleep. Word spread about her skincare treatments and in 1902 she was able to open her first salon, the Valaze House of Beauty. Shipping Royal Mail Track and Sign