Photo Illustration by Luis G. Rendon/The Daily Beast/Getty/Sotheby’s
Before Mitzi Perdue’s engagement ring sat in a case at Sotheby’s, it sat on the bottom of the ocean floor. For 363 years.
Perdue, a hotel heiress and widow of millionaire chicken magnate Frank Perdue, is auctioning off her 6.25-carat, step-cut emerald engagement ring to benefit the fight against human trafficking in Ukraine. It is expected to raise between $50,000-$70,000.
For the first time, she is also sharing the ring’s fascinating backstory—one that spans continents, centuries, and several different chicken farmers—and the story of her husband’s relentless, 16-year search for the ship that carried it.
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