6.5.09

Important “Kennedy Onassis” Wristwatch Worn by John F. Kennedy and Gifted to Aristotle Onassis by Jackie Kennedy.


(President John F. Kennedy's Wristwatch)





John F. Kennedy's Wristwatch: Nastrix 57 Jewels Automatic.

This historically important watch was gifted to Aristotle Onassis by Jackie Kennedy, John F. Kennedy's widow.
Nastrix 57 Jewels Automatic was made in 1962. It's a fine, center-seconds, self -winding, water-resistant, 14 K yellow gold wristwatch.
It is also accompanied by a letter of authenticity from Evelyn Lincoln (President Kennedy's White House secretary).

This unique wristwatch was sold during Antiquorum's Important Collectors' Auction in New York in March 2009 for $120.000.






President John F. Kennedy, Jackie Kennedy and Aristotle Onasis.

John Fitzgerald Kennedy


(President John F. Kennedy)


On November 22, 1963, when he was hardly past his first thousand days in office, John Fitzgerald Kennedy was killed by an assassin's bullets as his motorcade wound through Dallas, Texas. Kennedy was the youngest man elected President; he was the youngest to die.

Of Irish descent, he was born in Brookline, Massachusetts, on May 29, 1917. Graduating from Harvard in 1940, he entered the Navy. In 1943, when his PT boat was rammed and sunk by a Japanese destroyer, Kennedy, despite grave injuries, led the survivors through perilous waters to safety.

Back from the war, he became a Democratic Congressman from the Boston area, advancing in 1953 to the Senate. He married Jacqueline Bouvier on September 12, 1953. In 1955, while recuperating from a back operation, he wrote Profiles in Courage, which won the Pulitzer Prize in history.

In 1960, winning by a narrow margin in the popular vote, Kennedy became the first Roman Catholic President. He took vigorous action in the cause of equal rights, calling for new civil rights legislation. He wished America to resume its old mission as the first nation dedicated to the revolution of human rights. With the Alliance for Progress and the Peace Corps, he brought American idealism to the aid of developing nations. But the hard reality of the Communist challenge remained.


Aristotle Sokratis Onassis was one of the prominent shipping magnates of the 20th century. Some sources say he was born in 1900 and later changed his age to 16 so as to avoid deportation from Turkey.



(Aristotle Onassis)


Aristotle's father had a fleet of 10 ships with 40 sailors. This enterprise was a financial success enabling him to send Onassis and his sisters to prestigious schools. At the age of 16, Aristotle spoke four languages: Spanish, Turkish, English and Greek.

After being briefly occupied by Greece in the aftermath of the allied victory in World War I, Smyrna was re-captured by Turkey; the Onassis substantial family holdings were lost, causing them to become refugees fleeing to Greece. During this period Ari lost three uncles and one aunt with her husband Chrysostomos Konialidis and their daughter, who burned to death when the Turks set fire to a church in Thyatira where 500 Christians were seeking shelter.

Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis


(Jackie Kennedy and Aristotle Onassis)


Onassis ended his relationship with Callas to marry Jacqueline Kennedy, widow of 35th U.S. President John F. Kennedy, on October 20, 1968. It was said that Kennedy insisted on marriage rather than an affair so as to avoid upsetting her children.

According to Peter Evans, Jacqueline received US$3 million for her and $1m for each son as an offer if she accepted marriage. Using a rate of return of 8% a year, from 1968, it would be equivalent to US$65m and US$22m respectively in 2008 value. After Onassis's death she would receive US$150,000 ($3.25m using the same calculus) each year until the end of her life. The whole marital contract was discussed with Teddy Kennedy and later reviewed by André Meyer, Jacqueline's financial consultant. Christina, Onassis daughter, made clear that she didn't like Jacqueline, and after Alexander's death, she convinced his father that Jacqueline had some kind of curse due to John and Robert Kennedy's murders.

The relations between Aristotle and Jacqueline that were already balanced came to an end.During his lifetime Onassis was one of the richest men in the world and one of the most famous. Just like Rockefeller his name has become synonymous with wealth.












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