Recovered Titanic jewels to go on display

[November 12, 2012]  DORAVILLE, Ga. (AP) -- Most of the jewelry recovered from the wreckage of the Titanic will go on public display for the first time with a three-city tour.

The jewelry is from a single purser's bag found during a 1987 research and recovery mission. The collection includes diamond and sapphire rings, brooches, necklaces, cuff links and a gold pocket watch.

Although single pieces of the jewelry have been on display at one or more permanent and traveling exhibits sponsored by Premier Exhibitions Inc., their Atlanta debut is the first time the majority of the collection has been available to the public.

In a nondescript industrial office in north Atlanta, Premier Exhibitions Inc. and RMS Titanic Inc. officials previewed the artifacts before they go on display Friday in Atlanta. Exhibition company Premier is the parent of RMS Titanic, which owns the rights to salvage from the luxury liner's wreck on the bottom of the North Atlantic.

Alexandra Klingelhofer, vice president of collections for RMS Titanic Inc., said the purpose of the exhibit is to show the public the wonder of exploration.

"Going down two and a half miles below the ocean, recovering a bag, bringing it back up and opening it and finding ... jewelry," Klingelhofer said. "We're able to give them a glimpse of how it must have been to have opened that for the first time and to see, together, the beautiful jewelry of the Edwardian Period."

Conservators and curators have been studying and preserving the jewelry to gain a better understanding of individual passengers' lives aboard the ill-fated voyage.

"Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition" opened in Atlanta earlier this year to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic on April 15, 1912. Klingelhofer said this jewelry mini-exhibit is being added to provide personal insight.

"We are constantly researching the artifacts, learning more about their story, and we thought jewelry is so beautiful and responds well to people," she said.

After a two-month exhibit at Premier's display gallery at the Atlantic Station development, the jewels will travel to Orlando, Fla., and Las Vegas.

[Associated Press; By JOHNNY CLARK]

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.