THREE NIGHTS AGO, I caught up on the 6th episode of FX and Ryan Murphy’s “Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette Kennedy”. I got fixated on a pair of earrings that actress Grace Gummer was wearing as Caroline Kennedy which immediately jumped out at me. She was wearing a version of the legendary Apollo 11 Moon Earrings which were designed by Ilias Lalaounis for Aristotle Onassis as a 40th birthday gift for his then wife, Jackie Onassis. I recognized them as soon as I saw them as I had written about the earrings in articles and in two of my books, “The Modern Guide To Vintage Jewellery” (ACC Artbooks 2025) and “Jewelry Creators: Dynamic Duos and Generational Gems,” which I co-authored with Sonia Esther Soltani (ACC Artbooks, due out in June 2026). I continue to wonder if Caroline Kennedy actually wore them before they went up for auction in 1996.
It was interesting though to hear the actor who plays John F. Kennedy Jr. say to his sister that they are his mother’s and she responds, “they used to be.” The earrings were one of the iconic pieces that Jackie Kennedy Onassis owned.
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Photo of the original pair that Jackie Onassis owned. COURTESY OF LALAOUNIS
In “The Modern Guide To Vintage Jewellery”, I was writing about the jewelry inspired by space explorations and included the earrings. Commissioned as a 40th birthday present for Jackie Kennedy Onassis by her second husband Aristotle Onassis, the dangling, tactile, hand-textured 18K gold spheres are meant to evoke the Moon. Demetra Lalaounis, one of Ilias’ daughters and President of the company, explains: “Aristotle Onassis asked my father if he could design something for Jackie to commemorate the landing on the Moon and mark this historic event. My father chose to design a pair of earrings that he named the ‘Apollo’ earrings. The main part is a sphere representing the Moon, in hand-hammered gold with ruby accents. The top part of the earrings, which serves as the clip, is shaped as an orbit, and in-between the sphere and the clip are four identical motifs in the abstract shape of the command module (CM) of the spacecraft, called ‘Columbia’. The subsequent designs for the 50th anniversary of the Moon landing were made in 18k gold with diamonds.” The original ones were made with rubies, Jackie’s birthstone.
Photo of reissued Apollo 11 Earrings
Demetra talks about the 50th anniversary editions and a photo of a pair are featured in “Jewelry Creators: Dynamic Duos and Generational Gems.” It seems that the costume designer Rudy Mance went to Lalaounis and sourced the new versions for the film.
To paraphrase the beginning of each episode, it says the series is based on real events but certain events are dramatized and fictionalized. And this might be one of those times.
Another jewelry moment that was not based on fact was that John F. Kennedy proposed to Carolyn Bessette with his mother’s ‘swimming ring.’ The sapphire and diamond eternity band he proposed with was inspired by either that ring or another eternity band that Jackie wore.
In any case it was fun to see the Moon Landing earrings. Although Jackie wasn’t photographed in them often, they represented a special moment in time and in her life. And now they have been featured for new generations to see and covet and perhaps purchase as the new editions are still available at Lalaounis stores.
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