                                ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times

DATE: Wednesday, August 21, 1996             TAG: 9608210067
SECTION: VIRGINIA                 PAGE: A-1  EDITION: METRO 
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG
SOURCE: ELISSA MILENKY STAFF WRITER
NOTE: Below

JACKIE O. AT A VA. STRIP MALL? WELL, SORT OF

THE JEWELS of Camelot were for sale at a store in Christiansburg. But unless you had money to burn, you were probably just looking.

The eternally cosmopolitan Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis probably never dreamed she'd be the main event at a Christiansburg strip mall.

But there she was, if not in person then at least in spirit, all day Tuesday at Ginger's Jewelry in the Marketplace Shopping Center. A ruby, emerald and diamond necklace that was given to her sometime between 1966 and 1969 by second husband Aristotle Onassis was on display along with other baubles that once belonged to famous people.

The show, organized by SLS, a New York-based wholesale company that specializes in antique and estate jewelry, will be at the Roanoke Ginger's Jewelry, at 1414 Towne Square Blvd., today.

SLS purchased the beaded necklace at the Sotheby's estate auction in April for more than $150,000 and is showing it throughout the country. It contains 45 Burmese rubies with five fluted emeralds - all interspersed with diamonds.

A portion of the necklace can be unclasped and turned into a bracelet.

At least one bid - a paltry $400,000 - already has been turned down, said Tanya Cake, an SLS sales representative. There is no particular price tag on the Van Cleef & Arpel-made necklace, she said, but it will definitely sell for more than $400,000.

"This is America's royalty, the Kennedys," Cake said.

Christiansburg marked the necklace's Virginia debut, and it attracted a steady stream of onlookers Tuesday. Store owner Ginger Mumpower sent out invitations to her regular customers, many of whom booked appointments to come and see the bauble. Mumpower also ran a tasteful advertisement in The Roanoke Times to herald the show.

Mumpower knew such a show would interest her customers the moment she spotted the SLS booth at a trade show in Las Vegas two months ago, she said, and she has several filled appointment books to prove it. The show includes Lana Turner's pearls and Dinah Shore's gold and diamond ring, but the Onassis necklace definitely is the most popular item.

Several customers said they admired Onassis' poise and style, which they said was reflected in the understated elegance of the beaded necklace. They savored the brief moments when they held it in their hands.

Pulaski High School teacher Mary Roop stood before a mirror and held the necklace up to her blue blouse, imagining herself in an understated green or black sweater.

"Where would you wear it?" she asked. "I guess if you had that kind of money, anywhere you wanted."

Edward Crews, whose wife is a longtime customer, took a break from trout fishing in Newport to look at the necklace. With his grandson, Edward, he wandered into the store wearing his "The Duck Stops Here" T-shirt and baseball cap.

Crews called the necklace "just unbelievable."

"My wife is really into jewelry and has been for many years," he said. "I thought I'd just stop in and see how the better half is."

What surprised customers most was the necklace's appearance in Christiansburg, far from the skyscrapers of Manhattan. The only thing higher than the mountains in Christiansburg on Tuesday was a big white blimp, which flew over the shopping center to advertise the opening of Super Shoes.

What would Jackie think?

"She thought she was a New York City girl," Cake said. "Little does she know."

LENGTH: Medium: 72 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: ALAN KIM/Staff. Tanya Cake (left), with SLS, took offers

for this necklace Tuesday. Ginger Mumpower's (right) jewelry store