
Babe Barnato, the chairman of Bentley and winner of the 24 hours of Le Mans car races between 1928 and 1930, once won an odd bet: a race against the Blue Train, from Cannes to Calais, in 1931. To immortalize this feat and apologize for his absence, he ordered a platinum nécessaire for his wife. It depicts an emerald Bentley, with half-moon, baguette – cut and pear-shaped diamond details, driving along a diamond road. It is racing a sapphire train offset by diamond smoke clouds and train tracks. Attached to the vanity case is a barrel-shaped lipstick case adorned with diamond bands and inscribed with “Babe Barnato racing the Blue Train in his Bentley March 1931”.