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Rings & Rubies. Helena Rubinstein's personal wealth was estimated at $100 million, but her enjoyment of it was erratic. Her dark-dyed hair gathered back into a familiar bun, her fingers dripping rings and ruby polish, she held business conferences in her 26-room Park Avenue triplex, propped up in a garish bed whose Incite head-and footboard glowed under fluorescent light. Yet she vastly appreciated art, and acquired an extensive collection that included Renoir, Renault, Modigliani and Dali. Her jewelry was valued at $1,000,000, but she liked to mix dime-store baubles with antique pieces that once belonged to Catherine the Great.
She could be stingy or generous by turn. She contributed regularly to colleges and sent $10,000 to a convent of nuns who wrote to compliment her on her courage in facing down three jewel robbers last year. She also padded around her apartment turning off lights, fretted mightily if a maid broke so much as a teacup, and carried her lunch to her office in a paper bag. Until the end, though, she kept a sharp eye on her business and a relentless devotion to her personal grooming. "It doesn't matter how shaky a woman's hand is," she insisted. "She can still apply eye makeup." At 94 Helena Rubinstein still did.