Packer heiress does some serious bargain shopping at Caddick auction

The scandalous provenance of now presumed dead fraudster Melissa Caddick’s jewels didn’t deter high-profile heiress Francesca Packer Barham on Wednesday night, who PS can reveal dropped tens of thousands of dollars on heavily discounted designer bling.

Bargain bling hunter: Francesca Packer Barham.Credit: Jake Scavola

This included the recently turned 28-year-old paying $73,000 (including buyer’s premium) on Lot 136, described by auction house Smith & Singer as an 18-carat white gold, diamond and gem-set “demi-parure”, or in plain speak, a set of jewels crafted by Caddick’s preferred jeweller Stefano Canturi.

Caddick never got to wear the pieces she originally bought for $118,700. They are the same pieces Caddick had waited patiently for five months to receive and was planning to celebrate their delivery on the night of Friday, November 13, 2020, over an intimate dinner with her hairdresser husband Anthony Koletti at Bondi’s low-key neighbourhood Italian joint Pompeii’s.

Caddick never made it to dinner. Koletti had raised the alarm of her disappearance earlier that day, some 30 hours after she first vanished.

Now the suite of sparklers belongs to one of Sydney’s wealthiest heiresses with an eye for a bargain. The set comprises a necklace of interwoven square and rectangular links, alternately polished or fully pave-set to the front with brilliant cut diamonds, together weighing 12.43 carats. It is completed with a clasp set with a ruby, a detachable bracelet “en-suite” and six detachable charms featuring cultured pearls “accented” with rubies and oval cabochon moonstones, framed by pave-set, brilliant cut diamonds.

The set of “Caddick diamonds” Francesca Packer Barham bought in Lot 136 on Wednesday night.

“Chessie” is no stranger to sweeping in on Sydney’s burgeoning second-hand jewellery auctions. In 2020 PS revealed she was the purchaser of a giant 17.34 carat emerald-cut diamond ring set in platinum for which she paid $575,000. At the time it smashed the previous record of $450,000 for a single item of jewellery sold at auction in Australia.

She denied the finger candy was an engagement ring at the time, while her then-boyfriend, the personal trainer and budding sports shoe retailer Sam Zacharia, has since joined the ranks of the brunette’s exes.

The late Kerry Packer’s eldest grandchild is known to shower her beaus with expensive gifts, from Louis Vuitton travel bags to Hermes watches.

This could shed light on another of her purchases on Wednesday night: a Canturi-designed, 18-carat white gold men’s dog tag pendant necklace which Caddick acquired for $4700 back in 2016, but which the heiress picked up for just $1700.

Robert Bates with his now ex-wife Emma Gibson in 2020.Credit: Paul Harris

Her latest lover, the controversial former AFR Young Rich Lister Robert Bates, has made quite a name for himself among the angry high-profile investors still fuming over his troubled Aquamumma pregnancy supplement business.

Bates, a father of three and 13 years older than his new girlfriend, is also known for his love of the finer things in life, from expensive champagne to expensive wheels. He has been staying very close to “Chessie” since being spotted by her side at her Barbie-themed birthday party last month in Potts Point.

The couple has since been photographed canoodling on a chartered superyacht on Sydney Harbour and dining out across town. He’s already met Packer matriarch Ros and dined with his girlfriend’s mother, Gretel Packer.

Gold-plated plates

The long, purpose-built table set up for last week’s high-powered Powerhouse Trust annual dinner certainly looked resplendent adorned with golden tableware specially commissioned from emerging ceramicist James Lemon. It glinted under the lights like an Aladdin’s cave.

Ceramacist James Lemon takes his place at the Powerhouse Trust dinner.Credit: Instagram

As the likes of trustees Peter Collins, glamorous philanthropist Beau Neilson and former fashion magazine editor Kellie Hush joined senior NSW bureaucrats including deputy arts secretary Kate Foy and Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences chief executive Lisa Havilah, the cheeky, irreverent inscriptions on each plate came into view: “Beauty has faded but your bank account is 4 eva”, “Bald”, “Horniest here”, “C--k suckers” and “You have the sexual prowess of a damp vacuum”.

Raised eyebrows climbed further when it was revealed the tableware, upcycled from vintage shops, cost $18,000 – museum bosses clarified they were paid for with proceeds from “private events”.

As for the four large golden bowls which also appeared on the table – each worth $6000 – PS was told they were on “loan” from Lemon.

The full spread of Lemon’s cheeky tableware at the Powerhouse museum.Credit: Instagram

A museum spokesperson said the Powerhouse events team had commissioned Lemon to create 100 plates and serving platters for “ongoing and general event use”.

“They will continue to be used regularly in future for a busy schedule of internal and external events, including corporate and commercial events the Powerhouse hosts, which will offset ongoing hire costs,” the spokesperson said, adding the museum had an “important role to play in supporting artists”.

However, insiders have questioned the return on investment, claiming the museum has previously hired plates, albeit simple white ceramic ones, for around $2.50 a piece for events. However, the museum spokesperson said the premium plate hire rate was $12, which made the commission much more “cost-effective” in the longer term.

School’s out and up

Back in the day it was a 12-hour trip on the Greyhound to the Gold Coast for most budget-conscious teenagers heading to “Schoolies”.

Siblings Justin and Bettina Hemmes in 2004.Credit: Daniel Munoz

But when your uncle is Sydney’s billionaire bar tzar Justin Hemmes, treating a posse of your Cranbrook alumni to a trip on the family’s private jet – replete with sexy flight attendants – counting one’s pennies is probably not a major concern.

And so, Jasper Hemmes Angelucci, the eldest son of Hemmes’ designer sister Bettina, has naturally been the talk of Cranbrook WhatsApp groups since returning with his mates from his Schoolies celebrations in Byron Bay. Apparently, those lucky enough to go along for the ride have been sworn to secrecy. What goes on tour ...

No meet and greet

Hollywood star Mark Wahlberg’s Wahlburgers burger chain is struggling with a publicity disaster after PS revealed his Australian business partner, Sydney millionaire Sam Mustaca, would defend charges he assaulted the restaurant’s bartender. A double serve of positive press was clearly on the menu for a media lunch promoted by Sydney’s slipperiest publicist Max Markson.

Roy and Sam Mustaca, owners and operators of United Cinemas and the Australian partners in the Wahlburgers operation.Credit: Steven Siewert

PS was invited to interview Wahlberg’s brother Paul, the chef behind the chain on his first trip to Sydney since launching.

However, Markson sheepishly called back to officially “uninvite” this column on behalf of his client Mustaca, who is due back before the Downing Centre Court in January.

Not that PS is an isolated case, Wahlburger’s general manager has been on stress leave for the past six months, citing a toxic work culture.

Not a lady who lunches

Retirement was not all it was cracked up to be for Australia’s pioneering transgender cabaret artist Carlotta.

Carlotta is out of retirement and starring in Moulin Scrooge at the Seymour Centre.Credit: John McRae

“I got sick of going to lunch and listening to my girlfriends talk bullshit!” the almost 80-year-old showbiz icon told PS this week between back-to-back performances of Trevor Ashley’s fabulous adults-only pantomime Moulin Scrooge at the Seymour Centre.

“I was bored stiff,” she admitted, which inspired her to take on a main role in a local production of Priscilla Queen Of The Desert in her adopted home of the Gold Coast.

Show stopper: Carlotta during her Les Girls years.Credit: Richared Trood

“That was my first scripted role, before that, my shows were mostly ad-lib you know ... but I really enjoyed the discipline, learning the lines, and now here I am with Trevor in this show, and I’m having a blast. He is an absolute genius, to get this happening every year, I wouldn’t have done it if it wasn’t for Trevor,” she enthused.

And while she admits to sore feet since taking on the role of acid-tongued cabaret club owner Astrid Zeneca in Mouline Scrooge, Carlotta says it’s the most fun she’s had in years.

She hasn’t given up on all her retirement pursuits though, such as her new-found love of portrait painting. She’s been prolific, knocking out dozens of artworks of friends and loved ones. Carlotta is planning a new exhibition in Sydney next year, along with a very big birthday party.

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