ADAM'S Fine Jewellery & Ladies Watches 12th May 2026

TUESDAY 12 TH MAY 2026 . STARTING AT 4PM 52 sipated. In 1891, J. married Lola Hughes Sheldon (1869-1953). When J. died in 1927 there was not much left in the estate. How- ever, the remaining stocks in the Universal Oil Products Company passed to Lola. Lola or ‘Lolita’ had shrewd financial judgement and invested the capital in commercial real estate. She was politically saavy and kept up correspondences with several US presidents, Congressmen and top politi- cal figures of her day. Lola was known for her jewellery collection, so much so, she was robbed by Al Capone’s men. Locked in a cupboard as the jewellery was taken, her powerful demeanour was not going to put her off from requesting the sentimental pieces to be put back. It proved to work as the robbers obliged. Their daughter Lolita Armour (1896-1976) was born premature and subsequently formed congenital dislocation of both hips. Lolita’s parents invited Adolf Loren, an Aus- trian orthopaedic surgeon and professor at the University of Vienna to help assist with her condition. The operation and rehabilita- tion were an apparent success. Lolita went on to marry in 1922, John ‘Jack’ Mitchell Jr. (1897-1985), the son of the president of the Illinois Trust and Savings Bank. Jack co-founded National Air Transport, which later became United Airlines. They spent their time between Chicago, El Mirador in Montecito and their 12,000 acre ranch in the Santa Ynez Valley. It was at El Mira- dor, where Lolita and Jack transformed the grounds into one of the most fabulous es- tates in the area. Jack established Los Ran- cheros Visitadores or the ‘Visiting Ranch- ers’, a social club for riders with an annual trek across the terrain. The family have since passed on through the generations and moved countries. These rediscovered unique pieces bring back to life the story of an old American dy- nasty, the Armour family.