Story of a Necklace

Story of a Necklace
Tea Leoni teams up with jewelry designer Di MODOLO
for UNICEF.

?	Top: T?a Leoni. Above: The 18K-white-gold circular pendant features delicately engraved blue-topaz stones depicting a mother and child. The necklace is available with diamonds ($2,950) or without ($950), and each comes with two interchangeable silk cords. 888.346.6365; www.dimodolo.com

Actress Tea Leoni idolized her grandmother and with good reason. In
1947, Helenka Pantaleoni, a former silent film actress and
friend of First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, founded the U.S.
Fund for UNICEF, serving 25 years as president of the children’s
relief organization.

“There are extraordinary people in the world and, simply,
she was one,” says Leoni, who has followed in her grandmother’s
footsteps as an actress and, since 2001, a UNICEF ambassador. “She
was always rational. She seemed to have this steady way about
her. That had an impact on me.”

An impact that grew even after her grandmother’s passing
in 1987. While going through the belongings of her grandmother
and grandfather, Guido Pantaleoni, family members discovered
beloved items Mrs. Pantaleoni meant for them to treasure.
Looking through a file cabinet of UNICEF papers, Leoni found
an old, gray leather box. Inside was a lovely string of pearls
with a note that read, “For H.P. from G.P.” Below
the note, her grandmother had written, “For Tea.” Leoni
found it odd that the necklace, which she cherishes, would
be tucked into the UNICEF papers - until recently.

“She wanted me in there,” says Leoni, who joined
the U.S. Fund board of directors in June. Since 2001, Leoni
has made trips to impoverished regions of Honduras and Vietnam,
taking in the enormity of UNICEF’s challenge, while
finding reasons to take heart. “There’s that
ever-sustaining hope that kids have,” says the mother
of two children with husband, actor/director David Duchovny. “Grown-ups
have cynicism and intellect, but there’s always hope
in the faces of kids. They have no doubt. And every child
deserves a childhood.”
To that end, Leoni looks for innovative ways to aid UNICEF’s
health and education initiatives. A few years ago, she began
appearing in ad campaigns for Di MODOLO, the Italian jewelry
company, donating 100 percent of her fee to UNICEF. Leoni
said she recognized the company’s desire to make a
difference. “They responded with great enthusiasm,” says
the star of Deep Impact and Spanglish.

This year, she and master jeweler Dino Modolo created a necklace
that captures UNICEF’s eternal hope. Fifty percent
of proceeds from the sale of each striking pendant ? inspired
by her grandmother’s free-form statue of a mother and
child ? will go to the U.S. Fund for UNICEF on behalf
of Di MODOLO. Two models ? one in white gold and blue
topaz and the other with added diamonds ? are available
at Di MODOLO boutiques and select fine jewelers this holiday
season. “I’m thrilled with it,” Leoni says.
Leoni is working on a film with Oscar winner Ben Kingsley,
and she and Duchovny recently started their own production
company, but she says her career priorities have shifted. “At
this age, I find that I’m only interested in doing
things that are artistically pleasing to me.”

She expects to make at least one more trip for UNICEF in
the next three months, possibly to South America or West
Africa. She has traveled with her father, Anthony Pantaleoni,
also a U.S. Fund board member, and she’s looking forward
to the day her children are old enough to accompany her.
Until then, they’ll carry their “Pennies for
UNICEF” boxes each Halloween.

“It’s a first form of philanthropy,” she
says. “My grandmother was adamant that UNICEF always
had an element of kids helping other kids. We, as adults,
may get a great idea, but kids want to see it through.”

Courtesy of Panachemag!