This Living Jewelry Store Will Have 10 Guards on Hand

Ten armed guards will be on hand when Claudia Mirkin greets Count Enrico Carimati Di Carimate--West Coast manager for the House of Harry Winston jewelers--at a private gala Saturday night, in the Center Club in Costa Mesa.

Mirkin, who divides her time between a 7,500-square-foot manse in Newport Beach and a 14,000-square-foot mansion in Beverly Hills, will accent her Galanos gown with heart-shaped Burmese ruby earrings purchased from Winston.

And Lenore O’Malley, the Italian count’s wife, “will have the store on her,” says Mirkin, widow of Morey Mirkin, founder of Budget Rent-a-Car.

Mirkin decided to fete the count--”an old friend from Milan; he has a castle there”--when she learned that he hoped to open a branch of Harry Winston in Orange County.

The count’s “favorite rose champagne” is on the menu, Mirkin says, along with Beluga caviar, mesquite-grilled chicken and salmon, and lemon souffle with raspberry sauce.

Among the 100 guests expected at the glittery affair are Orange County Supervisor Thomas F. Riley and his wife, Emma Jane; Robert and Shirlee Guggenheim; Pilar Wayne with daughter, Aissa; Anthony Newley and his wife, Dareth; and Alexis Smith, with husband, Craig Stevens.