Own a Piece of Paris

Tue., Aug. 1, 2006 1:10 PM PDT by Gina Serpe

Entrée into the world's most photographed social circles: Priceless.

Entrée into the jewelry box of the world's most photographed socialite: About $9.99. Plus shipping.

Such is the current going rate of Paris Hilton's crystal-encrusted "SEX" pendant, just one of dozens of costume baubles from the heiress' private collection that have made their way onto eBay.

"This is Hollywood, baby! If you live in Los Angeles and don't have any plans to contact showbiz, sooner or later showbiz will contact you," the auction's description read. "Now up for sale is a huge collection of costume jewelry that previously belonged to...oh, yes! to a super-extra-hyper famous public personality and young lady--PARIS HILTON."

Now that's the kind of hype you can only get in Hollywood. Or, apparently, cyberspace.

The 33-piece collection, which includes a tiara, a Dolce & Gabbana bra-choker set, a head net and several cocktail rings--all of which are crystal-encrusted--are on the block in the first of many promised auctions involving the personal possessions from the Simple Life star.

"Actually, even if you are not a fan of PH and not searching for news about her purposely, you will still recognize a lot of these items from the countless images and photos of her all over the media," the seller, operating under the moniker "chironclub," writes.

The items fell out of Hilton's possession in February, when a Los Angeles storage unit containing clothing, furniture, photos, private journals and, yes, even videotapes belonging to the celebutante was seized after she allegedly failed to pay the monthly fee.

Despite protests by Hilton's rep that the financial dispute was a "bureaucratic foul-up," the belongings were auctioned off to the highest bidder, Phoenix-based broker David Hans Schmidt, more commonly referred to as the "Sultan of Sleaze" due to his ties to the porn industry, for $2,775.

Upon acquiring the items last winter, Schmidt vowed to put them back up for auction, a promise he's seemingly making good on.

While it's not explicitly known whether Schmidt is behind the auction, chironclub, who has likely surpassed both Nicole Richie and Lindsay Lohan on Hilton's ememies list, claims to have been commissioned by the legal owner to sell the items, which "came from 'THAT' storage locker."

It's worth noting for all would-be buyers that what chironclub apparently lacks in tact he makes up for with customer service: The seller has managed to maintain a 99.8% positive feedback rating since 2002.

As of now, the collection's biggest ticket items are a tiara, with the top bid at $182.50, and a monkey brooch, or as the seller deems it, "brooche," at $102.50.

The current auction, which also includes a bejeweled belt, halter top and collection of earrings, runs through Sunday.