Ingrid Bergman visiting Richard Ogden

Good evening my dear and happy Friday to you!  So I have just finished reading the autobiography of Ingrid Bergman, who in my view was one of the greatest actresses to ever have granted the silver screen with her presence.  I picked up a second hand copy of her book My Story, which she wrote with Alan Burgess, and once I started reading it I just couldn’t put it down until I had read it cover to cover.

Ingrid Bergman’s autobiography: My Story.  Top left ‘Ocean Breakers’, 1935.  Top right ‘Intermezzo’, 1939, with Ingrid and Leslie Howard

And when I then came to work the other day and mentioned the book to Robert Ogden, he told me this lovely story with her, which I just had to share with you:

This was back in the 1950s, when the world was deeply immersed in Ingrid Bergman-fever; with her movies showing all over the world and the paparazzi following her every move.  One day Richard Ogden received a phone call at his shop in the Burlington Arcade, where one of Ms Bergman’s staff asking whether Mr Ogden would be able to close the shop for an hour or so, to let Ms Bergman come and look at some jewellery.  Mr Ogden was happy to comply with the request, and to make sure that neither paparazzi nor any other visitors would enter the shop during her visit, a gentleman was placed outside the shop to guard the door.

While Ms Bergman was shown all these beautiful pieces of jewellery in the shop, an old lady who had been a customer for quite a while, approached the gentleman at post outside the door and asked whether she could go inside.  He told her that unfortunately no one was allowed in for a little while – but then he couldn’t help but add that if she peeked in through the window, could she tell him who was currently in the shop?  The old lady looked in through the window long and hard, before she turned back to him and delightedly said:

“Well yes of course I can – it is dear Mr Ogden!”

From the book My Story by Ingrid Bergman and Alan Burgess.  Above: Ingrid and Humphrey Bogart in ‘Casablanca’, 1942

I so love this story, and it is just one of many showing how fond staff and customers were of Richard Ogden.  One of my favourite things about working in the shop is hearing the stories that our customers tell us about buying a piece jewellery in the shop 50 years ago – or how their parents bought their wedding rings there.

And as for Ms Bergman’s book, I think that I will have to write another post about it book because it is just the most enticing reading…

The Beautiful Black Opal

Oh I am so excited about today’s post!!  Yesterday in the Richard Ogden shop I suddenly got my hands on this black opal and diamond ring, and so I thought that we could look closer at this extraordinary stone.  It is the one in the photo below to the left, and you can see how it is so beautifully surrounded by diamonds.  The ring to the right features a white opal, also surrounded by diamonds.

Black Opal and Diamond Ring

The world’s first black opal was found in an area of South Wales in Australia called Lightning Ridge in 1877 – we have already learnt about the history of opals in the previous blog post The enchanting landscape of the Opal.  Well, the world was overjoyed about this amazing find, as they had never seen anything like it!  In fact, opals had had a very bad reputation 50 odd years earlier, when Sir Walter Scott novel “Ann of Geierstein” associated the heroine’s unfortunate downfall with an opal.  Suddenly everyone believed that opals would bring bad luck, and so the opal trade suffered immensely for a long time – for no legitimate reason whatsoever!  This black opal was then fortunately brought to the attention of the world, and opals immediately sprung back into popularity – and Lightning Ridge remains the finest producer of black opals until this very day.

As you can see in the photo above, the body of the stone in a black opal is what gives the stone its name.  This darkness is caused by small trace elements of carbon and iron oxide, which you will not find in other opals (1).  The dark colour ranges from dark grey to pitch black, and the characteristic rainbow of colours that we have seen in “regular” opals will still be present in the stone.  Black opals are the most valuable ones because of the way the colour spectrum stands out so beautifully against this dark background.

You can also see above that the white opal to the right is cut with a cabochon (the shape of a dome) whereas the black opal has quite a flat top.  The reason for this is that the opal colour bar in the black stone is thinner than in the white one, and so it has to be cut thinner to retain its colour.

A white opal surrounded by diamonds

And do remember to wear your opal jewellery, as we have learnt that this lovely stone revels in the humidity of the skin and may break if left unworn for too long!

One of the rings in the first photo comes from the Richard Ogden-collection and the other one from Moira Jewels – and you can viewed them both at our favourite Richard Ogden shop in the Burlington Arcade

Sources:

(1) Opals Down Under

Sardonyx and Peridot – the August Birthstones

Wear a sardonyx or for thee,
No conjugal felicity;
The August-born without this stone,
`Tis said, must live unloved and lone.

(conjugal relates to marriage or the relationship between husband and wife and felicity means happiness)

Okay so I think it is safe to say that this is an awful birthstone poem and I do frown upon it!  I really do not know what the “unknown author” was trying to get at when he or she wrote it, or what Tiffany & Co. were thinking when decided to include it in their 1870’s pamphlet with all the other sweet birthstone poems!  I suspect that my dislike for the poem is the reason as to why I haven’t been able to locate a piece of Sardonyx jewellery for this post –  which in turn is the reason for this August birthstone-blog post being a belated one.  Fortunately August has two birthstones and I have indeed found a lovely piece of Peridot today to share with you:

Peridot and gold necklace

Peridot

Above is a picture of a gold and peridot necklace featuring one out of two different birthstones for August: the Peridot.  You might remember that we have already made the acquaintance of this beautiful gemstone in a previous post: The dazzling gemstone Peridot.  Just to refresh our memories; the peridot is associated with love, truth, faithfulness and loyalty.  Furthermore it is thought to hold magical powers as well as healing properties.  How lovely to have a piece of jewellery that protects against nightmares, brings you power, influence, and a wonderful year! (1)

Peridot and gold necklace

Sardonyx

Sardonyx, the other birthstone of August, is a form of onyx and features bands of reddish brown and white.  It is believed to enhance willpower, integrity, stamina and vigor in crystal healing and it is also thought to be a stone of strength and protection.  The ancient Greeks and Romans loved their sardonyx and had them engraved with images of heroes that would bring them courage and victory in battles.

The banding makes the gemstone suitable for cameos, as the dark section is often left as the background and the white part of the stone is left as the image.  Sardonyx can be found in many different locations, including the US, Russia, Brazil, India, Germany and Uruguay – with the most popular stones comig from India.

I promise to take a photo of a Sardonyx as soon as I come across one, but until then you can check out these Google searches for Sardonyx and Sardonyx Cameo to get an idea of what the stone looks like.

Happy belated birthday all your lovely August children!

Peridot and gold earrings

Sources:

(1) American Gem Society