Summer Sparkle and a Summer Break

Happy Thursday my sweetheart!  So it has been a few super fun weeks at the antique shop and those of you who follow me on Instagram will have seen a few of these photos already, but here I can tell you a bit more about them!

I may have had a little play around with all the beautiful aquamarine and diamond rings from Moira and Richard Ogden…

I have such a soft spot for Aquamarines and they sure tally up well with diamonds!  When you get a really beautiful one it is like gazing into the Mediterranean Ocean, with that light-blue, see-through colour, where you almost expect little tropical fish to swim past!

Multicoloured gold necklace from Moira Fine Jewels

Ahh this was a funny story..!  The guys at Moira Fine Jewels asked me to wear this necklace in the shop and I took a few photos of it for their social media.  I then unwrapped it once around my neck to take it off – only to realise that I got myself into a real tangle and sure couldn’t get out!  One of my colleagues tried to help me but gave up after five minutes – fortunately my favourite jewellery craftsman walked through the door that very moment and decided to help and after another five minutes I was freed!  But that ridiculous feeling of being trapped sure came over me for a split second – although I can think of worse ways to go than in a £23,000 necklace with garnets, aquamarines and amethysts!  We also decided to measure it as it is so super long, and here is a live shot from the exercise:

How to measure jewellery

There were no two ways about it: it had to be done manually with a tape measurer and we made sure that all the aquamarines, sapphires in a rainbow of colours, citrines, peridots and zircons were included – and ended up with an impressive 7 feet!

So anyway, that is what we have been up to lately and I will now be going away for two weeks, and I won’t have very much internet connection, so it means that I will see you again after the 13th of June!  Wishing you a wonderful summer until then – and make sure to wear all your most beautiful pieces during that time!!

Cushion cut diamond ring from Moira Fine Jewels

And here is one more for good luck – a stunning cushion cut diamond from Moira Fine Jewels… and we swoon!

The dazzling Alexandrite

Hello my lovely!  So in an earlier blog post called The Enchanting Birthstones of June, I mentioned a gemstone called Alexandrite, but I didn’t have a photo to show you at the time.  Well, the other day a stunning Alexandrite and diamond cluster ring did a short stint in the antique shop, so I took the opportunity to take a couple of two photos of it for you.

The spectacular thing about this gem is that it appears to change colour when viewed in different light: green in daylight and red/purple in incandescent (electric) light:

The Alexandrite displays a purple hue when viewed in the shop lights…

… and then it turned green when I helped it up in the daylight that came through the window

Alexandrite was first discovered in 1834 in the Ural Mountains in Russia, and legend has it, that it was called Alexandrite because it was found on the same day that the Russian tsar Alexander II came of age.  Because it displayed the colours of old Imperial Russia, red and green, it soon became the national stone of tsarist Russia.

An Alexandrite with great colour and that is finely faceted, is one of the most valuable gemstones around; often surpassing diamonds, sapphires and rubies in price.  They were very much sought after as they came out of the Russian mines, but when the supply diminished, so did demand.  However, in the late 1980s an Alexandrite mine was discovered in Brazil, and there was another surge in interest for the gemstone.  The Russian stones are however still the most valuable ones, so all you lovely June babies, this is your birthstone – and if you get your hands on one then hold on tight, as the ones with great colour change seem to be very rare to find these days!

There were two antique jewellery dealers in the shop when this ring appeared, and one of them asked the other one whether he would choose a three carat diamond ring or this Alexandrite, if he had the choice.  The other dealer didn’t hesitate for a second, but answered the Alexandrite, as it would make such an interesting piece of jewellery, although the diamond ring would potentially be a better investment.  The first dealer agreed with him and would also have chosen the Alexandrite.  And I couldn’t have agreed more – I definitely would have picked the unique Alexandrite!

‘Jewellery and Fashion from 1890 to 1929’ by Andrew Prince at Grays Antique Centre

 

Andrew Prince ‘From Downton to Gatsby, Jewellery and Fashion from 1890 to 1929’, a Grays Antique Centre

You guys!  I visited Grays Antiques on Monday and was swept off my feet by Andrew Prince’s stories about the different eras around the turn of the century – it was so amazing!  He whisked us away to faraway lands with tales and legends about Maharajas, Victorian socialites and the shocking style of the 1920s when women started applying make up in public.  One of the things that we learnt was that only the highest ranking Maharaja was allowed to wear a full crown, so the other Maharajas would wear tiaras over their turbans, that only just didn’t connect at the back, to get around the rule!  So sneaky.

Andrew Prince ‘From Downton to Gatsby, Jewellery and Fashion from 1890 to 1929’, at Grays Antique Centre

And the above photo is from my favourite story of the day – although for my life I can’t remember the name of this Victorian socialite!

Two young ladies in the 1890s were enemies in everything, from wealth to clothes to men, and always tried to outdo each other.  One evening, at a great ball, Lady 1 above appeared wearing all her jewellery, as you can see in the photo.  The rivalling Lady 2 could’t believe her eyes, and sent for her maid, who brought along a trunk filled with all of Lady 2’s jewellery.  She plonked on the table in front of Lady 1 one and said: ‘There!  I have so much that I simply can’t wear it all at once!”  The young socialite in the photo allegedly huffed and puffed – and left the party in a fury!

1940s 18ct yellow gold ring with diamonds

There is also so much that goes on outside these talks, as in antique jewellery there is just never a dull moment!  One of my fellow listeners was wearing this amazing 1940’s 18ct yellow gold and platinum ring with brilliant cut diamonds that we all just swooned over!  I thought for a moment that it might have been a 50s piece, because of its extravagant design but I do agree that there are lingering Art Deco features in the ring, like its geometric shapes which was so typical especially for the 20s and 30s, so 40s it is!  Isn’t it just amazing?!

My own look for the day, with a 1920s blue zircon bar brooch

1920s blue zircon bar brooch

I decided to wear my favourite brooch in the whole wide world – a blue zircon flanked with diamonds from the 1920s, and I thought that it went so beautifully with my turquoise scarf.  In fact, if you are following us on Instagram you will see that I am going through a white and turquoise phase, with everything I wear being those two colours!!

An array of gold bracelets and bangles from Arabella Bianco in Grays Antique Centre

A close up of these stunning treasures from Arabella Bianco

I obviously had to pop down to Arabella Bianco in Grays after Andrew’s talk, as I am on the lookout for some gold coloured bracelets at the moment.  She of course had a wide range and so I hung around for far longer than I had intended to!  There were stunning pieces by the big vintage jewellery houses and I fell in love with a pair of Art Deco style drop earrings, but already have something similar at home so I didn’t end up buying them (not that that has stopped me before..!)

Beautiful vintage jewellery from Arabella Bianco in Grays Antique Centre

So I would like to thank Grays Antiques for setting up this wonderful day of behind the scenes antique jewellery talks, and I hope that we will have many more to look forward to!  And I would absolutely love to see you guys there, as I think that it gives such an extra dimension to wearing your vintage or antique pieces, when you know the eras a little bit better, and you can associate certain details and designs to a particular time.  And thank you Andrew for giving such an amazing talk – entertaining and fascinating, as always!

‘A day of antiques: looking beyond the trade at Grays’

Pendant earrings by Andrew Prince – who is giving a talk at Grays Antique Centre on Monday 15th of June

Ladies and Gents, I am so excited to let you know that on MONDAY we can all visit Grays Antique Centre and listen to talks spanning the arts, antiques and collecting spheres – speakers include our very own Andrew Prince, BBC2 Collectaholics Mark Hill, the owner of Grays and Alfies Antiques, Bennie Gray and many others!  I sure will be going and hope to see you there!

Grays Antique Centre – London Talks

Tickets are very reasonably priced at £10 (and include a glass of prosecco!) with a discount for multiple purchases and they have set up the talks to run throughout the day as follows:

Grays Antique Centre Monday 15th June 2015

11am: ‘Luxury: Between Opulence and Minimalism’, Professor Giorgio Riello
12pm: ‘From Downton to Gatsby, Jewellery and Fashion from 1890 to 1929’, Andrew Prince
1pm: ‘Undressing Antiques’, Mark Hill
2pm: ‘Antiques: Looking to the future’, Bennie Gray
3pm: ‘How London’s heritage brands contributed to the war effort’ with Q&A, Penelope Sacorafou and Caroline Groves
4pm: ‘Post-War Rye Pottery: History and Collecting’, Elisabeth Bogdan
5pm: ‘Contemporary Chinese Print-Making’, Dr Anne Farrer
Price: £10 per talk, £18 for two or £25 for three
Duration: 45 minutes
Tickets will include a glass of prosecco and are available online at www.foxandsquirrel.com/london-talks/ or in person from reception at Grays on South Molton Lane.

Antique evening bag, Grays Antique Centre (NOT the copyright of Decades of Elegance – the blog is playing up today!)

Amethyst & Diamond Heart Ring.Spectrum. (NOT the copyright of Decades of Elegance – the blog is playing up a bit today!)

So I am very much hoping to see you at Grays on Monday my dear, until then have a wonderful weekend!

Tickets can be bought here: Fox and Squirrel – London Talks 15th June 2015.

The Camdeboo Spa at Irene Country Lodge

Hello my lovely!  Again, I am so sorry for the radio silence but things are still pretty hectic at my end – and I think that we will be back on track again at the end of July, when all the festivities are over!  So until then, please bear with me while the posts come up on various days of the week:

Camdeboo Day Spa at Irene Country Lodge

So we are back at Irene Country Lodge, where one day I took a wander up the hill and was met by the view of their Camdeboo Spa:

We were greeted by a sunshiny entrance to the spa…

These beautiful buildings date back to the 19th century 

The building where the cooks used to live over a hundred years ago.  Now they are used as treatment rooms painted white with that beautiful turquoise accent colour that I always fall in love with when I visit South Africa

I thought it would be suitable for us here at the blog to visit the spa, as these beautiful buildings were built in the 19th century, which makes them antique!  The treatment rooms in the photo above was where the cooks used to live and now they have obviously been turned into the most beautiful treatment rooms, where you can get a relaxing massage.

While I was waiting for my massage I browsed all these lovely products – many of them made at Irene Farm

Nom nom nom I don’t know where to start – the scents are heavenly, how is one supposed to choose!?

Their fabulous local Milk Products

On the left there is a steam sauna and a regular sauna, and a shower with all kinds of advanced settings.  You walk through here to go to the pool area with its sun chairs…

The outdoor treatment room – doesn’t get much more relaxing than this!

This is the Camdeboo Tree which the spa is named after.  Camdeboo usually only grows in the Western Cape but somehow it has found its way to the Lodge, where it has created this beautiful forest of tranquility and beauty.

The Camdeboo Tree after which the spa has been given its name

A Camdeboo Tree stretching its branches and giving us a lovely bit of shade from the intense South African sun

The lovely spa café

The café is so lovely with a fresh and appetising menu featuring for example salads and also some wonderful smoothies, that are made while you relax by the pool.

The café area at the spa where we had some delicious freshly made smoothies 

We tried the massage (heavenly) in one of the treatment rooms that had been painted white, and had all the old features left from when the house was originally built: a beautiful open fireplace and tall ceilings with old wooden beams.  You can buy spa products that are made at the Irene Farm, just a hop and a skip away from the Lodge and their Milk products are just divine.

A view of the outside area 

So I hope that you decide to pop by the Camdeboo Spa if you live around Pretoria, then you can admire all these beautiful old buildings in real life – a do remember to tell us all about your stay in the comment box below!