Well Diamonds Sure Are a Girl’s Best Friend

Hello dearest, I know that I haven’t written in a long time but things have been pretty hectic all around – and you can always follow me on the Decades of Elegance Instagram page, as that one definitely gets updated on a regular basis!  Now let me take you for a quick spin at the antique jewellery shop to show you what I have been up to lately:

Oh you know, just another week at work, trying on a pair of Diamond Drop Earrings from Moira Fine Jewellery

In the photo above I was trying on a pair of antique-style diamond drop earrings from Moira Fine Jewellery.  The earrings are a “bow and swag design” and they feature old cut and rose cut diamonds and the stones are mounted in silver upon gold.  This was a key feature of the Victorian era, as it made the diamonds face up whiter than they would if mounted in yellow gold.

Floral Diamond Earrings from Richard Ogden

One of the things that has been taking up my time is measuring diamond weight – and yes, the calculator above gets more attention that any of the pieces of jewellery in the shop!

Floral Diamond Earrings from Richard Ogden

Diamonds are measured in carats, and one carat equals 0.2 grams – in other words five carats would weigh 1 gram.  So whenever I do valuations for insurance at the jewellery shop I will count all the diamonds in a piece and measure their size in order to determine their value.  In the photo above you can see the metal thingy that is used for determining the size of very small diamonds – I just always forget what the little tool is called – stencil?!

Diamond Bracelet 

Art Deco Diamond Bracelet at Richard Ogden

And just to finish off the post: a couple of breathtaking Art Deco diamond bracelets, definitely something to keep dreaming about.  I know that these would both go so beautifully with all outfits in my wardrobe..!

Decades of Elegance Summer Look-Back

Hello my dearest, I hope you are having a lovely summer week so far!  I am very excited as I have just found my camera, after having lost it about three months ago!!  And no, I don’t know how it ended up behind the fridge, but I will make sure to put it to great use again.

Vintage 1950s Necklace i Multi Colours

I have had an admin day today with my photos and thought that a little look-back at these past few years was in place!  In the photo above I am wearing one of my own favourite pieces – a 1950s costume jewellery necklace that my dear sister gave me for my 30th birthday.  She envisaged me wearing it with a white dress, and so for her 30th birthday party this is what I ended up in – a white silk and lace dress by Haiku Kimono.

Onyx and Marcasite Art Deco Cocktail Ring

Onyx and Marcasite Art Deco Cocktail Ring and a very handsomely dress Tedi

And at her 30th birthday party my sister then wore this Decades of Elegance Art Deco onyx and marcasite ring, and she paired it up with a white shift dress in silk by Haiku Kimono and her hair so beautifully half up half down with a black bow.

Vintage-Style Leopard Bracelet at Marys Living and Giving Event in 2013

And of course there was this glorious Leopard bracelet, vintage style and also Cartier style – you might know how beautifully Cartier designs their leopard jewellery pieces, and this one always makes me think of their designs!

I would love to hear about your favourite summer styles and what vintage or antique jewellery you wear at the moment, so please email me a photo and write a few lines: info@decadesofelegance.com

Happy Summer!

A Bakelite Cuff from the Roaring 20s

Good evening my lovely, I hope you have had a fabulous day in the sunshine!  Today’s post is about an amazing piece of history that I came across an antiques fair the other day:

1920s green bakelite cuff jewellery

It is a green Bakelite cuff, mostly likely from the American Roaring 20s!  The beautiful ladies of the time would probably have worn it with some matching earrings, a necklace and most likely also a flapper dress.

1920s green bakelite cuff 

Bakelite is a type of plastic that was popular in jewellery during the Art Deco period –  invented and patented by chemist Leo Hendrik Baekeland (1863-1944) in 1907.  It was first used for industrial purposes, but eventually its versatility started shining through, when people realised that it could be moulded into various lovely designs and so it became a popular material in jewellery.  It was especially great during the Depression era, as its low cost or happy colours made it into a very popular choice of material.

The exquisite design of the hinge at the back of the cuff 

Today we can find antique bakelite items displayed in museums and they can fetch large sums when sold, partly because of their distinctive look but also because they represent an era when fashion items became affordable to all – as opposed to earlier times, when only the wealthy were able to indulge in fashion and consumer goods.

This little beauty is priced at £450 and if you are interested in it, please do send me an email to info@decadesofelegance.com – and I will put you in touch with the seller of the piece, the lovely Zena.

A 1940s Swedish Diamond Bracelet

Oh I just had to share this little story with you from my workday in Burlington Arcade last week: in the Richard Ogden-shop we also have the beautiful collection from Moira Jewels on display, and so I was browsing Moira’s website, trying to find a photo of a glorious piece of jewellery to add to Instagram.  Out of all the hundreds of stunning pieces on the website I immediately fell in love with this one:

A 1940s diamond bracelet from Moira Jewels at Richard Ogden

It is a diamond bracelet mounted in platinum, with round brilliant-cut diamonds and alternating flowers with diamond borders, set with eight-cut and round brilliant-cut diamonds.  My colleagues however thought it was very funny, as apparently I had managed to pick out the one piece of jewellery that was Swedish!  Such a coincidence indeed, and I suppose that we are all influenced by our origin whether we know it or not.  This beautiful piece with its elegant lines and striking design is thought to have been made in Sweden in the 1940s.

During the 40’s lots of materials were in fact heavily rationed because of the war, and ladies’ outfits were sober in style, very much influenced by the military gear that the gents would wear.  These streamlined outfits however found their opposites in the jewellery worn, as our beautiful ladies of the time would go for rather imaginative and decorative pieces!  I find it so fascinating to see how the social situation influenced people’s style and I think that a blog post on 1940s fashion will be in place soon!

Have a lovely Wednesday dear!

Antique treasures at Cape Town’s Jewel Tree

I hope you all had a lovely Early May Bank Holiday on Monday and it is just wonderful to be back here on the blog with you!

Now, I have been wanting to bring you this post for a long time and we are finally here.  On my latest trip to sunny Cape Town I spent numerous hours in my favourite antique jewellery shop, Jewel Tree.  As always, they had the most exquisite collection on display – everything from dazzling pieces of antique jewellery to their own designs:

Art Deco style diamond ring, new design reusing antique diamonds at Jewel Tree in Cape Town

They design their own pieces by reusing antique cut diamonds, above in the Art Deco taste: a handmade 18ct white gold setting with mille grain set diamonds in an intricate fretwork setting, the center stone is an old Victorian cut diamond, surrounded by six smaller old cuts as well as a further two smaller diamonds and framed with thirty six old cut diamonds – a total diamond weight of 1,9ct.  

A nine stone diamond ring of flower head design

I was not surprised to find that this beauty has now been sold, but we can still admire the stunning design where nine stones create a flower with a combined diamond weight of 1,45cts.  It is set in 18ct gold, the shank is done in yellow gold and the setting finished in white gold.  Swoon!

Antique ring with sapphires and diamonds

So if you are looking for an engagement ring, this is the place to go!  You can choose to get yours designed just the way you want it, or you can pick a piece that has stood the test of time and that sparkles at you with all its brilliance – 100 or so years after it was initially made.

 

Stunning antique silver cocktail shaker and glasses

We were also drawn to the silver pieces in the shop, for example this stunning cocktail shaker with a set of matching glasses – if it was good enough for Gatsby it is good enough for me!

Antique pipe case in silver

One of my favourite thing when it comes to antiques is discovering all kinds of unexpected items!  For example this case in silver where you can see the contour of a pipe – simply a must for all the fashionable gentlemen back in the days!  The pipe case was actually made for Liberty & Co, and one of the two pipes in the case has an amber mouth piece and is marked Liberty & Co on the pipe, with a silver hallmarked collar, and the other is a modern replacement pipe.

Antique fan shaped silver box with hinged cover, made by Walker & Hall, Chester 1901

Antique fan shaped silver box with hinged cover, made by Walker & Hall, Chester 1901

The beautiful interior with its original rich gilding

… not to mention this antique fan shaped silver box with a gilded interior!  These are the most perfect things to give away as a present to someone who already has everything.

Ca 1920s bracelet from Jewel Tree in Cape Town

… and I was just beyond thrilled to have this exquisite silver bracelet, which we think is an American piece from the 20’s.  I will make sure to post a photo very soon, when I am wearing it with one of my favourite dresses – I can’t wait!

A huge thank you to Jewel Tree for having us and we will keep an eye on your Facebook-page where so many of us keep falling in love with all the beautiful pieces that you post!

Glitter glitter everywhere…

First of all: I really missed you guys on Friday, when I wasn’t able to write a post as I was travelling!  Lots of love from a -17 degree Finland though, this time of year is just stunning over there when the sun is out, you can get a good idea from this photo on Instagram.

Decades of Elegance Vintage necklaces

A very exciting thing is happening on the blog at the moment, with this super lovely magazine writing a piece about the Decades of Elegance collection!  I will link to their website when the article comes out and I am really looking forward to seeing the finished piece, as I have had the chance to work with some incredibly talented people.  One of them is photographer James Oaten, whose photography I love as he captures details really well, without messing around with the photos. I really can’t wait to see how he applies his skills to a jewellery collection!

Vintage-style Leopard Bracelet £50 now £40                                                         Art Deco Pearl Ring £85 now £60                                                                            Costume Jewellery Pearl Choker £35 now £25                                                           Mother of Pearl bracelet £50 now £40                                 

This photo session also created a wonderful opportunity to take out all my pieces of jewellery and get an idea of what we have at the moment.  I have decided to put a couple of pieces on sale here, so if you see anything you love do get in touch with me on: info@decadesofelegance.com and we will make it yours!

Vintage-style Leopard Bracelet £50 now £40                                                               Art Deco Pearl Ring £85 now £60

The dazzling gemstone Peridot

 

I was having dinner with two of my lovely ladies earlier this week, and our Indian Princess brought out this beautiful vintage peridot bracelet.  You can see Miss M modelling the sparkling green bracelet here, with a matching glass of cucumber water!  (by the way, I have recently discovered what wonderful health benefits cucumber and lemon water has – Google it if you are curious!)

Vintage Peridot bracelet

Peridot dates way back in time; in fact we are once again revisiting our our old friends the Ancient Egyptians, who mined this gemstone, which was formed deep inside the earth and delivered to the surface by volcanoes.  They associated peridots with light and referred to it as the Gem of the Sun, because it stayed bright under all lighting conditions.  Later on the Greeks and the Romans continued praising this beautiful gemstone – and the Romans would call it the Evening Emerald.

Vintage Peridot bracelet

I read this fascinating story on the GIA website:

“Early records indicate that the ancient Egyptians mined a beautiful green gem on an island in the Red Sea called Topazios, now known as St. John’s Island or Zabargad. Legend has it that the island was infested with snakes, making mining unpleasant until an enterprising pharaoh drove them into the sea. From the earliest times, people confused this stone—now known to be peridot—with other gems. It was one of many labeled as “topaz.””   Peridot History and Lore (1)

So Peridot was easily confused with other green gemstones and rumour has it that Cleopatra’s legendary emerald collection was in fact peridot!  The same goes for the 200 carat gemstones adorning the shrine of the Three Holy Kings in Germany’s Cologne Cathedral – for centuries people thought that they were emeralds, but they are in fact peridots.

I was also fascinated to read that some Peridots have travelled to earth in meteorites called Pallasites!  Some versions of these space gems are of quite bad quality and will rust and crumble, but some are just fabulous and have been turned into jewellery. (2)

I will write a post on Wedding Anniversary Jewellery, which might especially come in handy for the gents who are struggling with anniversary presents for the lovely wives, and of course the other way around – but I wanted to give you a sneak peek today: Peridot is the 16th wedding anniversary gemstone. (3)

Peridot is also the birthstone for August, and is associated with love, truth, faithfulness and loyalty.

Sources:

(1) GIA Education

 (2) Space Gems

(3) Wedding Anniversary Jewellery

Alphen Antiques and Collectibles Market in Constantia – chapter I

I visited a lovely antique fair in Cape Town at the Alphen Centre in Constantia last month, which I wanted to bring you along to today:

Alphen Centre in Constantia

This is the first post out of two, and the second post is unique and incredibly charming, so make sure to keep an eye out for it!

I thought we should start with the collection from Then and Now –  a beautiful mix of vintage and modern pieces:

I loved this silver bracelet with all these lovely chunky stones!

Vintage bracelet in a beautiful design

A girl can never have too many cocktail rings – that is my philosophy in life…

… and this green beauty simply had to go come with me!

Green and silver cocktail ring

… and it is for sale so get in touch if you love it dear!

Groot Constantia Wine Farm

And when you visit the beautiful Constantia, make sure that you pay the famous wine farm Groot Constantia a visit.  It is the oldest wine farm in South Africa and the most beautiful place!

Kleanthous Antiques at Lapada Art and Antiques Fair

On Friday I visited the most beautiful antique fair so far on my antique journey; the Lapada Art and Antiques Fair in Berkeley Square, London.  Walking through Berkeley Square earlier in the week I was able to see how they assembled a great white “tent” where the fair would take place, but when I finally entered it was like going into a real building – absolutely beautiful!

Lapada Art & Antiques Fair, Berkeley Square, London

The first antique dealer that we are visiting is Kleanthous Antiques est. 1969.  Now, I can’t even begin to count the number of people I know who have a vintage watch at the top of their wish list – their “one day” dream.  Well, I would recommend that you pay these guys a visit on 144 Portobello Road, as their selection is just amazing – for the gents as well as for the ladies:

Rolex, Cartier, Patek Philippe, Jaeger Le Coultre: Reverso & Memovox, Vacheron & Constantin… heaven for the vintage watch lover…

At the moment their watch collection is apparently at its best, and below is a very special Rolex Prince, with its original certificate:

The Rolex Prince with original certificate

Rolex Prince original certificate

Rolex Prince

My friend and I however fell in love with their ladies’ watches, and she was immediately drawn to this 1920’s Art Deco diamond watch:

1920’s Art Deco wrist watch with diamonds and a black strap

I ADORE the black strap as it is such an unmistakable Art Deco design.  It brings my thoughts to 1920’s headpieces with the black bands and the sparkling jewellery.  I must say that this is the most beautiful watch that I have ever seen, and of course, when my friend tried it on, she never wanted to take it off again:

1920’s Art Deco watch with diamonds

The design is just extraordinary – and I love the black strap together with the diamonds and this typical 1920’s design

1920’s Art Deco watch

As mentioned, you can find this amazing collection on Portobello Road, and you can also visit their website here for some more info and photos.  We will visit a few more deals at the antique fair later on this week so stay tuned!

Cheeky leopard finds a home

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Vintage-style leopard bracelet

Hmm… there is something terribly familiar about the bracelet above…

Cartier style bracelet

Oh yes, you might recognise this as one of our favourite bracelets – the Cartier-style leopard from Portobello Market!  He has found such a loving home and will now be worn around London by one of the most stylish ladies I know.  She often features as my model here on the blog and with her incredibly edgy and spot-on sense of style she will be able to carry off this lovely piece just the way it deserves!

Leopard bracelet from Portobello Market

I was considering making the bracelet smaller, as you can see it is rather wide.  My friend K however pointed out how beautifully drapes down over her hand and becomes a piece of hand jewellery as well, with that cheeky little paw stretching down to the left in the photo above.

I am absolutely delighted that the two have become a match and I can promise you that I will be on the lookout for similar pieces, as it is all about the statements pieces now ladies!

What do you think about statement jewellery?  Do you prefer dainty pieces or massive bling like above?