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!

Diamond Jewellery from Moira Fine Jewellery

So I must say that my favourite part about working in an antique jewellery shop is trying on the pieces, as well as getting exciting previews of new items that come into the shop!

A previous of a diamond riviere necklace from Moira Fine Jewellery 

The other day we were putting a few items up on Moira’s Instagram page for all the lovely brides-to-be, so I was wearing this stunning diamond riviere necklace (and never wanted to take it off, but I had to in the end)….  It is Moira’s own design, a classic necklace set with 18.32 carats of round brilliant cut diamonds in 18 carat white gold – how stunning it would look when worn by a bride on her wedding day!

Moira Fine Jewellery, Diamond Drop Earrings

I also tried on these diamond cluster drop earrings with two beautiful old cut centre diamonds, and a total approximate weight of 8.44cts..!  There is something very special about bridal diamond drop earrings; I loved the ones that the Swedish Princess Madeleine wore on her wedding day, but I wonder if I might prefer the ones above, by Moira, since they are of a more delicate design, and would pair up beautifully with any other diamond or pearl jewellery that you might choose to wear on the day.  We swoon!

Your Secret Jewellery Collection – the Pearl and Perfume chapter

Jewellery collection Chanel perfume and pearls

I thought we would round off the week with this beautiful and inspirational jewellery collection from one of your readers in Stockholm.  It is the updated version of a previous post: Your Secret Jewellery Collection – the Before and After-chapter!

I love the idea of using a tray to keep all the jewellery in, as you can see how it reflects all the pieces and creates another dimension to the collection.  This gold plated tray is from the charity shop Stockholms Stadsmission, where the proceeds go to the homeless, so get out there and scavenge through the charity shops in your area, as we love shopping with a good conscience.  They always have the most unusual things in charity shops, so you might even get some great, unexpected inspiration!  The drawer is teak and was found in an old house in the Swedish countryside – clearly it found a very loving new home!

Keeping your perfumes and jewellery together is so fabulously Old Hollywood and we recognise the Iittala Mariskooli from the previous post, as one of our favourite jewellery holders.  (As I was linking it to this post I noticed that it is on sale at Skandium in various colours, woop..!)

So happy weekend sweetheart and I will see you again next week!

‘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 Travelling Tiara from the 1830s

Early 19th century tiara at Richard Ogden

This is a ca 200 year old tiara that I found while rummaging through in the secret cabinet at Richard Ogden.  Robert Ogden told me the story behind it and also why it is referred to as a “Travelling Tiara”:

Antique 19th century tiara at Richard Ogden

The wealthy ladies in the 18th and 19th century didn’t want to bring their diamond-set jewellery along on long horse drawn carriage-journeys, so they had the workshops design identical pieces in paste (glass) that they could safely carry along on their travels.  This tiara is a wonderful piece of history, which has stayed in such great condition, despite having almost 200 years on its shoulders:

Travelling Tiara ca 1830s at Richard Ogden in the Burlington Arcade

In the 1700s Bohemian glassmakers’ designs were the most sought after in Europe, and they had just surpassed the once unrivalled Venetian glassmakers in skill and design.  Their designs were like works pieces of art, mirroring precious stones so perfectly (1) and it became common practice for all the great jewellers to sell paste jewellery alongside their precious pieces.  Even royalty – for example Elizabeth I, Mary Queen of Scots, Queen Anne, the wife of James I, the first Duchess of Marlborough and Henri IV of France – owned paste jewellery (2).

In 1869 the following statement could be found in Queen magazine:

“If the profession or career of the husband requires that his wife should go much into society on a small income, she would be perfectly justified in wearing imitations to save money… it cannot be wrong for a lady who cannot afford and has not inherited them to wear a moderate amount of paste.”  

The article added that she should not give the impression that her “jewels” were of any value.

Antique 19th century tiara at Richard Ogden

The designs were very clever, which we can see in this little beauty: it can be taken apart and turned into a brooch and a smaller tiara/headpiece.  You can see the mechanism at the back in the photos above and below here:

The tiara comes apart and splits into various other pieces

… it can be worn as a lovely brooch… 

… and as a smaller tiara!  A girl can never have too many tiaras, right?

Eventually, in the mid-2oth century costume jewellery was made popular on its own, by various designers, and high as well as low priced brands would become renowned names in costume jewellery; Crown Trifari, Dior, Chanel, Miriam Haskell and Monet.  I am pleased to say that we have had the pleasure of encountering designs from quite a few of these previously on the blog!

Sources:

(1) The Legend of Bohemian Glass: A Thousand Years of Glassmaking in the Heart,
by Antonín Langhamer

(2) How to spend it – the real appeal of paste jewellery 

Late Friday Night Sparkle

Hello my lovely, I hope you are looking forward to the weekend as much as I am!  I have a small update to share with you today: for the next few months I will be writing the blog on Mondays and Wednesdays, but not on Fridays.  I have a LOT of things on my plate until this summer and obviously I want to keep up the quality of the blog, so that is the best solution for now!

We have had some busy times in the antique shop with Moira Fine Jewels preparing for the Los Angeles Jewelry, Antique & Design Show!

As for fun things that are happening in the jewellery world: the Richard Ogden Fine Jewels shop is busy busy at the moment, as Moira Fine Jewels is heading off to an antique jewellery show in Los Angeles!  In other words, the most glorious pieces of jewellery are coming into my eyesight on a regular basis and it is just heaven!  I haven’t come across any other antique jewellery dealers that have more fascinating signed pieces that these guys; Cartier, Boucheron, van Cleef and Arpels…

A pair of glorious 4ct diamond stud earrings from Moira Fine Jewels – just a little something I threw on this morning!

… and from time to time I cave in and help out by trying some of the pieces on – purely for non-selfish reasons of course!

Pretty glorious 1920s Art Deco diamond necklace from Moira Fine Jewels

I have also been past a couple of lovely antique and vintage shops in Dorking again, and can’t wait to bring you those posts.  Until then, have a wonderful weekend and remember to wear your most beautiful pieces of jewellery, and be your most fabulous self!  That reminds me that I must wear my most fabulous pieces of jewellery to a brunch on Saturday… hmm… looking forward to rummaging through my jewellery box tomorrow!!!

A little preview into a blog post about Christique Antique Centre in Dorking – such a treasure trove of antique jewellery, furniture and objects d’art!

Jewellery Collection Essentials

Hello dear!  So I have come across quite a few blog posts on the topic Your Wardrobe Essentials – you know the usual drill of  ‘a crisp white shirt, a black pencil skirt, a pair of skinny jeans, a pair of black trousers, the perfect white t-shirt, a black cardigan, a trench coat’ etc.  How very not exciting I say – and would like to introduce to you my take on ‘Your Jewellery Collection Essentials‘!

A pair of my jewellery wardrobe staples – a pair of blue topaz beauties, vintage style from South Africa

These are all pieces that I have found myself using on a regular basis, and of course, if you decide to invest in any of these items I would encourage you to go for vintage or antique.  When you look through your jewellery collection to see what pieces you already have, remember to include jewellery that you have inherited from your grandmother(s).  These often become the most treasured ones, and even though you might want to keep them safe and locked away, keep in mind that they were made to be worn, loved and admired!

Make a list in your head of the pieces of jewellery that you know that you will be using on a regular basis, and when you get to your next vintage jewellery fair or shop you will know what you should look for!  The above photo is from the Frock Me! Vintage Fashion Fair

1. Pearl Earrings 

By adding a pair of (in my case preferably white) pearl earrings to your outfit, you can transform a whole look!  A plain office outfit becomes all that more sophisticated; a little black dress gets an air of Audrey Hepburn elegance; and a cocktail dress becomes oh so glamorous!  It is my firm opinion that pearl earrings are a must in every girl’s jewellery wardrobe.  You can vary the sizes so that you have a pair of smaller pearls as well as the larger ones, as different sized pearls bring different looks to yours outfits.

2. Pearl Necklace

This one goes hand-in-hand with the pearl earrings and I just love wearing pearl earrings and a pearl necklace together.  Try to match the sizes of the pearls in the earrings and necklaces for good balance – but have fun while playing around with them!  I just love the Sex and the City movie scene where Carries tries on the Lanvin wedding dress (Google search for it here) and that big, chunky pearl necklace!  Not to mention when she is draped in pearls with the Christian Lacroix dress! (Google results here)  

3. Gold Earrings 

For an outfit in warm colours, gold jewellery is just such a wonderful choice.  Either go for small golden earrings or a pair of golden earrings with a small stone, for example a turquoise, diamond or even a pearl.  I tend to keep my everyday earrings quite small so that they match a simple and elegant necklace – without stealing the show!

4. Gold Necklace 

Something elegant and understated that goes with your golden earrings.  The beauty here is that you have a sea of different styles to choose from: will you choose a gold pendant or a small sparkling stone that complements the gold?  Or a necklace where the chain is the main detail?  I have always known that gold chain necklaces don’t suit me, so judge by my dread when I was asked to try one on in the shop the other day to show a client!  I was then so surprised to see that it actually suited me, and that I liked the look!  So again, have a play around with the different styles as you might get surprised as to what suits you best!

Vintage gold locket with initials

3. Silver Coloured Earrings

Silver, white gold and platinum are especially perfect when you wear an outfit featuring cold colours (blues, greens etc) but they do of course go very well with everything.  Silver coloured earrings that come with a bit of sparkle, such as diamonds or Swarovski crystals, are always a lovely choice.  I tend to go for the smaller ones as I love the subtle glitter, and they are perfect for matching up with a pretty silver necklace.

Vintage sparkling silver stud earrings

4. Silver Necklace

You can either go for a classic silver chain necklace, one with a silver details or something with a small sparkling stone.  I have found that I don’t wear sets very often – pre-matched jewellery – but I tend to mix and match my pieces so that my earrings for example carry a bit of sparkle, while the necklace is then just plain silver, like my Tiffany bow below:

Tiffany & Co silver bow necklace

5. Bracelet

When it comes to bracelets the choice is a bit wider: you don’t wear the bracelet right next to the rest of the jewellery so do play around a bit more with colours, metals and stones.  For example, if I am wearing gold jewellery I often wear my great aunt’s Kalevala bracelet – an old Finnish design in brass, in the far right photo below.  Kalevala is a fascinating brand so we will come back to that in a later post!

6. Rings

Rings are such fun and there are so many different styles to mention:

• Cocktail Rings, my favourite rings that keep coming back here on the blog as they are sooo gorgeous and fun to play around with:

• For those of you who are married or engaged I am sure that your Engagement Ring and Wedding Ring are the biggest parts of your jewellery-outfit.  And yes, I am still planning to write a guide to buying a vintage engagement ring one day, so watch this space!

• A friend of mine brought to my attention to the beauty of wearing lots of elegant silver rings, and you might remember that I recreated the look in an older posts: Knitted Gloves and Silver Rings.

Have a play around with you rings and pair them up with something unexpected, like a pair of old cut-off knitted gloves

6.  Statement Necklace

It is always a good idea to invest in a statement necklace that goes with many different outfits – which is not very hard as this piece is meant to stand out!  It means that you can be bold with colours and don’t hold back on the sparkle!

I hope you enjoyed this alternative version of wardrobe essentials and I would love to hear what your jewellery essentials are?  Do you have a special piece of jewellery that you wear every day?

Moira Fine Jewellery at Richard Ogden in the Burlington Arcade

Such a beautiful cushion-cut diamond ring, with a 5.57ct old-cut diamond, micro pave-set round brilliant-cut diamond surround and shoulders from Moira Fine Jewellery

I am so pleased to bring you today’s post, where we are getting to know Moira Fine Jewellery, a family-owned antique jewellery shop with the most beautiful jewellery collection.  My favourite part is probably the 1920s section – they always have me dreaming away to the Great Gatsby cocktail parties with beautiful flapper dresses and fabulous Art Deco clutches and hairpieces!

Antique diamond set cluster ring, mounted in 18ct yellow – probably late Victorian.  From Moira Fine Jewellery

Their collection ranges from twentieth century signed originals from design houses like Cartier, Tiffany & Co, van Cleef & Arples – obviously the fabulous Art Deco period, as well as 1940s gold work, and over to the modernist creations of the 1950s to the 1980s (think big and bold!).  They also carry a selection of classic and vintage engagement rings that get a LOT of attention from the people passing by the shop!

A vintage 18ct yellow and white gold, evening clutch bag, set with diamonds, by Chaumet. Circa 1950s. From Moira Fine Jewellery

The family has built their stunning antique jewellery range with regular exhibitions in Palm Beach, New York, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas; the Far East – Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore; and Europe – the Olympia and LAPADA London shows.  It is so much fun seeing all the jewellery get packed up to be taken across the world – and to see what returns to the shop afterwards!

Aaaand how much do we love these?  Can you imagine them as wedding earrings for example, with a beautiful vintage wedding dress?  Diamond set long drop earrings in platinum with a total of 11.44ct of round brilliant-cut, baguette-cut and briolette-cut diamonds – from Moira Fine Jewellery

And those of you who follow us on Instagram have already seen some of their beautiful pieces that I have had the pleasure of playing around with in the shop:

A pair of 4ct diamond stud earrings from Moira Fine Jewellery 

Antique style snake bracelets from Moira Fine Jewellery – the one on the left being my very favourite, which I would love to wear with a white dress and some more mixed colour jewellery – gold and sparkle

A heavenly aquamarine and diamond pendant

So if you are looking for the most exquisite pieces of antique and vintage jewellery – and some contemporary pieces made in a classic style, then you really must pop by Richard Ogden in the Burlington Arcade, where the collection of Moira Fine Jewellery is on display.

Moira Fine Jewellery at Richard Ogden, 28 Burlington Arcade, London, W1J 0NX

The Trifari Birthstone Range at Arabella Bianco in Grays Antique Centre

 

Grays Antique Centre

I popped by Grays Antiques the other day to look at Arabella Bianco’s collection, which was a treat as always!  I am definitely getting my Christmas presents from these lovely vintage jewellery dealers instead of fighting my way through the crowds on Oxford Street!  I have already seen a bunch of beautiful and unique pieces, and if you are thinking along the same lines then definitely try Grays Antiques Market!

Beaver County Times 22 March 1973 – The Birthstone Bracelet by Trifari

At Arabella Bianco’s I was drawn to the bracelets and necklaces in the photo above and Lesley, the owner, told me that they come from a Trifary collection from the 60s/70s.  They are simulated birthstones for each month and I was delighted to stumble across the above article from the Beaver County times, 22 March 1973.

Birthstone bracelet by Trifari at Arabella Bianco at Grays Antiques

Above we have January’s Garnet and February’s Amethysts, and below April’s Diamonds.  In newspaper adverts from the 70s we could read that the designs were the perfect way of  “celebrating the month that she was born” and that “one way to her heart was Trifari” – I love it!  It is also great that they come in white and yellow gold tones (not real gold though as it is costume jewellery after all) as it gives us more choice when it comes to styling them with our outfits.

April’s Diamond Birthstone from Trifari at Arabella Bianco

We have learnt about Trifari in an earlier blog post: A Trifari Vintage Treasure, so do revisit that post if you can’t quite remember the fascinating story about this design house.

April’s Diamond Birthstone from Trifari – at Arabella Bianco in Grays Antique Centre

So do make sure that you put Grays Antiques on your list of places to visit for your Christmas shopping, as I can promise you that you will find some unique and beautiful pieces of jewellery, to surprise and delight your family and friends with this Christmas!

Grays Antique Centre

58 Davies Street
& 1-7 Davies Mews
London, W1K 5AB

Antique Jewellery Heaven at Richard Ogden and Moira Jewels

With Christmas season upon us I have been having far too much fun playing around with the jewellery in the shop, so I thought I would give you a little sneak peek into what I got up to last week:

21ct diamond necklace from Tiffany & Co at Moira Jewels

Eeeeeh just a little something I threw on!  This is the most stunning diamond necklace from Tiffany’s, which belongs to Moira Jewels at Richard Ogden.  Fit for any old Christmas party I say!  Next time you walk through the Burlington Arcade, do make sure to peek into our windows at Richard Ogden – the centre one is extra prominent at the moment with a glorious selection of Moira’s jewellery!

Close up on the Tiffany diamond necklace…

… and then I may have found my way to our pink window…

Pink sapphire and diamond rings from Richard Ogden

Oopsy!  I couldn’t help myself.  On the far left you can see a five stone Garnet gold ring.  Five graduated oval almandine garnets are set with rose cut diamond points and it is all mounted in a Victorian style carved claw setting in yellow gold.

Next to it you can see a HUGE purple Tourmaline and diamond cluster ring, where the tourmaline is cabochon cut and surrounded by a single row of brilliant cut diamonds.  

One my ring finger I am wearing a Tourmaline (7.03 carats!) and diamond cluster ring.  Such a sweet design which I know will woo a few of you.  I just love cluster rings by the way, and I believe that Diana – and now Kate Middleton’s sapphire and diamond cluster ring has eternalised the design.  I get so many people coming in to look at cluster rings, and mainly the sapphire and diamond ones – understandably!  

Continuing on to the far right, you can see my very favourite ring in the whole shop: the Star Ruby whose acquaintance we made in the blog post: A Star Ruby Romance.  It is just such an extraordinary design and I can’t wait to see who ends up buying it!

Sooo that was an enjoyable way of finishing off my Friday afternoon and I can’t wait to go back in again tomorrow to see what new (old) pieces I will have to try on!