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!!
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..!)
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!
Decades of Elegance 