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 Divine Art Deco-Style Diamond Ring

Art Deco-Style Diamond Engagement Ring at Richard Ogden

Oh I have such a crush on this ring and just had to share it with you guys!  It is an Art Deco-style ring here at Richard Ogden, with a centre diamond that weighs approximately 1.50 carats and is surrounded by brilliant and trillion cut diamonds – the trillion cut diamonds are the triangular ones that you can see on either side of the centre diamond.

Art Deco-Style Diamond Engagement Ring at Richard Ogden

In the photo above you can see around the small top diamond a millegrain edge – one of my favourite features in antique jewellery!  Millegrain is when the craftsman creates small beads out of the gold, that then run along the edges of the jewellery.  I love how it gives a piece such lovely character by softening the lines and adding some subtle sparkle to the design.

Art Deco-Style Diamond Engagement Ring at Richard Ogden

So there we are, a bit of Monday sparkle to kick off this wonderful week ahead!

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 delightful history of Afternoon Tea

This weekend I went for a fabulous afternoon tea at the Bentley Hotel in Knightsbridge.  I will create a guide to London Afternoon Teas here on the blog soon, so that you will always be able to choose your perfect place!  My review of the tea at the Bentley Hotel will come later on this week, but here is a sneak peek of the hotel and of the history of this wonderful tradition:

The Bentley Hotel

Afternoon tea has been a dear tradition for almost two centuries and was “invented” by Anna, the 7th Duchess of Bedford.  Legend has it that she was visiting the 5th Duke of Rutland at Belvoir Castle in the 1840’s – a point in time when people would eat their breakfast in the morning and quite a late dinner, with only a light bite for lunch.  Now this would have set anyone’s blood sugars plummeting, which is exactly what must have happened to Anna as she complained about “a sinking feeling” in the afternoons.  She came up with the clever idea of asking for tea and cakes or sandwiches to be sent up to her room daily. and she found these afternoon snack sessions so delightful that she soon started inviting her friends to join her.  It didn’t take long for afternoon tea to become an established tradition in many middle and upper class households!

Lady N modelling a 1930′s Art Deco Pearl and Marcasite Ring

I just adored the seating area at the hotel, where we had our afternoon tea – how can you feel like anything other than a princess in a setting like this?

I love getting dressed up for afternoon tea – of course you don’t have to worry about what to wear, but I think it makes it one notch more special to wear a nice dress and of course some antique or vintage jewellery!  My dear friend Lady N is here modelling our favourite 1930’s pearl ring.

1930′s Art Deco Pearl and Marcasite Ring at the Bentley Hotel

A sparkling Christmas party at Grays Antique Centre II

In this last post before Christmas we are visiting DB Gems at Grays Antique Centre, where I was mesmerised by this late 19th century diamond tiara:

Late 18th Century tiara with rose cut diamonds at DBGems, Grays Antique Market

The centre stone is a Rose Cut Diamond, and this sounds so alluring that I just had to find out more:

The Rose Cut dates all the way back to the early 1500s (1) and was a very popular choice of diamond cut during the Georgian and Victorian eras (2).  However, as cutting technology developed the Brilliant Cut became the popular choice in diamonds, as it provided more sparkle in candle light and so the rose cut fell out of fashion for a while.  It did however regain popularity soon again and has remained a treasured choice in engagement rings until this very day.

A rose cut diamond as the centre stone

You might notice in the photo above that the centre diamond is raised above the others?  A rose cut stone is cut to resemble the spiralling petals of a rose, so it features a flat bottom and a dome-shaped crown.  It can have anything from 3 to 24 facets, which are the flat areas on the stone that allows it to reflect light and dazzle us!

Vintage cufflinks at DBGems, Grays Antique Market

I was also delighted to see the amazing collection of cufflinks at DB Gems, that will make the perfect Christmas presents for the gentleman in your life who has everything!

Antique diamond rings at DBGems, Grays Antique Market (please forgive the reflection in the photo!)

I also spent a looong time admiring their necklaces and diamond rings.  We can also glimpse some sapphires and rubies in the photo above, just in case anyone is after a wedding present for their loved one for example..?

Grays Antique Centre, 7 Davies Mews, London, W1K 5AB 

A huge thank you to Grays for having us over!  Hopefully you will get a chance to pop by there during Christmas as it really is a wonderland of beautiful jewellery and works of art.

Sources:

(1) Tracy Matthews

(2) Brilliant Earth

A sparkling Christmas party at Grays Antique Centre

We received a lovely invitation to a Christmas party at Grays Antique Centre last week, which really put the sparkle into this year’s Christmas!

Grays Antique Centre in Mayfair

Grays Antique Centre is based in Mayfair, just by Bond Street tube station and with Christmas coming up it is such a wonderful place to find some very special presents for your loved ones.  You can get everything from very high-end pieces of jewellery (diamonds, emeralds, amethysts etc) to very reasonably priced costume jewellery – from all the glorious decades gone by!

Any favourites?

I stopped by Westleigh Antiques and had a lovely chat with the trader there – and I just couldn’t take my eyes off the most stunning pieces antique and antique-style jewellery!  I was especially delighted to see the most glorious cocktail rings shimmering and sparkling back at me:

30 karat Aquamarine cocktail ring at Westleigh Antiques, Grays Antique Centre

Diamond and pearl cocktail ring at Westleigh Antiques, Grays Antique Centre

Chandelier Diamond Earrings at Westleigh Antiques

The Haywood Sisters at Grays Antique Centre

We also had the pleasure of seeing the Haywood Sisters performing Christmas songs for us.  This lovely vocal trio were styled top to toe in vintage and brought a wonderful touch of glamour and sparkle to the evening.  With backgrounds in West End musicals and other high-end performances they are the perfect addition to a wide range of events, so do check out their beautiful singing here: The Haywood Sisters.

John Joseph at Grays Antique Market Christmas Party

We have seen a few pieces from John Joseph before and I couldn’t resist the temptation of photographing their vintage and antique engagement collection:

Antique Engagement Rings at John Joseph, Grays Antique Centre

They also do the most beautiful cocktail rings with all the precious gemstones you could ever dream of:

Sapphires and emeralds at John Joseph Antiques

We still have a few dealers to visit so stay tuned and I will take you along to see some heavenly antique lace, a late 19th century tiara and some very handsome cuff links – the perfect present for the gentleman that has everything!

1930’s Art Deco Pearl and Marcasite Ring

It is time for an old school Decades of Elegance-blog post, where I find a piece of jewellery, fall in love with it and share it with the rest of the world:

1930’s art deco ring with marcasites and pearls

I picked up this glorious 1930’s Art Deco ring at Portobello Market the other week.  It has this stunning 9ct gold band and comes with the most beautiful silver setting, adorned with marcasites and a pearl.  I love it when they mix gold and silver in a piece of jewellery because it makes it so wearable; you can to mix and match the rest of your outfit and jewellery to your heart’s content without having to worry about wearing only either gold or silver!

1930’s art deco ring with marcasites and pearls

I bought the ring at the same time as the Art Deco ring with a black onyx from the Audrey Hepburn-style birthday girl-blog post.  That ring has found a loving home in Sweden as the birthday girl could in no way part from it, which I think is wonderful – they were a match made in Art Deco heaven!

As for this beauty: in the photos above you can see how I have matched it up with some nautical colours and red lipstick, as I thought it was the perfect complement to the elegant design of the ring.

1930’s Art Deco Pearl Ring

It is up for sale at the moment, so give me a shout (info@decadesoelegance.com) if you have any questions.  Enjoy your Monday dear!

Audrey Hepburn-style birthday girl

So you might remember last week’s post from Hyde Park, where we briefly caught a glance of a 1930’s Art Deco ring?  Well it has found a loving home in Sweden and was worn to an amazing summer birthday party on Saturday, by the beautiful birthday girl herself:

It went so perfectly with her hairstyle – a black bow tied up in a simple Audrey Hepburn half-up hairdo.  The ring has a black centre onyx in the shape of a hexagon, surrounded by the most dazzling marcasites.  She also wore a stunning white silk dress by Haiku Kimono, with a few gold buttons at the back, as the last touch to this elegant summer-look.

… see, the ring goes with everything!