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

Opal and Tourmaline – the October birthstones

October’s child is born for woe,
And life’s vicissitudes must know,
But lay an opal on her breast,
And hope will lull those woes to rest.

This is the October birthstone poem included in Tiffany & Co’s pamphlet from 1870, “of unknown author”.

An exquisite antique opal and diamond necklace from Richard Ogden

Oh you lucky October-born ladies and gents, your birthstones are the beautiful Opal and Tourmaline.  We quite recently looked closer at opals in the blog post The enchanting landscape of the Opal, and learnt that it is the national gemstone of Australia, which is where almost 95% of all opals come from.  I was delighted to finally get a good excuse to show you the this Art Nouveau-style opal and diamond pendant (photo above).  It comes together in that sweet little acorn design at the bottom, with nature being such a great source of inspiration during this period.

Antique Opal and diamond earrings at Richard Ogden

My favourite opal necklace 

The opal is associated with hope, innocence and purity, and it is thought to bring happiness, faithfulness, confidence and loyalty to its bearer – sounds pretty good to me!

A pair of elegant vintage tourmaline earrings from Cape Town

Vintage tourmaline earrings from Cape Town

Tourmaline is the other birthstone for October, which comes in a wide range of colours – above we can see a pair of green tourmaline earrings.  It can display several different colours in one single gemstone and I actually met a gem trader a little while ago who showed me some pieces of tourmaline that featured a rainbow of different colours, so I will definitely have to write another blog post on that once I locate the photos!  Tourmaline is found in Brazil, East Africa, Afghanistan and the US.

I was also very interested to find out that tourmaline has a rather unusual property: when it is warmed or rubbed it attracts small bits of paper, lint and ash, because it becomes charged with static electricity.  Benjamin Franklin saw the significance of it and used tourmaline in his studies of electricity.  Tourmaline is said to calm you down, and it is also believed to chase away fear, which is why it is sometimes referred to as the “Peace Stone”.

So a happy birthday to you, all you lovely October children, now go and enjoy your beautiful birthstones!

Sardonyx and Peridot – the August Birthstones

Wear a sardonyx or for thee,
No conjugal felicity;
The August-born without this stone,
`Tis said, must live unloved and lone.

(conjugal relates to marriage or the relationship between husband and wife and felicity means happiness)

Okay so I think it is safe to say that this is an awful birthstone poem and I do frown upon it!  I really do not know what the “unknown author” was trying to get at when he or she wrote it, or what Tiffany & Co. were thinking when decided to include it in their 1870’s pamphlet with all the other sweet birthstone poems!  I suspect that my dislike for the poem is the reason as to why I haven’t been able to locate a piece of Sardonyx jewellery for this post –  which in turn is the reason for this August birthstone-blog post being a belated one.  Fortunately August has two birthstones and I have indeed found a lovely piece of Peridot today to share with you:

Peridot and gold necklace

Peridot

Above is a picture of a gold and peridot necklace featuring one out of two different birthstones for August: the Peridot.  You might remember that we have already made the acquaintance of this beautiful gemstone in a previous post: The dazzling gemstone Peridot.  Just to refresh our memories; the peridot is associated with love, truth, faithfulness and loyalty.  Furthermore it is thought to hold magical powers as well as healing properties.  How lovely to have a piece of jewellery that protects against nightmares, brings you power, influence, and a wonderful year! (1)

Peridot and gold necklace

Sardonyx

Sardonyx, the other birthstone of August, is a form of onyx and features bands of reddish brown and white.  It is believed to enhance willpower, integrity, stamina and vigor in crystal healing and it is also thought to be a stone of strength and protection.  The ancient Greeks and Romans loved their sardonyx and had them engraved with images of heroes that would bring them courage and victory in battles.

The banding makes the gemstone suitable for cameos, as the dark section is often left as the background and the white part of the stone is left as the image.  Sardonyx can be found in many different locations, including the US, Russia, Brazil, India, Germany and Uruguay – with the most popular stones comig from India.

I promise to take a photo of a Sardonyx as soon as I come across one, but until then you can check out these Google searches for Sardonyx and Sardonyx Cameo to get an idea of what the stone looks like.

Happy belated birthday all your lovely August children!

Peridot and gold earrings

Sources:

(1) American Gem Society

January Garnet Glory

Did you know that a piece of jewellery with garnets  is a wonderful gift to give to your friend?  It symbolises eternal friendship and trust, and friends used to exchange garnets as a symbol of affection and also to ensure that they would meet again.  I also love that the word garnet comes from Latin’s granatus – meaning grain or seed, as the garnet so resembles the beautiful seeds of the pomegranate fruit. (1)

Agate and Garnet Ring, 19th Century

Garnets are surrounded by more magical stories than this though: a biblical legend tells us that Noah used a garnet lantern to make his way through the stormy oceans and Hebrew writers included the garnet as one of the twelve gems in Aaron’s breastplate (2).  Furthermore, a garnet is thought to have been one of the four precious stones given to King Solomon by God and red garnet necklaces adorned the necks of Egypt’s mummified pharaohs as valuable possessions for the afterlife.  Carved garnet were also found on signet rings used to stamp the wax of important documents in ancient Rome (3).

Gold bracelet with garnets at the Jewel Tree in Cape Town

Garnets come in a rainbow of colours that result from unique combinations of elements (such as iron, calcium and manganese) within each gemstone.  The colours range from the dazzling deep reds to rosy pinks, lime greens, vibrant greens and violets – all colours except blue.  Garnets are these days sourced in Africa, Sri Lanka and India.    

You might remember this beautiful South African brooch, adorned with garnets

Sources:

(1) About Birthstones

(2) Jewels For Me

(3) GIA Edu