‘A day of antiques: looking beyond the trade at Grays’

Pendant earrings by Andrew Prince – who is giving a talk at Grays Antique Centre on Monday 15th of June

Ladies and Gents, I am so excited to let you know that on MONDAY we can all visit Grays Antique Centre and listen to talks spanning the arts, antiques and collecting spheres – speakers include our very own Andrew Prince, BBC2 Collectaholics Mark Hill, the owner of Grays and Alfies Antiques, Bennie Gray and many others!  I sure will be going and hope to see you there!

Grays Antique Centre – London Talks

Tickets are very reasonably priced at £10 (and include a glass of prosecco!) with a discount for multiple purchases and they have set up the talks to run throughout the day as follows:

Grays Antique Centre Monday 15th June 2015

11am: ‘Luxury: Between Opulence and Minimalism’, Professor Giorgio Riello
12pm: ‘From Downton to Gatsby, Jewellery and Fashion from 1890 to 1929’, Andrew Prince
1pm: ‘Undressing Antiques’, Mark Hill
2pm: ‘Antiques: Looking to the future’, Bennie Gray
3pm: ‘How London’s heritage brands contributed to the war effort’ with Q&A, Penelope Sacorafou and Caroline Groves
4pm: ‘Post-War Rye Pottery: History and Collecting’, Elisabeth Bogdan
5pm: ‘Contemporary Chinese Print-Making’, Dr Anne Farrer
Price: £10 per talk, £18 for two or £25 for three
Duration: 45 minutes
Tickets will include a glass of prosecco and are available online at www.foxandsquirrel.com/london-talks/ or in person from reception at Grays on South Molton Lane.

Antique evening bag, Grays Antique Centre (NOT the copyright of Decades of Elegance – the blog is playing up today!)

Amethyst & Diamond Heart Ring.Spectrum. (NOT the copyright of Decades of Elegance – the blog is playing up a bit today!)

So I am very much hoping to see you at Grays on Monday my dear, until then have a wonderful weekend!

Tickets can be bought here: Fox and Squirrel – London Talks 15th June 2015.

Petworth Park Antiques & Fine Art Fair

You guys!  I worked at the most wonderful antiques fair over the weekend, Petworth Park Antiques & Fine Art Fair, and I wish I had had time to tell you about it last week, so that you could have visited!  The good thing is that the fair was such a success that it will most likely run again next year, and I will of course keep you updated on that!  Now, let me show you what the days were like – and why you will love to visit next year:

Petworth House 

Petworth House

The entrance to the grounds of Petworth House

Petworth House 

The fair took place on the beautiful grounds of Petworth House – and if you haven’t yet been,  I can tell you that it is the most extraordinary 17th century mansion – think Downton Abbey!  They have a magnificent art collection with works by Turner, Van Dyck, Reynolds and Blake, ancient and Neo-classical sculpture, fine furniture and carvings by Grinling Gibbons.  The rooms are just breathtaking, and you wander through the Beauty Room – with paintings of all the fair ladies of the house hanging far above you and above the gilded mirrors that also adorn the room; the staircase room with the most beautiful curved staircase, a grand piano and sofas seated under the stairs, where you expect to see the Victorians kicking back and enjoying the music; not to mention the Carved Room with its extraordinary details on the walls – you just have to see it for yourself!

Entrance to the Servants’ Quarters at Petworth House

You can also visit the servants’ quarters, where you get the feeling of having stepped 200 years back in time!  The kitchen looks like it is about to be filled with cooks and maids, who any second will continue to stir the soup and cut the onions.

Petworth Park Antiques & Fine Art Fair

At the fair there were around 40 exhibitors, predominantly members of the British Antique Dealers’ Association and LAPADA The Association of Art & Antiques Dealers, showcasing furniture, jewellery, sculpture, glass, objets d’art and silver to oriental carpets, paintings, drawings and many other decorative and unique works.  This was our stand:

Richard Ogden at Petworth Park Antiques & Fine Art Fair

… and boy had we brought along some extraordinary pieces!

Here is just a small selection of what we brought along from Richard Ogden and Moira Fine Jewels…

I am hopelessly in love with this Padparadscha Sapphire bracelet from Moira!  How stunning it would look with a white summer’s dress, or a black dress for that matter!  You can view it at Richard Ogden in the Burlington Arcade 

Padparadscha sapphires are the orange/pink ones that you can see above.  They are just so rare and absolutely beautiful, that I couldn’t take my eyes off it during the fair!

We also brought along this beautiful aquamarine and diamond necklace, the aquamarine and diamond ring and a stunning amethyst and diamond ring – with a Siberian amethyst, which is distinguished by a tint of red in the purple.  And little Piggy Cufflinks on the fair right 

I was wearing this beautiful Bird of Paradise in yellow gold, set with rubies and sapphires from Richard Ogden

So next year I recommend that you come by the fair, then continue on to Petworth House for a wander through this extraordinary mansion.  You can then finish off your trip with lunch in Petworth village, just a few minute walk Petworth House entrance, as it is the most quaint little historic market town, with picturesque streets and of course a wide range of shops and antique centres.

Spriggs Florist in Petworth – just one of the lovely little shops in the village

More Vintage Treasures from the Frock Me! Vintage Fashion Fair

Today I would like to take you through three exquisite stands of vintage fashion collections that I had the pleasure of visiting at the Frock Me! Vintage Fashion Fair:

Clifton Vintage Boutique at the Frock Me! Vintage Fashion Fair

We are starting out with Clifton Vintage Boutique “fine cloth is never out of fashion”.  

Beautiful colour palette at Clifton Vintage Boutique

I sometimes find myself inexplicably drawn to certain shops, and in this case I was able to pinpoint why quite quickly: the lovely lady who runs it says that she doesn’t really specialise in any certain eras, but rather buys things that she loves, and I believe that you are bound to get a beautiful collection if you do things that way!  Here the colour scale of white, cream, silver and gold (my very favourites) looked so enticing and alluring, and I just had to have a closer look:

Fabulous gold coloured pieces from Clifton Vintage Boutique 

Extraordinary antique ring from Clifton Vintage Boutique

This ring was just stunning!  I can’t for my life remember when it is from but the design is just spectacular, and I bet that you haven’t seen anything just like before.  Again, one of the most wonderful things about antique jewellery is that the pieces are unique as they are handmade and you won’t run into someone else wearing an exactly replica of your pieces!

The collection of Compact Queen, Deborah Bouain at the Frock Me! Vintage Fashion Fair 

I then met Deborah Bouain, Compact Queen, who has a beautiful collection of vintage accessories – jewellery, handbags, shoes etc – and also provides pieces for our very favourite Downton Abbey.  I wish I had had more time to spend looking through her collection, as there were some stunning pieces, like these two Dior handbags:

How much do we love!?  You can find such amazing bargains at vintage fairs…

Vintage handbags getting some TLC 

Some more beautiful accessories from Compact Queen, Deborah Bouain

And finally we have the lovely vintage jewellery collection from Louise Ferdinando at Ferdinando Jewels:

A lovely set of earrings and a necklace by Joseff

A close up of these beautiful earrings 

This necklace and the matching earrings are just divine, which is not surprising as they are by Joseff of Hollywood – the most renowned designer of on-screen jewellery during the Golden Age of Hollywood.

He supplied 90% of the jewellery in Hollywood movies during the 1930s and 40s, and his designs were worn by Marlene Dietrich (a Diamond and Sapphire Brooch in “Shanghai Express” – 1932), Vivien Leigh (an Amethyst, Diamond and Silver Necklace in “Gone With the Wind” – 1939) and Marilyn Monroe (a Gold and Pearl Earring and Necklace combination in “Some Like It Hot” – 1959), only to name a few. (1)

I am obviously hunting for lovely brooches this February, and Louise Ferdinando had a wonderful selection!

Aurora Borealis earrings from Ferdinando Jewels

Sometimes it can be hard to date a piece of jewellery, so I thought that we could use the earrings above to learn something new, so that we can figure out how old certain pieces are.

You can see that the top part of these gold coloured earrings feature a lovely reflection of a rainbow of colours: pink, blue, purple… In the early 1950s Swarovski were experimenting with coating their crystals with thin layers of metal to create brilliance and reflection, and in 1955 Manfred Swarovski had perfected it and created the beautiful Aurora Borealis stone.  He would work closely with Christian Dior and eventually they presented this rainbow stone to the world, which was named after the Northern Lights, that are also known as Aurora Borealis.

So if you find a piece of jewellery that features this lovely reflective look, then you will know that it dates back to 1955 at its earliest.  (2)

As always, if you see anything that you just love, do send me an email and I will put you in touch with these lovely vintage fashion experts!  info@decadesofelegance.com

Sources

(1) Joseff Jewellery

(2) eBay – Aurora Borealis

Frock Me! Vintage Fashion Fair on Sunday 26th October 2014

Sunday 26th of October it is all happening folks!  FrockMe! Vintage Fashion Fair takes place at Chelsea Old Town Hall

It is that time of year again my dear, when Chelsea Old Town Hall gets filled to the brim with beautiful vintage jewellery, clothing, shoes and other accessories, because Frock Me! Vintage Fashion Fair is back!  Designer pieces, flapper dresses and hats will fight for your attention from the rails and shelves, and you will have over 50 stalls to visit.

Heavenly vintage accessories… 

Our very favourite Blackbird Tea Rooms from Brighton will of course be there to serve you piping hot tea with warm scones, jam and clotted cream, while you catch up with you girlfriends.  It obviously takes place in the middle of beautiful Chelsea, so you have the King’s Road just outside the doorstep, with more glorious shopping and lovely restaurants to enjoy.

We fell in love with the collection of flapper dresses from Pennies Vintage a few years ago… gosh, these would be suitable for any episode of Downton!

Oh I so wish I could go, but I will be out of town!!!  As you already know I am completely addicted to Mad Men, and the series has inspired me to look for a 1950s night dress – you know those ankle length ones that are all soft and flowy with beautiful detailing.  Believe me, there is nothing in contemporary fashion that even slightly resembles that, so I have been waiting for the right vintage fair to come up – and unfortunately I will be out of town this weekend, but I will make sure to go to the next one!

FrockMe! Vintage Fashion Fair at Chelsea Old Town Hall

Below are the details for the fair, and if you end up buying anything or just want to share some photos with us, do get in touch on info@decadesofelegance.com, as we would love to see it here on Decades of Elegance!

FrockMe! Vintage Fashion Fair

Sunday 26th October 2014

Chelsea Old Town Hall

King’s Road

SW3 5RR

Andrew Prince Jewellery

Oh it was such a fun day in the shop yesterday, as Andrew Prince popped by (you might remember him from the earlier blog post Andrew Prince – Downton Abbey).

I was sitting at my desk in the shop when Andrew suddenly said: “Don’t move, I am just putting a little something on you”.  Now, one of my absolute favourite things in this line of work is of course trying on all the beautiful pieces, so I just sat there quietly until he had finished fiddling around with the necklace – and then I looked in the mirror, expecting a little something dainty:

Andrew Prince Jewellery

Yes, I should know by know that Andrew doesn’t do little or dainty – he does fabulous, glorious and exquisite, and all of his pieces makes you feel like you are the Queen of the World.  There is a thought behind the placement of each and every one of the pearls, red stones and the glorious sparkle, and I love how it all comes together in this necklace to create such an impact piece!  Oh well, just another day in paradise!

I hope that you are having a lovely day in the sunshine my dear – and don’t forget to put on your favourite pieces of jewellery!

Interview with Andrew Prince – Downton Abbey’s jewellery designer

Today’s post is a dream come true for me, as we are meeting Andrew Prince – the jewellery designer who puts the sparkle and brilliance into our favourite Downton Abbey:

Andrew Prince – photography by Catherine

For those of you who are not yet familiar with it, Downton Abbey is a tv-series set in a (fictional) Yorkshire country house called Downton Abbey.  We are following the lives of the aristocratic family Crawley and their servants during the reign of King George V, and as you can imagine. every episode brings us the most stunning outfits, jewellery and intrigues.  In the midst of all this style and elegance is Andrew Prince, who started working his magic on the jewellery in the third series.

The beautiful Lady Rose in an Andrew Prince necklace.  The other stars also wearing some of Andrew’s creations.  Copyright: Carnival Films

Andrew, what was the first piece of jewellery that you ever designed?

The first piece I ever made was a ring for my grandmother out of wire when I was 3.  It gave her a rash and she still has the piece.  A few years later I made a necklace for my mother using the embellishments from her wedding dress.  She was not happy.

Maggie Smith wearing jewellery designed by Andrew Prince  Copyright: Carnival Films

What do you do for Downton Abbey?

I did the majority of the major pieces, especially for Maggie Smith (Lady Violet Crawley in the series); the tiaras and mainly the impact pieces.  I also do many of Lady Cora Crawley’s jewellery (played by Elizabeth McGovern) and in total I have made about 40-50 pieces for them.

Mysore Tiara by Andrew Prince for Downton Abbey

When did you start designing for them?

Caroline McCall the costume designer contacted me to work on the third series.  I always try to ensure that the pieces are absolutely correct for the characters, as it is vital to get it right in such an important tv-series.

Pendant earrings by Andrew Prince for Downton Abbey

Have you visited the set of Downton?

Yes I have and visiting the set makes you realise just how much work is being put in.  Being there is certainly interesting and seeing the jewellery and the costumes together is always thrilling, not to mention how lovely the stars are in real life.

Wide Scroll Choker Flat by Andrew Prince for Downton Abbey

What piece of jewellery has been your favourite one to design?

One of the biggest pieces that I ever made and it was something that I had in mind for years!  It was made out pearls and crystals and draped down the back.  Surprisingly it sold to a lady who was just under 5 foot (150cm) but it looked magnificent on her!

Large drop back jewel necklace by Andrew Prince

People in the industry who have worked with Andrew keep praising the historic accuracy of his designs, and whenever I have a very specific question about antique jewellery my colleagues always say that I must ask Andrew, as he is like a “walking encyclopedia of antique jewellery”!

A crystal encrusted comb by Andrew Prince

Also, as quoted on Andrew’s website: “He realised that beautiful jewellery didn’t require expensive stones, and that it was the elegance of the design and the quality of the workmanship that truly mattered.”  And it really is such a treat to be able to buy the most exquisite pieces of jewellery, knowing that they are all within our price range (the medium sized earrings are all under £100 and wedding tiaras tend to cost between £220-£450).

Video: Television Costume Design – Andrew Prince

If you click on the link above and go to the third video from the top, you will see a clip of Andrew talking us through some of the Downton Abbey costume designs – and I just love how passionate he is about the subject of jewellery design!

I may have managed to get my hands on some of Andrew’s crystal tiara’s at Richard Ogden…

The other day I was able to have a play around with a few of Andrew’s tiaras at Richard Ogden in Burlington Arcade, and as you can imagine I was in jewellery heaven!  Now all the tiaras, hair accessories and special pieces are all still made by Andrew himself; he meets clients individually to discuss the pieces, which then allows him to fit the jewellery perfectly.  Smaller pieces are mostly created in his two workshops, and he oversees the creation of them all to make sure that they achieve his exacting standards.

A selection of Andrew Prince’s Jewellery Collection         Copyright: Sophie Mutevelian

Andrew’s pieces have also been worn by celebrities like Michael Jackson (a large crystal and pearl shoulder jewel) and Shirley Bassey (necklaces). For all of you Swedish readers it might be fun to know that Countess de Gunzburg Backman wore one of Andrew’s tiaras to Crown Princess Victoria’s wedding.

You can see all of Andrew Prince’s beautiful pieces on his website: Andrew Prince – fine crystal jewellery.