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

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!

Citrine and Topaz – the November Birthstones

“Who first comes to this world below
With drear November’s fog and snow,
Should prize the topaz’s amber hue,
Emblem of friends and lovers true.”

Above is the November birthstone poem included in Tiffany & Co’s pamphlet from 1870, “of unknown author”.  So the traditional birthstone for November is the Topaz, however, the Citrine is considered November’s contemporary birthstone, as it is more reasonably priced and also more easily available than the topaz.

From Richard Ogden square cut topaz, by Hemmerle, Munich

The topaz was given its name by the Romans, who discovered the stone on a small island in the Red Sea called Topazos.  Just to make things a bit more confusing; they also found the citrine on this very island, and I can assure you that these two gemstones can be very difficult to tell apart!  As history would have it, the topaz spent the rest of its life getting confused and mixed up with other gemstones, and most often with the citrine, as the two stones are very similar in colour – their shape and form are however different and helps us to tell them apart.

Citrine Ring ca 1960/70s, Decades of Elegance

The topaz comes in a wide range of colours – pure topaz is colourless yet with the addition of for example chromium, we get red and pink hues.  The most sought after colour is a reddish orange one, called Imperial Topaz, which can resemble the exceptional Padparadscha sapphire that I have mentioned before, but that I am yet to write a blog post about.  Topaz can also be found in tones of green, blue, yellow and brown – and these have all been mistaken for various other gemstones through times.  As a result of all these misconceptions, the topaz has been assigned a world of different healing properties!  It is associated with constancy, loyalty, faithfulness and friendship, as the poem above so beautifully points out.  It is also believed to help with health problems, including curing fever, asthma and insomnia.  Topaz is today found in Brazil, Nigeria, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and China.

From Moira Jewels: citrine and tourmaline necklace, mounted in gold

The topaz was popular amongst the royals during the Middle Ages and in the 13th century it was believed that a falcon engraved into a topaz would help its wearer cultivate the goodwill of kings, princes and magnates (2).

From Moira Jewels: a pair of citrine and tourmaline cluster earrings, mounted in gold

The other birthstone for November, the citrine, is known as the “healing quartz”.  It is believed to support vitality and health while encouraging and guiding hope, energy and warmth within the wearer (3).  We can find the citrine in a wide range of colours; from pastel yellow to dark brownish orange and it is most frequently found in Brazil, Bolivia, and Spain.  There are so many wonderful things to say about the citrine, as it is known in crystal work as a success and prosperity stone – to the point that it is called the “Success Stone”! (4)

Sources:

(1) Birthday Gems

(2) EarthSky

(3) American Gem Society – Citrine 

(4) Crystal and Jewelry

Moira Jewels at the LAPADA Art and Antiques Fair

Good morning dearest!  We are back at the LAPADA fair in Berkeley Square from the other week, and today we are admiring the collection of Moira Jewels:

A few beauties from Moira’s collection: a pair of aquamarine and diamond earrings, and a black opal ring with diamonds

I have been told by quite a few people to look closer at the pieces that belong to Moira’s collection, as they are some of the finest antique and vintage jewels around.  Above is a pair of aquamarine and diamond earrings – pretty sure I can hear a few of you swoon!

A few dress rings (also called cocktail rings) from Moira.  I adore the opal at the front here with its soft colours

I obviously have the privilege of looking at Moira’s pieces to my heart’s content, as they have their collection on display at Richard Ogden in the Burlington Arcade!  Their pieces span across the 20th century and you will find signed originals from the finest design houses, covering the art deco period – and continuing on to 1940s gold work and the modernist creations of the 1950s to the 1980s.

Vintage diamond watches from Moira Jewels

… and if you are anything like me, then these Art Deco diamond watches will make your heart beat just a little bit faster!  Oh can you imagine wearing one of these to that birthday party, or to those drinks at the weekend?  As soon as I wear a special piece of jewellery, I get so much more inspired to get dressed up and match it with a lovely dress.  I do think that we have moved away a little bit too much from the times when we would often wear our finest, so let’s just bring that back, shall we?  I am doing a proper summer to winter-wardrobe revamp this week and I will make sure to keep some glorious dresses out to stay inspired to wear them!

 Diamond tiaras from Moira Jewels

And these diamond tiaras were just too pretty you guys!!  Here in the UK (since I know that you lovely readers are based around the world) it is quite common for the bride to wear a tiara, and so it is just wonderful when these lovely ladies come into the shop and try on our collection of vintage and antique tiaras!  I would love to hear whether you would choose to wear a tiara or a veil or flowers or just a gorgeous hairdo at your wedding?

I will write a longer post on Moira Jewels soon and bring you some more photos of these heavenly pieces, and now I would like to wish you a lovely rest of the day!