Antique ‘En Tremblent’ Gold Brooch

At Richard Ogden Gold Bird Brooch ‘En Tremblent’ with turquoise stones and rubies

Oh I just had to share this brooch with you fine folks, as it is just such a sweet and beautifully made piece of jewellery, circa 1880, so a late Victorian piece.  The style is referred to as En Tremblent, which obviously is French and means to tremble.  The name comes from the gemstones and sections of the piece being set so that they have some beautiful movement to them.  As an example, in this brooch the bird is set on a gold spring, which makes it tremble when it is moved around.  The ruby in its beak is only fastened with a small bit of gold, so it gives an extra dimension of movement to the piece.  It is so well made, which was also pointed out by one of the most skilled antique style jewellery craftsmen that I know here in London – he if anyone would know what quality when it comes to antique pieces!

The back of the brooch, which is just about as beautiful as the front!

They started creating en tremblent jewellery in the late 18th century, as the movement of the gemstones so cleverly caught the light and attracted the eye.  They would mainly create floral sprays with the main flower en tremblent, to make it look like it was swaying in the wind.  We already know that these old cut diamonds were especially stunning in candle light, as the light would be reflected across the room in the most soft and romantic manner.

Richard Ogden Gold Bird Brooch En Tremblent with turquoise and rubies

So how would you style it, since brooches are making such a wonderful comeback?

Ruby and Diamond Rings

Oh I do hope things are well with you dear!  At my end it has been busy times indeed but all great fun.  The shop is gearing up for Christmas and the Christmas Catalogue has been taking up a lot of time lately but it looks so amazing now, yei!  We have a little helper in the shop at the moment, Suki, who is clearly taking her job very seriously:

Boss Lady

I was helping a customer the other day with choosing an engagement ring and it is always fun when someone goes for a different stone than a diamond.  I was showing them these two beauties:

Ruby and Diamond engagement rings at Richard Ogden

The left one is a Ruby and Diamond Cluster Ring in an Art Deco style, which I find is very popular at the moment.  The right one is a Ruby and Diamond Target Ring and just the most fabulous design – it gets a lot of attention from those who want something classic but still different.

Ruby and Diamond engagement ring at Richard Ogden

The ruby and diamond cluster ring is also referred to as a Halo Ring, where the diamonds surround the centre stone like that.  It is especially lovely when the guy has taken the girl’s birthstone into consideration (for those who are lucky enough to have a strong enough stone as their birthstone that is – my Amethyst for February sure wouldn’t make a great one as it is far too soft!)

The July-born ones are very lucky to have the Ruby as their stone – and the September Sapphire is another great one.  Emeralds in May are a bit softer and might not be the best choice, because if you accidentally hit it against something in the wrong place you might be looking at a mighty fine crack all across the stone.  However, as I think I have mentioned before, some people look after their jewellery very well and I know someone who has worn the soft aquamarine for 30 years without any damage to it!

Ruby and Diamond Target Ring, Engagement Ring, Richard Ogden

This Target Ring is so special and you won’t find another one in many places (except a sapphire one that we also have at the shop!) because they are made by this one craftsman who isn’t creating any more of them at the moment.

So there we are, I so love going to work and helping people find their dream jewellery – there are so many beautiful designs out there for us to enjoy!

Burlington Arcade – then and now

                      Burlington Arcade with its beautiful new floors – we are huge fans!

Hello my dearest one, you might have wondered why there have been so few new blog posts lately and I can only blame it on the bane of my misery: IT.  But things should be up and running now so that we can get back to our beloved antique jewellery!

It has been a few really fun weeks in the antique shop; we have had some beautiful pieces come through the door and we are now in the middle of putting together the Christmas Catalogue! (I know right, in August!?)!  But it is all great fun and I am learning TONS, and obviously passing on the most interesting information to you fine folks!

      A few diamond set clasps for necklaces that I was showing a client – on top of an old                                                Burlington Arcade postcard

Yesterday three photographs of the Burlington Arcade at the beginning of the 19th century popped up on my desk.  We have looked at the history of the Arcade before, in the blog post the Burlington Arcade in London, but there are a few more fun pieces of information left to learn:

               Antique photographs featuring the Burlington Arcade – at Richard Ogden

In the top photo you can see one of the Beadles (the gentlemen guarding the Arcade) addressing a man with an umbrella, as you are not allowed to carry open umbrellas in the Arcade.  Legend has it that even after the bombings in the 1940s destroyed the roof of the Arcade the Beadles would enforce the no-umbrella law – that is how seriously they take their duties!

                       The new floors of the Burlington Arcade, as modelled by Fluffy

And you might not know this, but whistling is not allowed in the Arcade either, and there is quite a shocking reason to this: during the 1800s the first floors in the Arcade were used by “working ladies”, and every time that the police approached the Arcade someone would whistle to warn these ladies – and the men who were with them – so that they could make a quick escape!  So whenever someone walks down the Arcade whistling, they get a kind reminder from the Beadles that it is not allowed.  I do in fact hear quite a few people every week trying to whistle a little tune in the arcade, and it is a shame in a way that you are not allowed to, as the acoustics are so great now that we have the beautiful new floors there!

                             Then and Now – the entrance of the Burlington Arcade

And in the bottom postcard we have a view of the entrance to the Arcade before it was redesigned in the 30s.  I had a lot of fun putting together the two photos above, as they really highlight how much has changed in these past 100 years – just look at people’s outfits!  Not to mention all the vehicles blocking the way for my perfect photo!!

I would love to hear which one of the two designs you prefer – and also whether you have visited the Arcade and maybe have some special memories from there?  For example seeing a pair of glorious earrings, or maybe shopping for an engagement ring?

A Belle Epoque Diamond Tiara to die for…

Oh you guys, I just had to share this photo with you – I am at Richard Ogden, trying on a Belle Epoque diamond set tiara which is just insanely beautiful!

Diamond Tiara Belle Epoque from Richard Ogden, Burlington Arcade

The Belle Epoque stretched from circa 1895 to 1914 and ran alongside Art Nouveau.  In this tiara the brilliant cut diamonds are set in yellow gold, and it features the time-typical romantic design, which was lavish yet delicate with diamonds taking centre stage.

I have also just found out that brides can hire this tiara for their wedding (£200+VAT) and really feel like a princess for a day – boom!

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!

1920s Diamond Cocktail Watches

Ohh can I just share my latest obsession with you guys?!  Diamond set cocktail watches from the 1920s…

I am in love with these two 1920s cocktail watches from Moira...

These two beauties came into the shop recently and belong to Moira Fine Jewellery, and the owner told me that it is quite rare to find watches that are also set with rubies or emeralds – usually they “only” feature diamonds.  Ahh the craftsmanship here is just exquisite, look at the flow of the gemstones, how evenly set they are without any interfering metal in between.

That is actually another thing I wanted to talk to you about; I speak to a lot of lovely people who are looking for engagement rings, and I know that many come into the shop for inspiration and then order their things online or have them made elsewhere.  That is totally fine, but the sad part is when they then bring in the jewellery a few months later and ask us to help repair them, because the stone is rattling in the mount or diamonds have fallen out… There is a reason why some pieces are cheaper online and you have to ask yourself if you want a ring that you can wear for the rest of your life, knowing that it is of the best quality – or if you want to cut corners now and then deal with the problems as they arise.  A handmade ring mount designed for your diamond is a million times better than a mass-produced cast mount, where any old diamond has been set… just something to keep in mind!

All of these beautiful antique pieces were handmade and these watches are perfect examples of what the end product would look like:

Two stunning cocktail watches from Moira Fine Jewellery – the left one set with rubies and the right one set with emeralds.  Very unusual design, as mostly they are only diamond set 

They obviously would only be worn at special occasions – another thing for us to remember with antique jewellery; ladies of the time wouldn’t do a lot of housework and gardening, so the jewellery wouldn’t have been made with that kind of work in mind.  That is why one has to be extra vigilant with older jewellery and make sure to have them checked over by a jewellery once a year so that the claws are intact and holding the diamonds the way they are supposed to!

Now if only I had the perfect party to wear one of these to…

This past week at Richard Ogden

Hello sweetheart!  So I love looking through the photos on my phone and seeing what lovely jewellery has crossed my path in the past week, and today is no exception!  We will start with this beautiful turquoise, pearl and gold necklace from the 1880/90s that one of our dealers showed me the other day:

Stunning necklace ca 1880/1890s

 

Gold, pearl and turquoise necklace ca 1880/1890s – sorry about the shaky picture, I must have been so overwhelmed by the beautiful design that I just couldn’t keep my hand steady! 

It is a typical English design with a nature motif, which was so very popular toward to the turn of the last century, which is when this necklace is from.  I had a chat to one of the dealers about whether it was an Art Nouveau piece or not, and he didn’t think so as it doesn’t quite carry the specific design of Art Nouveau, but he did say that there are some very pretty scroll work in the piece.

I obviously adore it especially because my grandmother loves the combination of gold and turquoise – and with the pearls it just becomes so delicate and romantic.  I would love to wear it with a nice and light summer dress, oh and speaking of which: I can’t WAIT for summer to come around, I am sure you feel the same way!!!

Gold bracelets from Richard Ogden, BADA Antiques & Fine Art Fair

And I spent this morning looking through our stock from the BADA fair and got stuck dreaming away on these chunky gold bracelets from Harvey & Gore.  They have some pretty exquisite jewellery, so if you are ever walking down the Burlington Arcade, do take a look in our windows, and you will see the Harvey & Gore collection in our last window down towards Piccadilly.  Everything is obviously beautiful, but these guys have some exquisite period pieces that are so much fun to look at!

So there we are dearest, I should be back again on Tuesday next week, as I am bit tied up on Monday.  I hope that you have a wonderful weekend and I can’t wait to bring you some more beautiful pieces next week!

A Travelling Tiara from the 1830s

Early 19th century tiara at Richard Ogden

This is a ca 200 year old tiara that I found while rummaging through in the secret cabinet at Richard Ogden.  Robert Ogden told me the story behind it and also why it is referred to as a “Travelling Tiara”:

Antique 19th century tiara at Richard Ogden

The wealthy ladies in the 18th and 19th century didn’t want to bring their diamond-set jewellery along on long horse drawn carriage-journeys, so they had the workshops design identical pieces in paste (glass) that they could safely carry along on their travels.  This tiara is a wonderful piece of history, which has stayed in such great condition, despite having almost 200 years on its shoulders:

Travelling Tiara ca 1830s at Richard Ogden in the Burlington Arcade

In the 1700s Bohemian glassmakers’ designs were the most sought after in Europe, and they had just surpassed the once unrivalled Venetian glassmakers in skill and design.  Their designs were like works pieces of art, mirroring precious stones so perfectly (1) and it became common practice for all the great jewellers to sell paste jewellery alongside their precious pieces.  Even royalty – for example Elizabeth I, Mary Queen of Scots, Queen Anne, the wife of James I, the first Duchess of Marlborough and Henri IV of France – owned paste jewellery (2).

In 1869 the following statement could be found in Queen magazine:

“If the profession or career of the husband requires that his wife should go much into society on a small income, she would be perfectly justified in wearing imitations to save money… it cannot be wrong for a lady who cannot afford and has not inherited them to wear a moderate amount of paste.”  

The article added that she should not give the impression that her “jewels” were of any value.

Antique 19th century tiara at Richard Ogden

The designs were very clever, which we can see in this little beauty: it can be taken apart and turned into a brooch and a smaller tiara/headpiece.  You can see the mechanism at the back in the photos above and below here:

The tiara comes apart and splits into various other pieces

… it can be worn as a lovely brooch… 

… and as a smaller tiara!  A girl can never have too many tiaras, right?

Eventually, in the mid-2oth century costume jewellery was made popular on its own, by various designers, and high as well as low priced brands would become renowned names in costume jewellery; Crown Trifari, Dior, Chanel, Miriam Haskell and Monet.  I am pleased to say that we have had the pleasure of encountering designs from quite a few of these previously on the blog!

Sources:

(1) The Legend of Bohemian Glass: A Thousand Years of Glassmaking in the Heart,
by Antonín Langhamer

(2) How to spend it – the real appeal of paste jewellery 

The Beautiful World of Emeralds

Good afternoon my dear, I hope that you have had a lovely one so far.  I find that a New Year always motivates me to sort things out and start afresh, and this January is no exception!  Today for example I have been transferring a lot of jewellery photos onto an external hard drive, to hopefully free up a bit of space on my laptop – and I kept running into all these interesting pictures of emeralds, that I wanted to share with you:

Emerald and Diamond ring from Richard Ogden, in the Burlington Arcade

The ring above features an emerald and two diamonds and it landed in my hands at work, as the stone weight needed to be measured.  Now I have learnt to calculate the weight of a gemstone the old school way too, but in this case I played around with an amazing app on my phone, where the following result came up:

My measurement of an emerald in the Gem Weight App

As per usual I was a few digits away from my boss’ result, but not too far, so I was quite pleased!  Often when you buy an antique or vintage diamond ring, the diamond hasn’t been taken out of its setting to be measured and certificated, as it could damage the beautiful old settings, so the antique dealers have to be very good at calculating weights etc from difficult angles.  I always find it such fun to try to master a diamond gauge – they look like this (top right corner of the photo):

A diamond gauge at the top right of the picture, used to calculate the weight of gemstones

And emeralds are just such divine little gemstones!  Sometimes people come by to look at an emerald ring for an engagement ring, but I tend to advise them to either choose a diamond, a sapphire or a ruby – only because emeralds are not the hardest stones around…

Emerald and Diamond Ring Art Deco style from Moira Fine Jewels

… and the last thing you want to do when you wear your engagement ring every day, is having to worry about cracking or denting it, so a more robust gemstone is usually a better idea.  However – I know one lady who has worn an aquamarine, which is an ever softer stone than an emerald, as her engagement ring for thirty years, and it is in perfect shape!  So it obviously also comes down to what kind of a person you are – I for one could never wear anything even remotely fragile, as I would damage it in no time.  Unfortunately!

Emerald and Diamond Ring from Moira Fine Jewels at Richard Ogden, Burlington Arcade

And here is another lovely emerald and diamond ring – this one is from Moira Fine Jewels and you can pop by Richard Ogden in the Burlington Arcade to view it closer, if it takes your fancy.

Late Friday Night Sparkle

Hello my lovely, I hope you are looking forward to the weekend as much as I am!  I have a small update to share with you today: for the next few months I will be writing the blog on Mondays and Wednesdays, but not on Fridays.  I have a LOT of things on my plate until this summer and obviously I want to keep up the quality of the blog, so that is the best solution for now!

We have had some busy times in the antique shop with Moira Fine Jewels preparing for the Los Angeles Jewelry, Antique & Design Show!

As for fun things that are happening in the jewellery world: the Richard Ogden Fine Jewels shop is busy busy at the moment, as Moira Fine Jewels is heading off to an antique jewellery show in Los Angeles!  In other words, the most glorious pieces of jewellery are coming into my eyesight on a regular basis and it is just heaven!  I haven’t come across any other antique jewellery dealers that have more fascinating signed pieces that these guys; Cartier, Boucheron, van Cleef and Arpels…

A pair of glorious 4ct diamond stud earrings from Moira Fine Jewels – just a little something I threw on this morning!

… and from time to time I cave in and help out by trying some of the pieces on – purely for non-selfish reasons of course!

Pretty glorious 1920s Art Deco diamond necklace from Moira Fine Jewels

I have also been past a couple of lovely antique and vintage shops in Dorking again, and can’t wait to bring you those posts.  Until then, have a wonderful weekend and remember to wear your most beautiful pieces of jewellery, and be your most fabulous self!  That reminds me that I must wear my most fabulous pieces of jewellery to a brunch on Saturday… hmm… looking forward to rummaging through my jewellery box tomorrow!!!

A little preview into a blog post about Christique Antique Centre in Dorking – such a treasure trove of antique jewellery, furniture and objects d’art!