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!

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!