Auction Alert!

What a week to watch!  Both Christie's and Sotheby's are throwing down on jewels and gems worldwide this week, and you can check out the historical and gemological treats before they scatter to new homes. 
12 April, New York City, Christie's:  Magnificent Jewels- many colored diamonds like this 10.05 carat fancy purple-pink SI clarity diamond that are expected to hit stratospheric prices.
                                  



13 April, Amsterdam, Christies: Jewels & Watches-  historical pieces from 1700s and earlier as well as more current pieces, like this 1700s gold and rock crystal reliquary, probably Spanish with English engraving on the back and what appears to be hair beneath the crystal.

14 April, New York City, Sothebys: Magnificent Jewels- important pieces from the history of fashion  and jewelry like this plat­inum, 18 Karat white gold and dia­mond ban­gle bracelet/clip brooch by Ray­mond Tem­plier, France circa 1935.

Love This!

Antique carved labradorite salamander brooch, mounted in pink gold, the oval-shaped labradorite surrounded by entwined snake motifs set with rose-cut diamonds and sapphires, the snakes with rose-cut ruby eyes.

This gets better the longer I look at it.  Snakes symbolize eternal love, and salamanders are associated with fire and heat; was the intended sentiment, "I'm eternally hot for you?" 

Peacocks for Friday

Peacocks have inspired jewelry for a long time. 


Lalique 1902-1903

Sketch for Chanel jewel commissioned by DeBeers, 1932



Chanel, 2010 



Loree Rodkin peacock feather on Jamie Chung, March 2011


Peacock feathers remain a jewelry staple (check out Alex Monroe's Peacock and Crow collection).   The staying power of the peacock feather in jewelry strangely reflects the fact that the peacock symbolized immortality for the early Christian church. Because the peacock sheds his tail feathers for more beautiful feathers, the peacock in the modern church symbolizes Christ's resurrection.  And the eye in the feather is associated with the all-seeing eye of God.  I love beautiful things that symbolize greater, more beautiful things; these can help us reach Christian truth often more quickly than debate or lecture.  Beautiful peacocks...

DISCLAIMER:  There is one type of peacock feather jewelry that has never been and never will be a jewelry staple- the humongous genuine feather earrings that hang beneath your shoulders are so out of style that if you can carry them off, you should.  The rest of us, knowing our limits, will stand in awed silence.

The feather earrings would go very well with a necklace made of amethyst, peacock feathers, and swallow feathers which supposedly protects the wearer from witches and sorcerers.  Anyone out there have one of these that you would like to share?  I'll post its picture AND send you a peacock shoulder duster earring!  

Voldamort called.

He wants his ring back.



Lydia Courteille



Getting a grip...

In these interesting earrings from Annette Ferdinandsen, different stones dramatically change the earrings.



Playfully linking birds and eggs 



Drops of sunshine



Mystical, edgy, slightly creepy

  You could have a pair for every mood!  The Tahitian pearls are the most dramatic, but I could wear the turquoise ones every day.  

"Hello, my name is Liz, and I have a problem."

I think it's fair to say that those who read and run jewelry blogs are jewelry addicts.  (Go ahead, it's okay, you are among friends, you can admit it.  No judging here!)  Over the years, I've often said that crack would be a cheaper hobby.  So, today, I bring you....the cracklace- with matching earrings!

Actually, it's rock sugar dipped in resin, another fabulous offering from Stephanie Simek. 

Funny, isn't it, how different it looks when you know it is made of candy instead of a drug.  Does what jewelry is made of matter (other than to the DEA)?

And thank you, Sir John, for the phrase "cracklace." 
 

Eggs for Friday

No one I ever talked to understood what Easter Eggs had to do with Easter.  But now I know and so will you!  Check this out- eggs are a Christian symbol of the resurrection; just as a chick breaks free from the shell, so Jesus broke free from death and the tomb (and made it possible for us as well).  Isn’t that a pretty image- breaking out of a confining space into light and air and freedom?   Smashing the useless shell?  What seemed like an end is actually the very beginning?  The poetry in the symbol is better than a thousand sermons!

 Stephanie Simak’s egg necklace is perfectly pretty too- a tiny quail egg, dipped in resin, its insides shinning with real gold.  Maybe the Easter Bunny will leave one in your basket…