Antique, Vintage and Estate Fine Jewelry
We can always count on Queen Mary when it comes to fabulous tiaras. That woman had a penchant for turning something lovely into one heck of a statement piece. And I’m fairly certain she never ran into a jewel she didn’t like. At least for a while. In today’s episode of #TiaraTuesday, we’ll discuss one of her grande dame tiaras: The Delhi Durbar Tiara. Buckle up, Buttercup. We have quite a ride ahead of us.
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Albina Du Boisrouvray is an anomaly. A woman from incredible means, who gave up a significant part of it, including some otherworldly jewels, to help those with nothing.
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We wouldn’t be doing Wedding Wednesday justice if we didn’t bring you the first royal wedding to be televised. Princess Margaret, the sister of the current Queen Elizabeth and Antony Armstrong-Jones married at Westminster Abbey on May 6, 1960 in front of 2000 guests and hundreds of millions of TV viewers worldwide. But theirs wasn’t to be an easy marriage and it had actually already gotten off to a rocky start.
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I bet you think that the current Queen, Elizabeth the II is the longest living British royal princess. And you’d think wrong. She’s the longest reigning royal. But the longest living royal princess, a woman who was a first cousin twice removed and the great aunt to Elizabeth, holds the honor. Her name was Alice* and she lived to be almost 98 years old. And this is the story of her life and her favorite tiara: Princess Alice’s Diamond Palmette Tiara.
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There are women who marry well. And then there are women who make it an art. Countess Mona von Bismarck (also known at Mona Bismarck) Was the latter.
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We know him as the man that didn’t give a damn. And her for her screwball comedies. Theirs was a short lived love but one that changed him until his last breath.
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Ooooooo. We love it when we run into some royal tiara drama. The intrigue. The mystery. The did she or didn’t she! As with any royal family, the British Royals aren’t without a little drama when it comes to some of the royal jewels in the vaults. And the Grand Duchess Vladimir Tiara certainly provided a little drama.
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Norma Shearer with her Art Deco engagement ring from movie exec Irving Thalberg.
We were packing up for our weekend show last night and couldn’t bring you the history of engagement rings from the 1920’s. But don’t worry – we weren’t going to make you wait too long for the era that has a firm grasp on our heart. [Read more…]
We’ve been patiently waiting to get to this edition of the History of Engagement Rings because….. ART DECO! Yes, the 30’s were smack dab in the middle of the Art Deco period and this is one of our favorite times for engagement rings. And we also get to talk about two of the world’s greatest jewelry collectors, as they married during the 30s. Let’s dig in. [Read more…]
As we continue to step back in time, exploring the history of engagement rings, we find ourselves discussing the 1940’s today. The decade could be described as a decade of extremes. The first half brought the end of The Great Depression, followed up by war-time, which meant resources like metals were scarce and extravagances like diamonds were few and far between for most, if they existed at all. [Read more…]
Princess Margaret’s Wedding (Queen Elizabeth’s Sister)
Last week in A History Of Engagement Rings we talked about one of the greatest jewelry collectors of modern times: Liz Taylor. Oddly enough, or maybe not so oddly given that she was married 8 times, she shows up again here with us in the recap of the 1950’s. Four times (Conrad Hilton, Michael Wilding, Mike Todd and Eddie Fisher). 🙂
Liz Taylor and The Krupp/Taylor Diamond Ring
It’s time for another ride in the ‘what did engagement rings look like back then’ machine. Tonight’s decade? The groovy 60’s! The 1960s were dominated by the Vietnam War, Civil Rights protests and The Cuban Missile Crisis and also saw the assassinations of President John F Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr. but they ended on a good note with the landing of the first man on the moon. And the engagement rings. Oh the engagement rings.
Princess Diana with her Sapphire and Diamond 1980’s engagement ring
We loved researching and writing the Famous Jewelry In The Movies series so much that when it ended, we felt a little lost. But then we started to think about engagement rings and how the styles have changed from decade to decade and bam! A new series idea was born. So, over the next 10 weeks we’ll explore the history of the engagement ring starting with the 1980’s (because you know we love our vintage) and heading backwards to the late 1800’s. Are you ready for the ride? Excellent!
The Pink Princie Diamond
With our Famous Jewelry In The Movies series over and out next (surprise) series not beginning until next week, we couldn’t just leave you hanging. So tonight, we bring you: The Five Most Expensive Diamonds Every Sold At Auction. Let’s dive right in.
Photo: Warner Brothers Films
For our final edition of Jewelry In The Movies, we bring you The Great Gatsby. Maybe we saved it until last because we most identify with the prohibition/flapper era. Maybe it was because Tiffany’s came out with a line to celebrate the film. Or maybe it was just because we couldn’t take our eyes off of all of the jewels that Carey Mulligan’s character Daisy Buchanan wore. While maybe a bored housewife of sorts, she did have the opportunity to wear the jewelry of the elite of the time. Yes, she was married to a bore. Yes, she could have had Jay Gatsby instead. We could debate her choices here forever. What’s not up for debate is how fabulous the jewels were.
Photo: Twentieth Century Fox
If you are a true jewelry lover, then you know one of the greatest collectors of all time was Elizabeth Taylor. Richard Burton was coined as saying, “I introduced Elizabeth to beer. She introduced me to Bulgari. The only word Elizabeth knows in Italian is Bulgari.” Taylor and Burton met on the set of Cleopatra and history was made.
photo: Darren Star Productions and New Line Cinema/Warner Bros. Pictures
Photo: Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp.
Photo: Columbia Pictures
Ok, another film we haven’t seen but still yet another piece of gorgeous jewelry with great history! In this movie, the setting is just after the end of medieval times, when dresses were big and heavy and men wore tights. Even the kings. If you’re not familiar with the storyline, King Henry the VIII is running through wives like some of us run through donuts (certainly we’re not speaking about ourselves, but we’ve read about people that eat a lot of donuts). Henry, who is married to Queen Catherine of Aragon, has had his way with Anne Boleyn’s sister, Mary, by this time, and likely fathered two children by her, although he never claimed them. At the time of his wooing of Anne, he was still married to Queen Catherine. But apparently, he’d grown tired of Catherine (and possibly concerned with having no legitimate male heir) and tried to have the marriage annulled. Which would have worked fine, since Anne’s marriage to an Earl’s son had been broken off by the Cardinal. But alas, Pope Clement VII wouldn’t grant the King an annulment and Catherine had to be dealt with. It’s largely believed that this single event began the separation of England from the Catholic Church and Church of England.
Photo credit: Twentieth Century Fox
Photo: Paramount Pictures
Released in 2003 and starring Kate Hudson and Matthew McConaughey, the movie has a third co-star (you guessed it – I mean this is “Famous Jewelry In The Movies” after all). But we’ll get to that in a minute.
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