Bejeweled

As of yesterday, I am the proud owner of the most beautiful Edwardian-inspired bracelet. I say 'inspired' because the Belle Epoque beauty isn't dated. The only hallmarks I found are '18k' and 'Mayfair' (a swanky area in London that sells equally swanky things. Always a good sign). When Lucille pulled this out of a plastic zip lock weeks ago while they were packing their Shangri-La Hotel shop for renovation, I died a little. I even phoned Alex that night to discuss the merits of being poor but owning a fabulous piece of jewelry in the hopes that he would dissuade me. As usual, he proved to be futile, telling me to 'DO IT'. This phrase has become our natural response to everything unreasonable we wish to do with our lives (ie. Should I pack to France and become a gigolo? DO IT. Should I drive even if I have no motor/coordination skills and may die? DO IT.)

And so I did it. It will go in the guise of 'investment' under 'miscellaneous' in my dwindling bank account.

I wore it around the house yesterday and this morning after using the treadmill. As far as cost per wear goes, I think it will prove to be a bargain.



Along with this bracelet, I also picked up my openwork lace cognac/colored diamond earrings. This piece has been an on-going project for more than 3 years now. I bought them as two separate pendants and had them converted to hooked danglers in Singapore. I never wore them because they always seemed to lose their way in my jungle hair. At one point, I even put them up for sale..only to get them back when I realized how much I loved the openwork setting.

Three weeks ago, Ginny and I were debating the possibility of doing something with it. There was the option of putting mother of pearl shells at the back (meh. made them look cheap as chips) or to just strip them of their blackened gold. Finally, she decided to try to get as much of the black gold out and convert them to big studs. They're lovely and at their most beautiful state right now! I'm finally contented.



I also promised you all that I'd show you some of my birthday goodies. These white gold diamond studs are from my mom and are inspired by Queen Rania's favorite earrings. I showed them once to her and said something to the effect of 'I would die to have these!' et voila..I have my very own pair.



The earrings also go easily with my black diamond cocktail ring that my mom commissioned Ginny to do ages ago. This thing is beautiful. A bit vintagey-deco but concurrently modern. I adore this piece , which is in keeping with my love affair with the color black.



Finally, here is my old mine cut navette ring with cognac diamonds set in rose gold. This was a present from my grandma and is additionally valuable because it had once belonged to my great-grandmother. The stones aren't white, the cut is not impeccable (it was most probably done by hand) and inclusions are plentiful. That doesn't detract from the fact that this has got to be one of my favorite things in my jewel box.

Old diamonds are charming because I know they've lived longer than me and have been loved by someone else. I like imagining things being worn by someone living in the past. Imagine all the secrets they are privy to.

PS. The Christie's Catalogue for the New York Auction is out! Among the things listed are the JAR imperial Topaz and the Vanderbilt Diamond Necklace. Nothing has excited me more than this 400 page booklet in the past few weeks. This must be the equivalent of the September issue for the fashion-orientated folks.

Here are some of my favourite picks. Enjoy!









Pps. Ever wondered what became of my Janina Dizon stingray cuff? Well, a lovely lizard now rests atop it. Thanks for making his green tsavorite eyes and blackened spine, Ginny!