Magento Commerce

One of my favorite passtimes is  to browse the offerings at Sotheby's Auction house.  The prices are too rich for my blood, but I can still dream, can't I?

On May 17, 2011 Sotheby's will have another auction of what they describe as their "Magnificent Jewels" in Geneva. Austria. The highlight of the auction is the magnificent Emerald Tiara featured here. The piece is the most valuable emerald and diamond tiara to have appeared at auction in over 30 years.

For more information on this fabulous piece, the chairman of Sotheby's has prepared an online video which can be accessed on this page of the Sotheby's site. (To those of you who view this blog at your workplacce, be prepared - the video has some music playing.) The video is very informative and worth the time to view it. It discusses the history of the jewels in the crown and other aspects of the piece and previous owner.

To view other listings in the auction, please visit their online e catalogue to get a glimpse of more magnificent jewels.

According to Sotheby's auction house, Jewels that stand the test of time are typically characterized by great stones or great design.  This April, in New York, this theory will be put to the test as their Magnificent Jewels sale will be held, which will feature many such jewels, including an array of white diamonds and period Cartier designs offered from a distinguished family collection.

Collectors will find top quality precious gemstones of every color including an exceptional Colombian emerald mounted by Harry Winston, a beautiful Burma ruby set in a 1920's Chaumet brooch, and a lively Burma sapphire certified "royal blue". Complementing such remarkable gems, the sale this April also features beautiful signed jewels made by leading jewelry designers both past and present.

As a whole, the jewelry offered in New York this April will spark the imagination of collectors seeking quality and rarity in diamonds and colored stones, as well as the breadth of period and signed jewels that can only be found at auction.

You can view the online E catalogue of the jewelry to be auctioned on this page of the Sotheby's website.

Collector's Weekly is a wonderful website that often has interviews with people in the antique collecting fields. I'm always interested when one of their latest subjects is someone connected with vintage jewelry.

Karl Eisenberg, grandson of Jonas Eisenberg, of Eisenberg jewelry, recently talked to Collector's weekly. The interview is very information and full of information which will prove interesting to collector's of Eisenberg jewelry.

The interview is full of history about the formation of the Eisenberg jewelry company and tells how the former ladies fashion company came to be one of the foremost vintage jewelry companies in the 1950s.

The article is a must read. You can find it on this page of the Collector's Weekly website.

Vintage brooches seem to have made somewhat of a come back in the fashion world.  This is due mainly to the first Lady's, Michelle Obama,  fondness for them.  They are certainly beautiful, but often an outfit can seem dated if they are worn in the traditional way. I thought it would be fun to think of other creative ways to wear brooches which will give this fashion choice a new lease on life and won't make you feel like you are wearing jewelry like your great grandma does.

• 1.  Pin a brooch onto an evening bag. This method looks best when the brooch is pinned onto a clutch or other small evening bag. Pick a brooch that matches a color or detail in your dress, and it will really help tie the bag into the look.

• 2.  Want your outfit to have little French chic? Simply wrap a scarf around your neck and fasten it in place with a brooch. Very simple but effective. For a slightly more modern take on this look, place the scarf around your waist or hips instead to draw the eye downwards and accentuate your figure.

• 3.  Do you have a sweater that is too big? Use a vintage brooch to make it fit better. In the back of your sweater, about where it hits your waist, pull the extra matieral together and fasten it with a brooch. You'll have a better fitting garment and a fancy new detail in the back. This really spices up an outfit.

• 4.  Another neat idea takes a bit more creativity. Use a brooch as a hairpin. Make a bun or french twist extra glamorous by pinning a brooch in your hair. This usually looks best in the back of your hair, but use your judgment depending on the style. You will need bobby pins for this technique, since brooches are decorative but aren't great at holding hair in place by themselves.

• 5.  Do you have a plain belt? Jazz it up with a vintage brooch. You can either pin the brooch directly onto the belt, or for leather or delicate items, use a piece of ribbon to hang the brooch or tie it in place while protecting belt.

Ready to try some of these ideas? Be sure to browse our website for a huge range of vintage brooches. Here are a few choices to whet your appetite.

Sotheby's Auction House recently auctioned 20 pieces of jewelry from the collection of the Duchess of Windsor. This collection was part of a fabulous collection of jewelry which was first sold for record amounts in the 1980s.

Once again, records were set. The panther bracelet shown herer was the highlight of Sotheby's sale of 20 pieces which raised £31 million, more than seven times the pre-sale estimated amount.

The panther bracelet itself set a new record. The hammer price of this fabulous onyx and diamond bracelet was a staggering £4.5 million ($7.036 million dollars ). At this price this bracelet is the the most expensive bracelet to ever be sold at an auction. It also set a record for a single piece of Cartier jewelry.  I knew the bracelet would do well when I first featured it in a recent blog posting, but that amount exceeded anything I could have imagined.

If auction proceeds are any indication, it appears that many people still can't resist a true love story.  It is no wonder that the jewelry fetched such a high price, since the collection celebrates the famous story of the king who gave up his throne for the woman that he loved.    The king abdicated in 1936 to become the Duke of Windsor and marry American divorcee Wallis Simpson.  

If you have a metal detector,  the place to use it might well be the UK.

Several months ago, I wrote in my google blog about a UK man who found an Anglo Saxon hoard of gold using a metal detector.

In May this year, J a 4 year old boy in Essex also use a metal detector to find gold.

James Hyatt, of Billericay, Essex found a gold pendant locket, which is believed to date from the 16th century. He found the relic which searching in a field in Hockley, UK.

The pendant is believed to be worth up to £2.5m, a sum which the Hyatt family would share with the landowner if the pendant is sold. The religious locket is diamond shaped and decorated with images of the Virgin Mary and the five wounds of Christ.

It appears that little James will not have to worry about paying for his college education in years to come!

Royal watchers will be aware that it's finally official! Prince William of England and Kate Middleton have announced their engagement.

William has stated that he wanted his mother to be a part of his happiness,l so he presented Kate with the 18 carat blue sapphire and diamond ring which once belonged to Prince William's mother, Princess Diana.

The happy couple will get married in either the Spring or Summer of next year and will continue to live in North Wales while Prince William works as an air sea rescue pilot for the RAF. The couple became engaged during a recent holiday in Kenya having been together for eight years.

My guess is that sapphires, which are already very popular gemstones, will become THE hot gemstone in the next year or so.  Look for similar engagement rings to be offered by jewelers worldwide.

Readers of my blog know that I've featured the first lady, Michelle Obama's jewelry choices often in postings.  Mrs Obama is no stranger to being featured in magazines this past year. She has done it again with a spot on the top "Best Dressed" edition of Vogue Magazine, on the newstands November 15.

The magazine has 129 glossy pages with the people on the list, which include Kate Moss, Sarah Jessica Parker, Lady Gaga (oh my!) and others. Mrs. Obama is featured on six of the pages.

I haven't seen the magazine yet. It will be interesting to see if she is shown wearing jewelry or just having her clothing choices featured. Mrs. Obama's pictures include designs by Moschino, Alaia, Talbots, Jean Paul Gaultier, Barbara Tfank, Narciso Rodriguez, Tracy Feith, Peter Som and Tracy Reese.

I've never been one to pay too much attention to news about watches. I have an old Timex that I wear all the time and see no reason to change it.

've never had a fondness for wearing fancy watches, but I know that many people love to change their watches to suit their moods.

Even so, I just couldn't skip over the latest watches sold at Sotheby's in their Important Watches and Clocks Auction which ended recently. The page of listing results will tempt even the most meager watch wearer like me. It was filled with some real beauties such as the ones below:

 

 

 

 

With final hammer prices in the range of $10,000 to $266,000 for the ones I have featured, I still won't be wearing them, but at least I can drool over them!

My husband is English, so I have a fondness for royal news, particularly when it is jewelry related.

Any royal watcher will be well aquainted with the famous love story of Wallis Simpson and Edward VII, heir to the British throne.

The jewels of Wallis Simpson, The Duchess of Windsor, were first offered for sale in 1987. They originally sold for $50 million, with the proceeds going to the Pasteur Institute. The proceeds from the spectacular sale are reported to be a world record for an auction of a single owner's jewelry collection in the 20th century.

It is no wonder that the jewelry fetched such a high price, since the collection celebrates the famous story of the king who gave up his throne for the woman that he loved. The king abdicated in 1936 to become the Duke of Windsor and marry American divorcee Wallis Simpson.

The Windsors were enthusiastic jewelry collectors. They commissioned pieces from Cartier and other makers during their courtship in Britain and married life in the Bahamas and France.

Fast forward twenty-three years. Sotheby's will again be offering twenty pieces formerly in the Collection of the Duchess at their November 30th auction in London.Sotheby's has a fabulous video on their website showing the original sale.

They also have a catalog showing highlights of the collection. Here are a few of my favorites: