The jewellery created during the Georgian period was made between 1714 and 1830 during the powerful times of the four English kings all named George. The surviving jewellery from this time period is very difficult to find. Each Georgian piece was handmade and much was created with floral and scroll designs. This was the period of discovery. In 1730 Frederic Strass invented a high lead content glass referred to as paste used as an alternative to genuine gemstones. This allowed those who could not afford natural stone to still emulate the aristocracy. Most commonly used stones were garnet, precious topaz, coral, and diamonds.  Most pieces were set into sterling silver and the coloured stones were backed with foil to enhance their natural colour. 
    In 1829 Sir Walter Scott’s “Anne of Geierstein” is published in which opal is described as “misfortune’s stone”. The heroine owned an opal that burned fiery red when she was angry and turned ashen grey upon her death. Many claim this is the root of the wives tale that it is bad luck to wear an opal unless it is your birthstone.
    Diamonds during this time were being substituted with rock crystal, marcasite, and cut steel. Soon after, diamond alternatives were being produced with excellent quality - even the royalty was wearing them. Diamond cutters were also discovering and introducing new cut styles such as rose cut which has a flat bottom and top facets coming to a point like a pyramid. Late in the period, gold and silversmiths were beginning to use open-backed settings more like the styles we see today. The traditional coloured stones such as emeralds, rubies and sapphires were worn a lot with newer discovered stones like topazes, amethyst, coral, ivory and pearls. The metal of choice was karat gold but for those that could not afford gold there was a new alternative called “pinchbeck”. This metal was used to make pieces that looked like gold but since it was a copper and zinc alloy it was much less expensive. Very few pieces made from this metal have survived and are therefore very collectable in today’s market.

                  
    Fashion during the end of the Georgian period consisted of high waist very full skirts, tight bodices, very voluminous sleeves and straight necklines with bared shoulders. As always the jewellery styles changed to accommodate fashion. The jewellery forms included long torpedo shaped earrings, draped chains, multiple bracelets and fancy hair combs. The design motifs that were popular were influenced mostly by trends in architecture and interior designs. These motifs included mosaics, Greek key, urns, doves, phoenix, and bows.

          

  Cupid is a common symbol for Valentines Day, a cherub with bow and arrows that can strike love into even the coldest hearts – but where did the character originate from?
    The legend of Cupid dates back to Roman and Greek mythology.  In the Roman version Cupid is the God of Love, and his mother is Venus the Goddess of Beauty.
The story goes that Venus became jealous of the beauty of Psyche, a mortal woman, and ordered Cupid to punish her by making her fall in love with the ugliest monster he could. But instead, Cupid fell madly in love with Psyche and they were married, but as a mortal she was forbidden to look at him.  He took her to a secluded palace where he visited her by night in shadows.  Psyche’s sisters eventually persuaded her to look at Cupid, and as punishment he took away her castle and left her. Left with nothing, Psyche wandered in search of her love. In time, she arrived at the temple of Venus, who wanted to destroy her.  Venus gave Psyche a sequence of tests, the last being the most difficult.  She was given a small box and sent to the underworld to collect the beauty of Proserpine – she was warned not to open the box but temptation overcame her.  As soon as the box was opened she fell to the ground in a death like sleep.  Cupid found his love and removed the deadly sleep from her body. Cupid forgave her, as did Venus. The gods, moved by Psyche’ s love for Cupid made her a goddess.

   

    Hey its Britt again, keeping everyone posted on my schooling to become a Graduate Gemologist! In my last blog I was just in the process of finishing my Colored Stone Essentials course, and I am happy to report I have recently completed with great exam results!
    This month  I am excited to share that I have just recently started my Diamonds and Diamond Grading course, which will take more time to complete, and will be more in depth about diamonds – how they make the complex journey from the mine to the finger. After I finish this course I get to go on a nice warm relaxing vacation....I do mean to participate in a diamonds and diamond grading lab class of course, which I can not wait to go to!

    Keep posted for my next blog and I will let you know how this course is going!

            

    The beautiful and talented screen icon Dame Elizabeth Taylor is celebrating her 78th birthday this month, so to honour her contributions to film world as well as her many philanthropic pursuits, we are putting the spotlight on her.  
    Taylor is considered one of the great actresses of Hollywood’ s golden years. Through her eight marriages – with two of them to the same man – she acquired an amazing and vast collection of jewellery and artwork, which included some of the world’s most famous diamonds.  
    Born in England in 1932, she was born into an art dealer’s family.  The family moved to California shortly before World War II erupted in Europe. Soon noticed by a talent scout, she made her film debut at age ten.  Over the years she has starred in over fifty films and has won numerous awards.  She was named Dame of the British Empire on New Year’s Eve 1999.
    As for her jewellery, it has garnered so much attention she wrote a book about it!  In the spirit of the season - her most exquisite Valentine’s day gift was the “La Peregrina” pearl – the world’s largest natural pear shaped pearl (which is the size of a pigeon’ s egg!).  It was discovered in the 1500’s and has had a whole host of owners, from kings and queens to the Bonaparte family.  
    She has lived an exciting life, with many twists and turns, and through it all has managed to stay a classic icon of Hollywood.