Doris Duke’s pierrot by Van Cleef & Arpels

This charming Pierrot brooch has a nice provenance, it comes  from Doris Duke’s personal jewelry collection.

It was made for Van Cleef & Arpels designed and patented by Maurice Duvalet in 1949. Duvalet worked both for Van Cleef & Arpels and John Rubel & Co. and was most famous for his ballerina brooches that he designed for both companies.

One of the masterpieces at the Rare Jewels and Objets d’Art: A Superb Collection at Christies NY in 2009 was the diamond ruby and emerald “ballerina” brooch. Several ballerina brooches had been designed in the late thirties by Maurice Duvalet for the New York branch of Van Cleef & Arpels. This particular brooch depicts Maria Camargo, a Spanish star ballet dancer from the 18th century, posed in arabesque. The use of emeralds and rubies resulted in a brilliant rendering of the flowers set on her costume as pictured by a French painting from Nicolas Lancret. Maurice Duvalet designed this particular piece in 1942 and used mainly rose-cut diamonds which are reputed to have originated from the Spanish Crown Jewels. This piece was manufactured by John Rubel & Co, the usual manufacturer for Van Cleef & Arpels New York. Estimated by Christie’s at $80,000 to $120,000, the brooch reached $350,000 (before commission). Also the Arpels had close ties with the ballet and were influenced by the great dancers and choreographers of the day. They even approached George Balanchine to produce a ballet entitled ‘Jewels’ where various countries were represented by different precious stones.

Duvalet’s,  more modest Pierrot, is in the same style. It is made from 18 carat gold, weighing 9.8 grams.  The brooch has graduated cultured pearl arms and legs that move, and a cabochon ruby head.  It measures approximately 2 inches tall, and is signed and numbered: Van Cleef & Arpels, 15838.

This pierrot brooch was originally owned by the tobacco heiress, Doris Duke  (1912 – 1993).  All Ms. Duke’s jewellery was sold by Christie’s auction house in 2004.  Per Doris Duke’s instructions in her will, all of her jewelry was temporarily on display at her home, Rough Point, in Newport, Rhode Island prior to the auction.  Her jewelry collection was overwhelming.  Duke’s 399 piece jewelry collection was catalogued in Gems From the East and the West, The Doris Duke  Jewelry Collection, by Janet Zapata, Ulysses Dietz and Zette Emmons in 2003. Page 102 of the catalogue shows our Pierrot brooch.

The Duchess of Windsor’s jewels, revisited

King Edward VII gave up the British Throne and country to marry the twice divorced American socialite Wallis Warfield Simpson in 1936, making them the Duke and Duchess of Windsor. After this the Duke lived for The Duchess of Windsor. He adored her and gave her jewels for every occasion in their life together. Most jewels are larger than life, according to Wallis’ friend Lady Mosley.

On 30 November 2010 Sotheby’s London will sell 20 jewels from the Duchess of Windsor’s jewellery collection. 23 years after the much celebrated Sotheby’s Geneva auction of her jewels in 1987.  This auction was a global event in prosperous times and the 214-piece collection fetched a record price of EUR 35 million, seven times the pre-sale estimate. Reflecting the 1987 rage today’s estimates  are also completely over the top but will surely be paid. The total sale is expected to bring in around EUR 3 million.

On sale now are jewels that memorialize the most important moments in Edward and Wallis’ relationship. Wallis was greatly admired for her avant-garde style in fashion and jewellery alike. She combined simplicity with whimsy.

Many of the jewels were made by Cartier, two specifically by Cartier’s jewellery director Jeanne Toussaint,  the Onyx and diamond panther bracelet designed in 1952, is one of the finest examples of the ‘great cats’ jewels of which the Duchess was an avid collector. The bracelet is expected to fetch 1,000,000-1,500,000 pounds . This articulated cat forms a “stalking pose” when closed around the wrist.

Jeanne Toussaint also created this exotic flamingo brooch, decorated with rubies, sapphires, emeralds, citrines, and diamonds which was bought by the Duchess in 1940. The flamingo brooch was bought for £498,000 in 1987 and is today estimated at £1m-£1.5m.

Another precious jewel is the diamond cross bracelet by Cartier, supporting nine gem-set Latin crosses, each marking significant events during the years 1934-44. The bracelet is expected to raise £350,000-450,000, while it fetched only £200.000 in 1987.

It is a very sweet; every cross has an inscription and a story to it, but not everyone believes Wallis & Edward were the greatest love story of the 20th century. For a different opinion please read here.

Sotheby’s David Bennett and historian Hugo Vickers, however, make a splendid presentation below.

“I Love Boobies” bracelets

Have you read my personal story on Bravery Beads, the necklace for kids with cancer? These beads are wonderful. Far more controversial cancer jewellery exits. Today I love boobies bracelets (and the Tough Titties walks) are the controversy.

Awareness bracelets

We have known the wristbands or so-called awareness bracelets for some time now. They are made from fabric or leather, but usually from silicon. They carry different kinds of messages expressing support for political (“make poverty history”), religious (“godstrong”) or medical causes, with cancer as number one.

Pink ribbons

Since the 90’s we’ve also known the pink ribbon symbol that expresses support to women with breast cancer. The first ribbons were handed out to participants in the New York City race for breast cancer survivors in 1991. Pink ribbons symbolize the big battle against cancer and aim to create awareness about it. You even see pink ribbons covered by gems or Swarovksi.

Pink industry

The color pink gets breast cancer a lot of attention and awareness, which is great! But related to cancer, it is also criticized. Pink now has enormous marketing power for every product imaginable, also those not relevant to cancer at all. In the US – more so than in Europe – even M&M’s are pink. It makes one wonder whether ‘pink’ is still about a potentially killing disease or about sales. When buying pink you should investigate how much of your money goes to which cause.

I Love Boobies bracelets

The bracelet-campaign by Keep A Breast Foundation causes a lot of debate.  The bracelet carries the rather crude message “I love boobies” (Ik houd van tieten) and is supposed to make young people aware of breast cancer.

They cost only 4$ and 50% of the money goes to the educational program of Keep A Breast and in the US it became a complete hype. The kids who refuse to take them off have been suspended from school, since the bracelet with the word boob on it was considered offensive and for this inappropriate school attire.

Many survivors of breast cancer are offended by the bracelet for a different reason. They are angry because they feel as though this campaign trivializes breast cancer by focussing on the body part, and by doing so disregard the person attached to it. Imagine how this explicit marketing tool must feel like for a survivor who is trying to reconcile with her body and sexuality. And some ex-patients may not even care about whether or not they lost (a) breast(s), they just care about their health. It is a very sensitive subject and everybody fully understands the aversion to the bracelet-campaign.

On the other hand, the expression I love boobies is used only metaphorically and the campaigners of Keep A Breast are trying to be funny and make the subject accessible. I do have full confidence that the kids wearing the bracelets are able to see past the catchy phrase and – after an initial giggle – will think about cancer instead of sex. Despite the blunt text, I hope this campaign encourages younger people to have serious discussions in classes and playgrounds. Sometimes you have to go a little bit further to reach your goal.

Tiffany & Co. vs. Ebay Inc., an online auction victory

The long-running litigation between Tiffany & Co. and eBay, in which Tiffany sought to hold eBay liable for counterfeit Tiffany goods sold on eBay’s internet auction, has ended.

Tiffany’s false advertising claim was rejected last week. This was Tiffany’s the last remaining claim of a series of trademark infringement cases against the online auctioneer. Tiffany first filed suit against eBay, alleging direct and contributory trademark infringement, false advertising and trademark dilution, the whole shebang. (In 2008, the District Court of New York ruled against Tiffany and placed the burden to proof the individual infringers on Tiffany rather than placing the burden on the platform where the infringers sell their counterfeit goods. Tiffany appealed and lost this April.)

Tiffany now accused eBay of advertising the sale of its goods through ads on its website, and through sponsored links on search engines, which would sometimes link to its own website and recommend visitors to “Find Tiffany items at [too] low prices”.

The judge agreed with Tiffany that eBay knew some of the goods being sold were fake. But he said that Tiffany failed to show that eBay’s advertisements actually misled customers or necessarily implied that all Tiffany products sold on its website were genuine. In addition, the judge thinks eBay takes substantial steps to prevent and detect the sale of counterfeit goods on its website. eBay says this costs up to $20 million a year.

Internet companies such as eBay, Google and other hosts must be thrilled they cannot be held responsible for users’ trademark and copyright violations.

Ebay sells millions of goods every second. Be careful in the streets of Gotham; not everything that says so, is Tiffany & Co.!

Barbie’s pink diamond

World news? Maybe not, but one month from now Christie’s New York will auction off the rarest and most expensive Barbie doll with an estimate of $545,000.

Mattel has asked the famed Australian jewellery designer, Stefano Canturi, to design a Barbie and create her ultimate accessories. He designed her a little black dress and a beautiful demi suite. The suite includes a ring and necklace with over three carats of white diamonds set in Canturi’s distinct cubism style: geometric lines in ditto or curved patterns. The necklace is highlighted by a pretty one carat bright pink square-cut diamond from the Australian Argyle mine. Just imagine this set life-size!

Canturi explains on his website: “I wanted the jewelry design to pay homage to Barbie’s modern yet timeless style, this is why I applied my Cubism design concept to her look; it is perfect for her.“

Barbie will be auctioned at Christie’s “Magnificent Jewels” sale on October 20th 2010. Canturi & Mattel will donate 100 % of the profits to The Breast Cancer Research Foundation. Who’s bidding?

Below is Stefano Canturi with his Barbie.

World Championship bracelets?!?

Did you know that our national soccer team wears so called  balance bracelets?  It’s a well kept secret because they are completely hidden under orange tape – no opponent must be hurt.  And off course,  the boys do not wear it to show off but to magnetize, electrify and empower themselves. Yesterday it worked fine!

“In this power bracelet are two holograms that will restore its wearer’s electromagnetic balance and optimize his energy-flow” according to playmaker Wesley Sneijder who introduced the bracelet to our team. Most likely he was inspired by his recent fiance Yolanthe who has tuned Wesley into fashion and spirituality. Wesley in his turn has gotten his whole team so far that they all wear the magnetized buddy bracelet – under the tape that is. So all we can do is believe him.

Wesley said that he feels stronger then ever and in order to proof the effectiveness of his bracelet he touches his toes claiming he was never ever flexible enough to do this before. We have been wondering if Yolanthe had something to do with Wesley’s newly experienced flexibility, but on the other hand Wes has been playing really well… He was Man of the Match against Uruguay yesterday in the semi finales. So let’s see what the bracelets will bring us on Sunday in the World Championship soccer FINALE. And let’s hope the Germans or the Spanish are less spiritual.

Click here to see Kuyt & Robben elaborate on their bracelet.

Tiara’s!

On 19 June 2010 Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden has married her former fitness trainer, Daniel Westling. He will be HRH Prince Daniel, Duke of Västergötland from now on. It was a lovely and extravagant ceremony. What a feast to see this marriage. I had no difficulty choosing between the soccer game and Victoria!

It is the first wedding of a female successor to the throne in the list of Swedish monarchs. The monarchy in Sweden dates back more than 1,000 years. The current Bernadotte family, with King Carl XVI Gustaf as king, originates from 1810 when French Marshall Jean Baptiste Bernadotte was chosen successor to the Swedish throne by Parliament, but now for the tiara’s……

Cameo tiara

Victoria wore a cream-colored gown with short sleeves and an endless train designed by Pär Engsheden that looked like marzipan. And just like her mother Silvia at her wedding in 1976, she wore the Cameo tiara, made of gold, pearls and 7 large hard stone cameos depicting mythological figures. In the centre there’s the crowning of love (mother and child), flanked by portrait-cameos of a man and a woman aim their sight. On the backside portrait-cameo’s are interchanged with a godess who has a putti on her lap (caretaker) and a man with a staff  (guard).

Cameo tiara history & tradition

Amongst other jewels, this Empire cameo tiara which is part of a parure was brought into the family by Queen Josefine princess of Leuchtenberg when she married Crown Prince Oscar (the future King Oscar I) in 1823. Josefine was the granddaughter of Empress Josephine. The parure was made for Josephine around 1809 by Marie-Etienne Nitot, who was Napoleon’s jeweller and founder of the jewellery house Chaumet. With the next generation of the Bernadottes, the tiara was owned by Queen Josefina’s daughter Princess Eugénie, who in turn left the tiara to her nephew Prince Eugen. The prince gave the tiara to Princess Sibylla on her marriage to Prince Gustaf Adolf in 1932. The King was left the tiara by his mother.The King’s sister, Princess Birgitta, started the tradition when she chose Queen Josefina’s cameo tiara as her bridal crown for her wedding with Prince Johann Georg of Hohenzollern in 1961. Princess Désirée also wore it in 1964 and so did Queen Silvia in 1976. Read more on the King’s sisters jewels at Victoria’s wedding here.

Empress Josephine’s Emerald and diamond tiara

Queen Sonja of Norway wore a coral-colored dress along with the Empress Josephine of France emerald and diamond tiara that also came into the family through Queen Josefine of Sweden.

Braganca tiara

Queen Silvia of Sweden wore a bright pink dress to match the stunning Empire parure of Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna. All diamonds and Brazilian pink topazes made around 1804. Also she wore the diamond Braganca tiara. This is the biggest tiara of the Swedish royal family which once belonged to Empress Amalie of Brazil the sister of Queen Josefine of Sweden.

Maxima & Beatrix

Our Princess Maxima wore beautiful simple diamond rivière necklace and a diamond bandeau. Possibly the rivière necklace that the Dutch people gave Queen Emma as a wedding present in 1879.

Queen Beatrix wore the Mellerio ruby and diamond tiara which was a gift from King Willem III to his second wife, Queen Emma in 1889. It is part of a parure by Jeweler Mellerio dits Meller from Paris. It is the most complete parure in the Orange-Nassau collection. It consists of 7 jewels. Queen Juliana was very fond of this parure and has worn it often, so does Maxima today.

Sex and the City 2: more, more, more…

Van Cleef & Arpels and Otazu jewellery on the big screen

Sex and the City 2 follows the ever famous Carrie, Miranda, Charlotte & Samantha as they this time jet off to Abu Dhabi. And guess what happened: while filming they had to flee to Morocco, since sheikh bin Zayed did not allow any further shooting of the scarcely dressed foursome. Scarcely dressed, though covered with interesting jewelry.

This fashion movie is definitely for fans. No gripping storyline, but fashion, product placement, vintage, new designer jewellery and: more fashion. For this movie SATC stylist Patricia Field choose to work together with the famous Argentinean jewelry designer Rodrigo Otazu. Otazu, who happens to be our former neighbour in Amsterdam is now a New York City based. He especially created costume jewelry for the actors. But off course all women of the world now are able to buy these earrings, bracelets and rings to experience their own 15 minutes of Sex and the City fame.

Exposure in Sex and the City 2 will do Otazu good, because we are convinced that he will be better understood in the US: the country that loves big and over the top, than he will ever be in Holland. Though for SATC2 Otazu created some great funky colorful costume jewellery that we would like to see on Dutch versions of Carrie & Samantha!

Polished and naïve Charlotte wears iconic vintage jewellery designed by Van Cleef & Arpels. Her Alhambra necklace is made of 18 carat white gold and mother of pearl. The Fleurette earrings are created with diamonds in 18 carat white gold.

The movie is interesting from the jewellery point of view.  Detailed style finishes off personality. We like the colors and styles shown in the movie. And as you see, every character in Sex and the City 2 is again accurately represented by the right jewellery. Like in real life we hope.

Kanjerketting, or Bravery Beads

Jewellery is from all ages and is worn for different reasons and occasions. Marriage, birth, as a talisman, expressing your religion, social status or wealth, or accentuating ones unique or group identity. Now there is also a jewel for children who have cancer.

The Kanjerketting or Bravery Beads is one of the most wonderful jewels that I know. This very cool necklace was developed and designed by the Dutch Child Cancer Parent Organization (VOKK) and kanjer means cool (kid) but also sounds like the Dutch word for cancer: kanker.

This special necklace is a reward system for kids with cancer. Upon diagnose each kid gets a wax cord with an anchor bead that symbolizes hope. Next to that, it contains letter beads that spell their own name. When the treatment begins, the child gets a different bead for every treatment, investigation or occasion; chemo, emergency admission, a scan, lumbar puncture, hair loss, a good or lousy day. Every bead has its specific color and shape made out of Fimo clay and will create the necklace into the child’s individual story. This great idea gives children an extra tool to handle their illness.

Kanjerketting; What do the Bravery Beads mean for children?

I would like to put this cool cancer jewel in the spotlight. The Kanjerketting cannot get enough attention!

The Bravery Beads are made for 500 Dutch children annually. The production costs of the Kanjerketting are around EUR 50.000,- a year. This money is well spent, children are very happy with their necklace because it distracts them from the actual procedure. They can read their necklace and tell the story of their cancer in school, to parents and to themselves. This personalized shape of experience helps them to process or even accept their illness. Children look forward to receiving their bead as a “reward”, that they can add to their necklace. This playful approach of the serious issue of cancer is brilliant, supposedly even 17 year old boys are fanatic about their beads!

Our personal Bravery Beads

I also have a personal history with these beads. For my son David, who is about to celebrate his 5^th birthday, the Kanjerketting is one of the only tangible objects of the horrid period of cancer that he survived when he was a baby. Luckily he cannot remember the extensive chemo’s and operations, but the necklace has a prominent place in our house and once in a while David will talk about his necklace. He will then also openly talk about his cancer, his loss of hair and about his moustache (by which he means the food tube that he had to wear).

Wonderful cancer jewel

Now, if you are into jewelry and also want help children that have cancer, here’s a great option for you: support the Kanjerketting!  You have direct control over your money. Every EUR 100,-  is good for one kids’ necklace. But it’s worth a million.

If you would like to donate please follow this link or just wire to account number 8942812 in the name of Vereniging ‘Ouders, Kinderen en Kanker‘  in Nieuwegein. For more information about the Kanjerketting you can e-mail to kanjerketting@vokk.nl