Pre-Conquest beads and jewellery in Central America only survived buried underground with their dead owners. If not in the ground, almost all were broken, scattered, lost and destroyed in the 16th century by the Spanish conquerors, who were eager to get as much gold as...
The origin of Western birthstones can be traced to the sacred linen breastplate worn by Moses’ brother Aaron, the first Israelite high priest. A gold chain linked 12 engraved stones to each tribe and the 30-day zodiac constellations. The popularity of birthstones has grown over...
It is astonishing how little has changed in jewellery aesthetics since the beginning of civilisation. This Mesopotamian gold leaf headdress with lapis lazuli and carnelian is over 4500 years old. It is part of the famous Ur jewellery discovered in the inter-war years by the...
Komboloi is the Greek men's favourite pastime. Somewhat puzzlingly translated into English as 'Worry Beads', a komboloi is a short strand of beads with a tassel. They are made of amber, black coral or ivory beads with a big gap where they can push beads...
For centuries and millennia beads have been the central component and currency of Asian trade along the Silk Road. A dazzling array of beads and bead raw materials - silver, coral, amber, glass and lapis lazuli - was transported eastward along the silk routes, while...
I need to write about the most inspiring exhibition I’ve been to in the last few years; Sonia Delaunay at Tate Modern in 2015. I hardly knew about her work before but what I saw and discovered there was sensational. She was Russian, born in...
The Mad Men series was a great source of information for the ‘mid-century’ fashion. Each female character had her own style and their clothes and jewellery were chosen faithfully to that scenario. That said, they also experimented a little. Below from left to right: Peggy almost...
I am sure I wasn’t the only one who was hooked on the fashion of the women in Mad Men, the great TV series set in the 1960s Manhattan. Now you can watch all but the very last 6 episodes of the whole 7 series...