We want to remind our friends that we are doing The New York Antique Jewelry and Watch Show at the Metropolitan Pavilion located at 125 West 18th Street, from July 23rd to July 26th. The show opens at 1pm on Friday the 23rd and is open Saturday and Sunday from 11am until 7 pm and on Monday from 11am—4pm. We hope to see you!
Our special piece this month is an exquisite Van Cleef and Arpels bracelet. It consists of tiny balls of 18k gold (the couscous style) with a center section of diamonds and emeralds. It is in perfect condition and has an amusing provenance. We bought it from an 80 year old woman who inherited it from her stepfather. It had belonged to his second wife.
We were very excited to get this new Verdura three stone ring which is centered with a green tourmaline surrounded on each side with a pink tourmaline set in 18k yellow gold. We can offer it at about half of what it costs new.
Long necklaces continue to be the rage. This animal necklace is set with carved pigs, elephants, dogs and bears in lapis, sodalite, carnelian, rose quartz and 18k yellow gold.
We are lucky to get an Aldo Cipullo nail necklace in 18k yellow gold. This is the first time we have had the necklace and it is one of his very special pieces.
We bought an absolutely killer bracelet It is French, made around 1960. It is shiny 18k gold with a geometric design in black enamel, coral and tiger’s eye links. I am batty for this bracelet.
We have three pretty pairs of Angela Cummings earrings. The left are with twisted blue opals, the middle are gold fortune cookies, and the right are gold and mother-of-pearl flowers. All set in 18k yellow gold.
We happened to buy two Elizabeth Gage brooches this week. The first has a crystal intaglio set in 18k gold surrounded by mabe and cultured pearls. Then we got one with a carnelian intaglio dangling from an ancient fragment, all set in 18k gold.
We have bought two special brooches. The first is a stag head with a baroque pearl for the head, 18k yellow gold and diamonds for the neck ears muzzle and horns and emerald eyes. It is Italian made by Enrico Serafini but looks like a Schlumberger piece. Then we bought a Buccellati rooster brooch with cabochon rubies and diamonds with a sapphire eye in 18k yellow gold.
This lovely matte 18k yellow gold pendant is by Jean Dinh Van for Cartier and hangs from a brown leather cord.
We have three pairs of earrings that should brighten up your wardrobe. The first are blue topaz and citrine set in 18k gold, a refreshing burst of color. Then we have some flowers by Mallory Marks that are pale pinky-browny sapphires set in 18k gold. We made up some pearl earrings, one of my favorite looks, one gray and one white. They are 16.5 mm with diamonds about .60 ct each, collet set in 18k white gold.
We have always seen a good demand for Barry Kieselstein-Cord in the secondary market. He started his business in 1972 after first working as an art director in the advertising industry. He sees his jewelry as sculpture, adornments to fashion but not as fashion per se. He had a difficult time selling his green gold matte jewelry which was different from everything out there. He got a big break in 1985 when he went into Bergdorf’s. I bought a bracelet with a diamond toggle early on there which I wore every day and mixed with my shiny gold all the time. In fact I was wearing it when I appeared on a panel with Barry early in my jewelry career. He is very charming. He expanded from jewelry into belt buckles and handbags and has now done watches. We are pleased to have such a selection.
This heavy gold necklace is by Kieselstein-Cord with a carnelian intaglio. We have a gold link necklace with a glass intaglio locket. We’ve got matching glass intaglio earrings. We have an unusual cuff bracelet with three intaglios, one carnelian and two bloodstones. We got a ring with a dark carnelian intaglio. This is a very small size for a pinky. All set in 18k yellow gold.
First we have this 18k braided one, then we have one from Hermes in gold metal on black leather. These are favorites of mine.
If you look in the catalogue of one of New York’s top department stores you will find similar bracelets to these for $2000 and up. Ours are ivory and bone beads with a diamond one and an 18k gold charm, either a camel or a kangaroo. The black one is matte onyx and they are all strung on elastic. I like to wear them on the same arm as my watch and think it is a very chic look.
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(contributed by Ashley)
Wonderful charm bracelets walk through our door all the time. They are filled with charms that signify special moments in people's lives, the places they have been, birthdays, and some just plain fun. We have charms that say Happy Anniversary or quite a few that are tributes to Hawaii, a popular honeymoon spot then and now. Inspired by the idea of honeymoon jewels and the fabulous charms we have at CDB. I thought what
could be more wonderful than starting a charm bracelet to celebrate the beginnings of married life. Each year or special occasion you can add a charm and after a lifetime that will be one big bracelet! My ideal first charm would be a gold globe, so I can mark all of the places that I have traveled with a diamond or sapphire starting with my honeymoon. Then add charms for birthdays, anniversaries, children and wonderful memories. I love this idea that you have a wearable piece of your very own history. Every time you look at your wrist you have a reminder of those wonderful first memories of married life.
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We visited Chelsea Market and the High Line recently. While we would recommend a cooler weekend, it was worth the trip. Going to the Chelsea Market is a treat in itself with numerous cafes and takeout food shops as well as shops with kitchen and home accessories. You could spend the day here. Point to note; past the waterfall to the left, there are very nice bathrooms. The market’s entrance is on 9th Avenue and 16th Street and to visit the High Line, you exit on 10th Avenue, make two rights and go to the North side of 16th and there is an elevator. You can take your lunch (I bought a grilled chicken Panini at the Italian place in the market) read the paper and look at the pretty plantings. You cannot take dogs but there were lots of children and babies. For those of you who don’t know, the High Line was created on old elevated railroad tracks which had fallen in disrepair. It seems to be quite a success.
One of our clients has started an interesting website. Sandra Oster is a decorator in Greenwich and has gotten other decorators to link with her and sell extra stock that they have accumulated at very favorable prices. The site is decoratortagsale.com. Why not visit it and see if there is anything you need?
I went to Elena, the best facialist in the world, this past Saturday and she told me I must go to the health food/organic fruits and vegetable store on Third Avenue between 80th and 81st streets, and what a delightful block it turned out to be. It was a beautiful day so lots of restaurants had patrons sitting outside. First was Tiramisu, which looked like a very nice Italian place, then came Diane B, a shoe store with beautiful flats, that I plan to revisit. Then came The Source, a gift store that carried cards, gift wrap, toys, frames, supplies and all sorts of gifts. Then came my real discovery, Shalezeh, a Persian restaurant. Then I hit the health food store, Natural Frontier Market, part of a four store chain. I got an exquisite avocado, interesting sprouts, a long white radish and my calcium. Prices are very good. Next was Brasserie Julian, a French bistro. I was a bit hungry so I went back to Shalezeh (212.288.0012) to have a bite. It turns out they got one star from Michelin and I can agree. I had a chef’s special marinated lamb kebob over basmati rice with lentil, saffron and raisins. The middle eastern breads were warm and yummy with lovely tahini you could dip into. I try not to eat desserts but I couldn’t resist the combo of rose ice cream and citrus sherbet. It was delicious. I went back this week and was not disappointed. They also deliver!
We are lucky that a new café, Bel Ami, opened on 68th Street just off Madison Avenue, on the South Side between Madison and Park. This is a very casual restaurant with coffee, bread, breakfast sweeties, sandwiches and salads. There are a few tables but you can also take out. It is great if you have a breakfast meeting in the area. We are happy to welcome Bel Ami (the name of a Guy de Maupassant novel about a man who makes it to the top by romancing a succession of powerful women) to the neighborhood.
I saw Sex and the City 2 and quite enjoyed it. As you probably know, it got terrible reviews but the jewelry and clothes were fabulous and there was even a decent story. The only really bad outfit is the tee shirt and full skirt Carrie wears to the souk. The necklaces are particularly good, reinforcing our belief that this is a necklace year.
I was eager to see the new Tilda Swinton movie I Am Love. It is beautiful, she is beautiful, the photography exquisite, the Jill Sander (our downstairs neighbor) clothes were beautiful. I just didn’t really care about her very much and was disappointed. This movie has been reviewed and loved by everyone so maybe I am crazy.
If you haven’t gone to the Metropolitan Museum to see the Costume Institute’s exhibition American Woman you should go. It is a fabulous show with clothes divided into the Heiress, Gibson Girl, Patriot, Suffragette, Bohemian and Flapper. Clothes from the collection at the Met and the Brooklyn Museum are in settings illustrating each period. It is a wonderful show and you can see how jewelry of each period worked with the clothes. My favorite was an evening dress in black duchesse satin with a dragon in gold sequins up the front. While you are there you can go to the Picasso exhibit, which has only Picassos from the Met’s collection. While they started late it is still a very important collection. While there we fell on a small collection of Cypriot art, the Cessnala Collection, which had a good selection of ancient jewelry showing the Greek and Roman influences. Then we took a look at the Italian drawings from the Tobey Collection, Corregio to Tiepolo. It was lovely. All in all it’s a good time to go to the Metropolitan Museum.
The third Stieg Larsson, The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet’s Nest, was published in America in late May and zoomed to number one on the NY Times best seller list, while the first two, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo and The Girl Who Played With Fire are on the top of the paperback list. All of these are firsts for Swedish thrillers. The new one got a review on the cover of the NY Times Book Review and a review on the front page of the NY Times daily entertainment section. This week there were articles in the NY Times and the Washington Post on the interest in Scandinavian writers. We feel very prescient. If you haven’t read these three books I urge you to do so. Lisbeth Salander is the most appealing heroine we’ve seen in a long time. You will not be able to put these books down.
Just published in America, The Ice Princess by Camilla Lackberg is touted as the next sensation in crime fiction from Sweden. She is a huge success in Sweden and elsewhere. I just finished this book and quite liked it. She has very interesting characters that you love or hate and many plot twists to keep you guessing. She totally flummoxed me as to the killer in this one. She has seven bestsellers in Sweden so I look forward to more translations. How could I not like someone called Camilla?
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