Posted 8 years ago
kiwipaul
(117 items)
A while ago a friend introduced us to the world of fashion documentary movies, starting with "The September Issue", and since then we've consumed all we could find through to the recent release of "Dior and I".
For a jewellery nut one of the big attractions was Anna Wintour's necklaces. Anna is the editor-in-chief of Vogue America, and she's created a signature look wearing antique rivière necklaces.
The name riviere comes from the French for "river", so the meaning is a river of gems that flows around the neck. These are sometimes mistakenly called Riviera necklaces.
These antique necklaces were popular in Georgian and Victorian times. They're also known as "collet set" necklaces when the stones are set in a crimped mount or collet. Back in the day they often came as a "parure", a set of jewellery with a necklace, a detachable pendant, earrings, bracelet(s) and sometimes even a tiara.
They come in a variety of formats, a lot are gilded silver with pastes (glass), the really sought-after ones are gold with real gems like aquamarines, amethysts, pink or golden topazes, etc.
These riviere necklaces remained in fashion through the late 18th to the end of the 19th Century. They briefly came back in the Deco period and then went right out of fashion, and in the mid to late C20th you couldn't give them away.
However today thanks to Anna Wintour they are very much "in vogue" and prices have gone ballistic, check out S J Phillips website, you can pay up to GBP20k for a good one. Scary prices when you realise that to get the "Anna look" you need to layer several of these necklaces together.
After several years of searching I finally scored one at a bargain price, a Victorian necklace of chunky Siberian amethysts set in 9ct rose gold. Only problem is the wife now wants a couple more to complete the look. I've told her she might have to wait a few more years for the next one.
Be a good husband and get her one or two more! This one looks absolutely fabulous! It seems to be a good investment, too:)
LOL !!! Half way there !!!
wow!!!!!!!
Hi freiheit, reason she may have to wait so long is I'm a bargain hunter, I paid less than 5% of S J Phillips New Bond Street price.
So not expecting to find another one tomorrow. However in the wonderful world of treasure hunting you never know what's around the corner.
Here's a link to the S J Phillips current collection: http://www.sjphillips.com/DesktopDefault.aspx?tabid=2&categoryID=2057
OMG! Good for you (and even better for your wife)! I am sure she will wait a bit so you can find another treasure for her. I love to hunt for bargains too but you were really lucky; or maybe you really know your stuff:)
Gudrun
Oh la la!!!!
http://university.langantiques.com/index.php/Necklaces
Hi Paul, if you scroll down the above link, there is a Amethyst necklace very similar to yours.
It's purple....I love purple....especially THIS purple!
Great posting and a beautiful necklace. Amethysts are such a special stone and the colour of these is so good.
Well done on the buy. I drool at the things for sale at SJ Phillips!
Thanks for the link too Jean - another bookmark for my huge list!
Hi Racer, after posting the link I took another look at SJ Phillips, they have a pink topaz riviere that is over GBP50k!
From the snippets of Anna Wintour's home life you see in The September Issue you have to believe she is shopping at places like SJ Phillips and not scouring flea markets and eBay like we mortals.
I counted about 6 different necklaces in the movie, do the math!
A dream! Better wait than nothing at all.
Hey Valentino97, thanks you've given us a couple I didn't know about, we also liked:
MADEMOISELLE C
Christian Louboutin: The World’s Most Luxurious Shoes
The Tents
I found a good list here with lots more I didn't know about:
http://www.imdb.com/list/ls004293528/
And of course the fabulous fashion movie based on Anna Wintour - The Devil Wears Prada, written by one of Wintour's former assistants, Lauren Weisberger. Apparently Anna turned up at the film's premiere dressed in Prada.
I didn't realise the connection, this info comes from the Anna Wintour's bio here: http://www.biography.com/people/anna-wintour-214147#fashion-powerhouse