Have you heard of Paul Poiret? If not, no need to worry. I’m here to tell you all about him. Not everything. Just this Top 10 list I came up with.

#1 - Love of color

Before Paul came on the scene, the colors women wore were pretty bland, soft and pale. Paul went in a completely opposite direction. He said clothes should be filled with “fire and joy.”

Paul used deep, vibrant shades and plenty of bright colors, with a palette that included purple, red, orange, blue, and bright green. When he opened his salon, the color was what people noticed first.

… “his extraordinary sense of colour made itself known to Parisians.” - Vogue

#2 - Obsession with Orientalism

Orientalism was all the rage in the early 1900’s. Anything that wasn’t European was deemed exotic and from “the Orient.” It could be something from India, North Africa, China, Turkey, or Japan. It didn’t matter. What mattered is that we hadn’t seen things like that before.

Paul was inspired by art from the Middle East and Asia. He took examples of how people dressed in those regions and made them his own. He created pieces with turbans and kimonos, feathers and fur. His looks were exciting and exotic, and women loved them.

#3 - Popularity of the lampshade dress

Yep, you read that right. One of Paul’s most popular designs was his lampshade dress. It literally looked like you were wearing a lampshade. The larger hoops were clearly meant to be theatrical, whether they were in a production or just worn for a party. The slimmer ones could be worn as part of your everyday look.

#4 – “King of Fashion”

In America, we called Paul “the King of Fashion.” In Paris, he was known as “le Magnifique.” He was all the things we see in designers of today: creative, a slave to their art, egotistical, and flamboyant. Paul was absolutely convinced in his vision, and for a time, the world agreed.

He was definitely innovative. Besides his lampshade dress, he also popularized harem pants and the hobble skirt.

The hobble skirt was meant to give you a single flattering column look. High-waisted, no corset. Simple, elegant. After corsets being around for 500 years, you can see how Paul’s designs got people talking.

Another way Paul was different had to do with how he created his designs. He preferred cutting and draping. Before Paul, you would have gone to a pattern maker with a pattern you liked and they would have made it for you. Paul liked designs cut from basic rectangles, simplifying the silhouette. He felt it was more organic.

#5 – Paul threw the best parties.

Paul’s wild, extravagant parties served as a clever marketing technique. In 1911, he threw a party called the Thousand and Second Night. Over 300 people attended his elaborate costume party. A live Persian orchestra played while parrots flew overhead and you walked through a fragrant garden. Apparently, if you didn’t follow the dress code, you were locked in a golden cage. You couldn’t come out until you wore one of Poiret’s designs. Clever, huh?

This was the party when he debuted his lampshade dresses.

The next year, the theme for his party was Les Fêtes de Bacchus. Given that Bacchus is the god of wine, I’m sure the alcohol was abundant. At another party, Paul brought his guests to three barges moored on the Seine River for an evening of gambling.

The parties got Paul lots of great publicity and even landed him jobs as a costume designer for different Paris productions.

#6 – Paul’s muse was his wife.

Paul married Denise in 1905, and together they were a powerhouse duo. She was beautiful and slender, and served as his muse and inspiration.

She wore his creations, hosted his parties, and helped to manage his business. In return, women flocked to be dressed by Paul so they could look like the lovely Denise. In 1913, he told Vogue:

“My wife is the inspiration for all my creations; she is the expression of all my ideals.”

#7 – Paul created the first signature fragrance.

Today, every celebrity trying to make a buck has their own fragrance. Perfume is definitely an oversaturated market. Designers, artists, singers, anyone and everyone does it. But you know who did it first? Paul Poiret. He invented and marketed the first ever signature fragrance. It was called Rosine, named after his first daughter.

Everyone talks about Coco Chanel and her iconic Chanel No. 5, but let’s remember that Paul did this a full decade before she did. Again, he was the first.

#8 – Paul created the first lifestyle brand.

Paul was absolutely a fashion designer, but he saw the business potential straight away of expanding into other markets. Besides perfume, he created furniture, textiles, and other items for the home. He created a company called Atelier Martine, named after his second daughter. This was the very, very beginning of what we now know as interior design. Again, Paul did all this first.

He was happy to work with other artists, and was the first to collaborate on licensed collections for firms across Europe. A smart business move.

#9 – Paul was a feminist.

This, frankly, is one of my favorite things about Paul.

Paul and Denise had five children together. Two of the children were girls, and Paul had very strong feelings about children in general being exposed to things that would help them enhance their creativity. Paul set up a school just for young girls called Ecole Martine (again, named after his second daughter). It occupied the second floor of his interior design firm, Atelier Martine. The girls were taught art and how to weave. And they had frequent field trips to the botanical garden. As they got older, they could create designs for rugs and textiles for the company. In fact, Paul took pride in training women as designers and crafters, and happily hired them!

#10 – Paul gave us trunk shows

This is yet another area in which Paul was first. In his heart, he was a showman (think earlier to the parties I described). And what better way to show off than to go on a tour. He went to Berlin in 1910, spent six weeks the following year traveling across Central Europe with his models. And in 1913, he even went to America! He was determined to bring his vision to everyone.

Poiret Today

Sadly, poor Paul died a pauper. After serving in World War I, he came back to find his business in shambles and the world no longer excited by his designs. He sold his business and the rights to his work in 1929. He got by after his death relying on other designers to help him financially. Elsa Schiaparelli paid for his funeral.

Poiret is having a bit of a moment now. A show in Paris called Paul Poiret: Fashion is a Feast just ended this year. And Dior’s Fall/Winter 2026-2027 menswear collection was a testament to his long-lasting influence. Will we see a comeback of the lampshade dress? Personally, I’m hoping for harem pants.

I picked up this set of stacking rings a while ago, and they’re so pretty I end up wearing them again and again.

Although rose gold first started appearing on the scene back in the 2010s, it continues to be everywhere. It’s gone beyond jewelry. This pretty pink is in make-up, clothing, shoes, nail polish, etc. You can dye your hair rose gold. I even had an iPhone that was rose gold. It made its way into home decor, and you started to see copper pots in kitchens, and metallic tones put on fixtures and furnishings for every room of the house.

But what exactly is rose gold?

What makes gold that rose color?

There’s really no such thing as pure gold. I mean, there is, but you wouldn’t want it for your jewelry. It’s too soft. Gold always has to be mixed with another metal. So with rose gold, what you’re doing is mixing yellow gold, copper and silver. The copper adds the red, and the silver keeps it from getting too red. In a typical 18K piece, it’s likely 75% yellow gold, 21% copper, and 4% silver. And you end up with this nice, subtle pink shade.

Rose gold isn’t completely standardized. Throughout history, its color range has gone from slight pink to a really deep red. The key factor is the copper. More copper means a deeper color.

Rose gold isn’t new. Most people think the first time we saw rose gold was with Fabergé, the famous jeweler to the Russian royal family. (Click here to read about my obsession with Faberge.) He famously used the pink shade in one of his iconic eggs (shown below).

In fact, for the longest time, rose gold was referred to as “Russian gold.” But it turns out it goes back much farther, to the ancient Columbians, where we discovered pieces from the first millennium!

From Russia to Victorian England

Fabergé’s “Russian Gold” gained popularity worldwide, and was renamed “Rose Gold.” Over time, it has gone in and out of fashion. In the late 1800’s and early 1900’s, it surged in popularity. This was the Victorian period, and pink was seen as a romantic color. It was used as lovers exchanged rings and other jewelry pieces.

At that time, there was plenty of mining for sapphires in India. And with the British being in charge over there, you started to see pretty little sapphire rings with rose gold all over London. They were also common engagement rings.

Rings from that era don’t look like the rose gold we have today. They seem to only have a very slight tinge of pink. That’s because back then, there weren’t really rules around what was actually defined as rose gold. As long as you used a mix of gold, copper, and silver, you had rose gold. Today, a piece has to have 58.5% gold to be stamped as 14K gold.

Cartier comes on the scene

Rose gold became popular again in the roaring 1920’s, when Cartier released an iconic piece called the Trinity Band.

The Trinity band has been around for over 100 years now, and isn’t exclusive to rings. It’s available as a necklace or bracelet. It’s always had plenty of attention from Hollywood and royalty alike.

Hard times in America

Of course, the buying and selling of jewelry in America changed forever with the Wall Street Crash of 1929. Overnight, people were destitute, and jewelry wasn’t nearly as important as having enough food to eat. Plus, with the times changing, art, fashion, and jewelry moved into Art Deco, which saw platinum as the favorite metal. Art Deco loved their simple, geometric pieces and their icy look of platinum and diamonds. But times changed once again and World War II came along. Platinum was needed for the war effort, and so the government banned it for civilian use. This meant good news for rose and yellow gold, which both became popular as as alternative metals. Often, rose gold was combined with yellow gold.

Unfortunately, that was really the last time we saw rose gold being popular, during the war and up until the 1950s. So until recently, it just hasn’t been around.

Black Hills Gold

There is an exception, just as there is for everything. America discovered gold in the Black Hills of South Dakota in the 1870’s. We had given that land to the Native Americans through a treaty in the 1860’s, but once we discovered such a valuable resource, we quickly took it back. Such is the sad history of how America has treated Native Americans.

The grapes and leaves motif is the defining feature of Black Hills gold jewelry. The story goes that a young French goldsmith was looking for gold. He was unsuccessful and unprepared, and losing hope. But one night, he dreamt of the vineyards of France. He decided to use his talent for jewelry instead and now his vision of grape leaves and the color palette of green, pink, and gold is everywhere.

In 1988, South Dakota named Black Hills gold the official state jewelry, and it’s a common souvenir for tourists coming to visit Mount Rushmore.

Rose gold flatters everyone

One of the reasons I think rose gold has such staying power is because it’s such a flattering color for everyone’s skin tone. Personally, I think gold is universally flattering. But with those pink tones, it’s even better, and really easy to wear.

Plus, I feel like we’re not afraid of pink anymore. There can be an avoidance of pink because it may seem overly girly. But that’s just ridiculous. After all, rose gold is a popular metal for engagement rings, like the one below from Brilliant Earth.

I think I’m starting to change my mind about rose gold. I think it’s here to stay. And if you don’t have something rose gold in your jewelry box, you should try to make that happen.

This necklace is called the Tutti Frutti necklace. Perhaps you’ve heard of Tutti Frutti? It’s a song (by Little Richard, Elvis Presley, and even Queen), a dessert and even a yogurt company. But obviously, my fellow jewelry lovers, the most important Tutti Frutti is this stunning piece from Cartier.

The influence of India

The necklace design was heavily influenced by India. In the 1800’s, England and India were “trading partners” and it was the height of the Mughal Empire. The maharajahs (the rulers) were incredibly wealthy, and they loved to show it off with jewelry. They wore massive, elaborate, multi-strand necklaces and bejeweled turbans. Knives and swords were dripping with gemstones too.

This was the environment Cartier found himself in when he visited India in 1911 to celebrate King George V’s coronation. In addition to being King of England, George was also being named Emperor of India. I mean, how boring to just rule one nation…… Anyway, while Cartier was there, he was inspired by all the gorgeous things he saw - carved gemstones, massive emeralds and rubies, silk cord, stars, pearls and diamonds. He brought these gemstones back to France to use in his own designs. He wasn’t sure what those would be yet, but he was interested in experimenting.

Colors and Carvings

The jewelry in the early 1900’s was delicate and white with diamonds and platinum. It was a huge contrast to what Cartier saw in India. The massive use of color was overwhelming. It wasn’t just the color that was so different. It was the unique way they carved their gemstones. By the 1900’s, the Mughals has been carving gemstones for three hundred years. They engraved words and phrases. They dearly loved emeralds. They created designs where a stone was transformed into a fruit, berries, flowers, or leaves.

The opening up of trade worldwide meant India had access to everything you could imagine - emeralds from Egypt and South America, rubies from Burma, and more.

In 1925, Cartier showcased his firm’s work at the World Expo in Paris. That year Art Deco was incredibly popular. More than 16 million people from all over the world came to see all the art that was displayed. Even the Maharaja (of Kapurthala) came to visit. He and Cartier had a special 30 year relationship - the Maharaja was influenced by French art and Cartier by the Indian designs.

I should mention it wasn’t just Cartier who came away thinking the Indians had some pretty stuff. As travel to India gradually became more common for wealthy tourists, the Indian styles made their way back to Europe. And America.

Thank Daisy Fellowes

America is where Daisy Fellowes comes into the picture. Who was she? Well Daisy Fellowes was the heiress to the Singer sewing machine fortune, and one of the most wealthy women in America. She loved jewelry, and collected it. She wore opulent, extravagant pieces along with all the latest fashions. Newspapers tracked her style, and detailed what and who she wore.

Cartier, with his gemstones and Indian inspiration were a match made in heaven when you added in Daisy’s money and influence. She asked Cartier to create the necklace in 1936 from three separate pieces she had purchased earlier – a necklace and two bracelets. When the necklace was finished, it had a total of 785 gems. It was held together with silk chords, as was the style, so you could tighten or loosen as necessary.

From what I’ve read, Daisy loved the attention she received when she wore the necklace.

Originally not the Tutti Frutti necklace

Daisy’s elegant necklace was originally called the Collier Hindou (translated as “Hindu collar”), and the style was extremely popular in the 1920’s. It wasn’t renamed the Tutti Frutti until the 1970’s. Tutti frutti means “all fruits” in Italian. With the gems carved up as fruit, berries, and other food, it made more sense than calling it a collar. After all, who wears a collar that looks like that? Cartier must have trademarked the term, because similar pieces by other designers are referred to as “fruit salad.” Whether you call it tutti frutti or fruit salad, you get a mental picture of something light-hearted, fun, and colorful.

Exoticism, and Art Deco design

The late 1920’s and 1930’s are considered the height of the Art Deco period, and nothing was more Art Deco than exoticism. Exoticism was this obsession with culture and art of the East, which Westerners had never seen before, including India, China, and Japan.

The famous play, Ballet Russes, ran from 1909 to 1929. It was originally performed in Paris, but eventually made its way throughout Europe, and then to North and South America. The ballet was eye-opening for its use of color. No one had seen anything like the costumes and jewelry worn in the ballet. This attention made the designs of Cartier even more popular with the public.

Tutti Frutti today

The Cartier Tutti Frutti designs continue to be one of their most recognizable motifs. Even today, you can explore online and see plenty of their work. Bracelets are the most popular. It really is all about the bright color palette and the carved gems.

Tutti Frutti pieces command high prices

Tutti Frutti bracelets can fetch astronomical prices. Two sold for over $2 million. One in 2013, and one in 2014. One of them belonged to Evelyn H. Lauder, daughter-in-law of the famous Estee Lauder.

In April, this lovely parrot duo necklace (the brooch is detachable) sold at auction for almost $3 million.

And if you don’t have a cool million or two, don’t worry. Some lucky duck found a pin at a flea market for less than $100 and ended up making out with over $17 grand when it sold at auction a few months later.

The necklace is back with its creator

Back to our lovely Daisy, the woman who started this story. After the necklace passed through her descendants, it showed up at auction in Geneva, Switzerland in 1991. Although Sotheby’s wouldn’t say, it was supposedly consigned by Daisy’s great-grandson, Amaury de a Moussaye. The original auction estimate was $650,000 to $950,000, but in the end, it was Cartier who purchased the piece for the low, low price of $2,655,172. Cartier keeps the necklace as part of its private collection, where it travels to museums around the world. As it should be.

Cartier continues to create Tutti Frutti pieces today. They created the Collier Rajastan in 2016. It has over 300 carats of emerald beads, with a center emerald of 137 carats.

The huge carved emerald in the center can also be worn as a brooch. It took over 5000 hours to make. I don’t even want to venture a guess as to what this would cost….

Here’s the one they created in 2020. It’s called the Maharajah Necklace. It has a 44 carat carved emerald at the center.

With these newer necklaces, Cartier leans into their history of Indian inspiration and tries to make the design fresh. I think their Tutti Frutti pieces will continue to get high prices at auction. So if you see one the next time you’re at the thrift store, just pick it up. Who knows what you could have?

Cameos are unique among jewelry pieces because they are so personal. They make a statement. The portrait means something. It’s the same with charm bracelets or necklaces. You don’t have a charm just because it’s pretty, you have it because it’s significant to you in some way (and pretty).

My daughter bought my cameo necklace in Pompeii. Pompeii, famously destroyed by a volcanic eruption in 79 AD, was part of the vast Roman Empire at the time. She got me the cameo from a shop called the Cellini Gallery. I imagine it was named after Benvenuto Cellini, a famous goldsmith and sculptor from Florence. He was an interesting figure from history, a murderer, a womanizer, and a friend to popes, royalty, and nobility. His irreverent autobiography is considered a wealth of information for the time period. He created some significant cameos. Below is his most famous one. It depicts Leda and the Swan. It’s a story about how Zeus, who would be considered a modern-day rapist, turned himself into a swan and impregnated Leda. Ew.

So Cellini made cameos, but what did Pompeii have to do with them? Well, let’s take a trip back to Ancient Rome.

Cameos of Ancient Rome

Ah, how the Romans loved their cameos. And Pompeii, after originally being ruled by Alexander the Great, became part of the Roman Empire. The Greeks were the first to make cameos, in Alexandria, Egypt, the very city founded by Alexander. That Greek cameo-making skill set, by now hundreds of years old, was still thriving in Pompeii at the time. Pompeii was right on the coast, and all the coral from the sea was used to make cameos.

Probably the most famous Roman of all time, our friend and countryman Julius Caesar himself, collected cameos. He apparently had six entire cabinets full of them. Julius claimed he directly descended from gods (ha!) and was a son of Venus. He dedicated his entire collection to Venus’ temple. His portrait was on cameos throughout his reign. After his very sad betrayal (et tu, Brute?) and death, his face reappeared in the 1800’s, when everyone went crazy over Roman history and art.

In the ancient world, cameos were most popular during the reign of all the Caesars, not just Julius. That adds up to a 500 years span, from about 25 BC to about 475 AD.

That means when Pompeii was destroyed by the evil volcanic eruption in 79 AD, the archaeologists found tons and tons of cameos. The ruins of Pompeii were discovered in the 1700’s, and this prompted a whole new trend featuring - you guessed it - cameos.

But before we head to the Victorian era, let’s stay in Ancient Rome for a bit and talk about why the cameos were so popular.

The symbolism of cameos

All the rage in the land of Rome, these little engraved gems served many purposes. First of all, politics. I always love it when people say they don’t “play politics.” Whether you think you do or not, they affect your daily life, and it was exactly the same way back then. Not only did whatever ruler want his face on coins, he (yes, always a he) wanted it on jewelry that people wore, and he wanted it out and obvious. And just as in other empires, you got a special piece of jewelry for being part of the royal court. You certainly wouldn’t want anyone to mistake you for a commoner! And so cameo functioned as a status symbol as well as a way to show political loyalty.

My favorite part about this time period was how the emperors combined their image with those of the gods. I’m not sure anyone claimed to be descended from them like Julius, but they certainly wanted people to see their power. Instead of showcasing religious power, they were showing their political power.

Cameos also signified wealth. Not just anyone could afford a cameo. The Romans loved cameos to be quite large. Therefore, the bigger the cameo, the wealthier you were. Obviously.

It was also a way to showcase your loyalty and devotion to whatever god or goddess was your favorite. You may have also believed that particular god protected you from harm. The most common carvings were of Zeus (ugh) and Athena or Minerva, usually wearing a helmet to show what a badass she was. And for something not so strong, you had Cupid, representing love. How sweet. Others included Venus, the three Muses, and Medusa.

Victorian cameos

In modern-esque times, the 1800’s were really when the fashion of cameos reached its height. And while you did see plenty of carvings from Greek and Roman mythology, you also saw flowers and animals and religious scenes and figures (like the Virgin Mary, Noah and his ark, or the current Pope).

Going back to Pompeii, the excavation of jewelry ignited a fascination with cameos. The combination of the volcanic eruption and the jewelry found resulted in the creation of lava cameos. Plenty of tourists visiting walked away with cameos made from volcanic rock.

Meaningful jewelry

Going full circle, my daughter bought me a rose cameo. It is special to me. I have an obsession with roses and sunflowers, which is well-known in my family. I am on a continual quest to make the perfect rose perfume, and I am constantly frustrated by how my roses never mature the way they should. I like to think she got it for me as a sort of aspirational influence. A way to say that one day I would be able to properly grow roses and make my perfume. It’s certainly better than thinking she mocks my lack of a green thumb.

All this to say I encourage you to get yourself a piece of cameo jewelry that speaks to you. After all, if your jewelry doesn’t mean something, why wear it at all?

Halo rings starting becoming trendy again around 2000, and like many jewelry styles, have popped in and out of fashion.

Halos are always a popular choice for engagement rings. The best thing about halo rings is that it creates an optical illusion, making your center stone look bigger. What could be better than that?

Celebrity halo rings

One of my favorite halos was Lady Gaga’s past engagement ring (remember Christian Carino? Right, me neither…..), an absolutely stunning pink sapphire surrounded by diamonds.

The most famous engagement halo ring of all is probably Duchess Kate’s. Originally Princess Diana’s, it’s a 12-carat oval sapphire, with 14 diamonds surrounding it, and set in 18-karat white gold. I guess at the time, it was somewhat controversial – not because it was a sapphire, but because anyone could buy it out of the company’s catalog (from Garrard, the crown jeweler at the time). You know royalty…. if any commoner could buy what they have, then what’s really separating them from regular folks?

Besides Kate and Lady Gaga, there are some other gorgeous celebrity halos out there. Penelope Cruz sports one with a center sapphire surrounded by diamonds. Olivia Wilde has a unique one. Her center stone is a diamond, but the halo is made up of (I’m guessing) emeralds. Carrie Underwood has a stunning canary yellow diamond. And then we have Princess Eugenie. She has a beautiful sapphire too, but that pinky-orange color makes it a padparadscha, one of the rarest colors in the world.

Millie Bobby Brown, who got engaged (to Jon Bon Jovi’s son!) in 2023, has an incredibly large halo ring. I think it’s four carats.

And Dove Cameron, engaged just this past fall, has a lovely ring too.

Historical halos

Halo rings have been around since at least the 1700’s. The main difference between those rings and the ones today were that the stones making up the halo were just as large as the center stone.

The early 1900’s are referred to as the Edwardian era (from the English King, Edward VII). The halo rings of this era are some of my favorite. Beautiful and simple, with a variety of center stones.

The Art Deco period was one where the halo design became most like what we see today. The 1920’s was all about diamonds, platinum, and geometric designs. Here we saw the diamond center stone with the surrounding halo of diamonds become incredibly popular. All diamonds all the time, right? You also had some cool design elements, like milgrain, accent stones, and filigree.

Today, you can find halo rings with all kinds of different gemstones.

Hidden halo

In the early 2000’s the “hidden halo” setting made an appearance. This is where the halo is only seen from the side of the ring. It’s invisible from the top.

The idea behind this design is that you get a subtle shimmer from underneath the main stone.

Trendy halos

Halos, like most jewelry, went underground during the Great Depression. During the 1930’s and ’40s, jewelry was all about Hollywood glamour, and halo rings, large and luxurious, came into fashion once again. They stuck around through the 60’s, but made themselves scarce in from the 1970’s to the 1990’s. Since 2000, they’ve been back. At 20+ years now, I’m not sure they’re much of a trend, more likely a staple.

There are beautiful vintage and antique halos. My opinion is that this setting has developed enough to be a classic, timeless style. Think about adding a halo ring to your collection.

What is a dragon anyway?

Since dragons aren’t real, it seems a little silly to talk about what they are. But the creature who breathes fire and has wings and can fly is really a more recent dragon. This one came about in the Middle Ages (approximately 1100’s to 1400’s). Think Game of Thrones, Middle Earth, etc. They liked caves and treasure, and sometimes they guarded said treasure. Their scary, guardian nature shows up with them as gargoyles, protecting the entrances of buildings. They’re on the Welsh flag, a relic of when they were used in battle to scare your enemies.

Dragons were meant to be slain so you could have the treasure. Or tamed, so you could use their power and destruction for yourself. In early Christianity, they represented the devil.

But before the Middle Ages, dragons were essentially a big snake. Usually, sea snakes, sea monsters, or sea serpents. Something scary.

Dragons from the East

The dragons from China are pretty different from the typical Western fire-breathing meanie. First of all, they don’t have wings. Instead, they float or undulate through the air. And they’re nice. Playful. And typically red, which shows their energy and vitality.

In Chinese culture, they’re linked to rain and water, and are a symbol of life, strength, and prosperity. Sometimes dragons are shown with a pearl in their claws or mouths.

The first Emperor of China called himself the “Emperor of the Dragon Throne.” For hundreds of years, dragons were associated with the imperial court. In fact, dragon art outside of imperial use got you two years in prison. In the 1200’s, jade was tightly regulated for imperial purposes, and you saw some truly exquisite pieces as artists did their best to impress their rulers.

Ancient dragons in jewelry

This is one of the oldest pieces of dragon jewelry I found. It’s from three thousand years BC. The pendant is Chinese jade. You can see it’s essentially a snake.

Our lovely friends, the British, also liked dragons. Here’s one from the first or second century.

I also came across this dragon brooch from the eighth century. This was the era of the Vikings, and they loved dragons too. They were carved into the bows of their ships, so I suppose it’s only natural they made their way into jewelry.

I’m not sure why dragons, or the idea of them, go so far back in human history. Perhaps it’s because humans seem to have an innate fear of snakes. (Did you think it was just you? Nope.) Even in places where no snakes are around, people are afraid of them. That would explain why snakes and dragons are found in almost every single culture, all over the world.

If you don’t like the fear of snakes theory, another one is that fossil bone discoveries were believed to be dragons, because of their large size.

Art Nouveau

The Art Nouveau period, from the late 1800’s to the early 1900’s, seems perfect for dragons. Art Nouveau was all about nature, and flowing lines. But it had plenty of fantastical elements, like dragons, women who had wings, and creatures who were half human and half animal. Not surprisingly, I found plenty of dragon pins in this era.

The dragons from this period could seem friendly or menacing, but the overwhelming feature was how curvy they were. Again, Art Nouveau is all about using flowing lines to create something unique.

Art Deco

Dragons also show up in the Art Deco time period. This was when the USA and Europe were absolutely fascinated with anything from China and Japan. We went crazy for cherry blossoms, dragons, lacquer, and other design elements. Art Deco is all about being sleek and white. Diamonds are prominent, as is platinum.

This bracelet is a good example of what I’m talking about.

Bracelets with dragon’s heads were also popular.

And of course the major jewelry houses like Cartier and Van Cleef & Arpels got in on the game too.

The dragon and the pearl

You’ll notice the two pictures below show the dragon holding a pearl. It’s a common depiction with an interesting story.

In Chinese culture, the pearl is a sacred symbol, and one representing life and natural elements. It’s raindrops coming from the sky, or a beautiful object rising from the sea. In the balance of yin and yang, the pearl is the yin. The dragon is yang. They are in balance, a mix of soft and strong.

The dragon is strength and prosperity. The pearl is aspiration, transformation, ambition. The dragon with the pearl is always seeking. You never attain all the knowledge and wisdom represented by the pearl. But you are always learning. It’s the journey that’s important.

Dragons today

Today, you can have a medieval looking dragon, a cute cuddly dragon, or a bearded dragon. You can have one that’s scary or not. There are bracelets, necklaces, earrings, and everything in between. Want to emulate Khalessi from Game of Thrones? They even have dragon jewelry inspired by the show!

Think about dragons across different types of entertainment. In video games, there’s Dungeons and Dragons and World of Warcraft. In books, we have Harry Potter. Or Puff the Magic Dragon.

Their continuing appeal

If you want an affordable dragon, here’s one from Alex and Ani for $68.

Going up a little bit higher gets you this guy at Ruby Lane for $640.

If you really want to go all out, and frighten people too, this lovely creature is 20% off and will only set you back $9,000. He looks like he’s ready to start breathing fire.

Whatever kind of dragon you want, whatever kind of message you want to portray, there’s a dragon for you, and an interesting story behind it.

I love to connect with other people who share my passion for jewelry and history and art. I have learned so much in my three months here, and I hope it stays this way forever. If not, I’ll be happy with what I can take away for as long as it lasts.

To get into the specifics on the things I appreciate about Substack, read on.

1. A big fat no to the other platforms. Let’s start with Facebook. It used to be interesting and a way to keep up with friends and family who were either far away or on the periphery of my social circle. But then it started to be kind of boring. Did I really need that much detail about people? I found I got more out of my close personal relationships and was just wasting time there. It also got to feel like a contest about who was really “winning” at life. And the ads. Self-explanatory. I ended up deactivating my account because I was threatened by strangers over selling some things on Facebook marketplace. Just ridiculous. Next up is instagram. For a while it was fun. Great pics and videos and short stories. Hashtags were amusing. But then everyone was trying to sell me something and it just seemed like an online store. Same with TikTok. Just no. LinkedIn. I’m only on there to spy. I love seeing people’s backgrounds and career trajectories. YouTube. I don’t hate it. I have some channels I visit frequently. But for new topics, it’s overwhelming. Plus so much on there is just bad. Some great content if you can get to it. It’s like a thrift store, searching through racks to get to what you want.

2. Why I came to Substack in the first place. It was Twitter. I know, I know, don’t judge. I refuse to call it X. So stupid. I loved Twitter threads. I learned a ton. Interesting things about history. Some deep dives that really got me thinking in depth about topics that weren’t really on my radar screen. But then I noticed the people I followed starting moving to Substack. So I followed. And I’ve never gone back. I get the same things here. And more.

3. Substack friends. I follow enough amazingly talented and smart people here that I consider them friends. Like if I was where they were, I feel like I could call them and go out for coffee. Maybe they don’t feel the same. It’s irrelevant since I’d be too scared to reach out. But it’s a nice fantasy. I’ll take it.

4. Long form writing. I would always rather read something. I’m not a podcast person and videos are not for me. I usually just read the transcript if that’s an option. I feel like Substack is basically a big magazine that I get to curate. How fabulous is that.

5. A place for me to share my own expertise and be appreciated and seen. I have been cultivating my knowledge of gems and jewelry for 20 years now and had no place to share it. No people to share it with. As much as my family and friends are supportive, it’s not their thing and I respect that. Substack gives me the space to showcase everything I’ve learned. I’m a proud member of the Association of Jewelry and Related Arts, GemX, and a proud graduate of GIA. Thank you to the Northwest Jewelry Conference, to museums here and abroad, to antique shows and dealers who became friends. Thank you to Gail Levine and Emily Stoehrer of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. Thank you to Elyse Karlin, who guest curates exhibits across America. Thanks to Ted Irwin, who first introduced me to Dr. Jeffrey Post from the Smithsonian, Amanda Triossi from Bulgari, and the incredibly knowledgeable Peter Shemonsky. Thanks to Rob Bates of the Jewelry Wire, who I’ve been reading for years at JCK, and who was someone I was more than happy to subscribe to. I’ve taken everything they’ve offered and now I get to pay it forward. It’s invigorating creatively.

6. A way to be anonymous and yet completely myself. Imposter syndrome is real and for so long I felt like a fraud because I’m not “in the industry.” I’m not a jewelry designer or museum curator. I don’t have an art history degree, I don’t work in a jewelry store. I don’t appraise items. I’m in a completely different field. My interest is pursued in my free time. But that doesn’t make it less. My industry would consider this whole endeavor to be frivolous. It’s part of why I’m so jaded and why I don’t use my real name in my profile. But their loss. There will always be people who look down on art because it’s not “practical.” How sad for them.

Now for the concerning parts.

1. Andrew Tate. What a loathsome individual. I can’t believe Substack lets him be here. He scares me. There’s so much hate from him I can feel it through the screen. He makes me want to close my laptop. That said, I can just pretend he’s not here. I don’t need to follow him, and obviously he doesn’t come up as a suggestion or a related note.

2. Pangram. Clearly a flawed tool, and that’s being generous. I can’t tell what’s AI and Pangram can’t either. As a trained scientist, I can tell you with absolute certainty their methods would never survive a peer review. I would rather just trust that writers wrote the words they put forward. I would hate it if someone thought I was using AI. I don’t even like it if people use it at the end, like some polishing step. Just stay away from it. Nothing good will result.

3. Upcoming brand partnerships. I understand writers need financial support. I understand we have publications and most publications have ads. But it’s distracting and makes me question a writer’s authenticity. I’m keeping an open mind. But I’m worried this is a gateway to Substack being another platform I have to leave because it’s a continual sales pitch. We’ll see.

There you have it. Thank you to everyone who reads what I put out into the universe. I’m so flattered that people would take the time to hear what I have to say. I hope you learn something new.

Also, I realize you didn’t subscribe to hear my musings about Substack. I promise this is a one-off. Future posts are all gems and jewelry.

What do you think of Substack? Are you as enamored as I am? Am I wearing rose-colored glasses? Perhaps. Time will tell if Substack continues to be a place I enjoy. For now though, I’m content.

Precious versus semiprecious gemstones

Lest you think I am anti-precious stone, let me assure you I have a deep love affair with emeralds. But I also love amethyst, and peridot, and opal. In my view, our cup runneth over. This planet is filled with a veritable rainbow of colored gemstones. To focus on just three seems short-sighted.

Precious is about supply and demand

As with many things in the marketing of jewelry, you are led to believe things have always been the way they are now. But the earliest use of “semi-precious” only goes back to 1858. And the four stones we now consider precious… well, let’s just say there used to be others. Pearl, opal, and amethyst were all considered precious at one time. In ancient Egypt, turquoise and lapis were so special they went with you to the afterlife.

The textbook definition of semi-precious is “worth less commercially than precious stones.” If that’s the case, we should be looking at supply, since in theory, that’s what determines price. For example, amethyst was re-classified as semi-precious after a huge source in Brazil was discovered, and I imagine, the price dropped.

Diamonds, in my opinion, should not be considered precious. Yes, they are lovely and sparkly, but they are not rare. Their supply was tightly controlled by the monopoly of De Beers for many, many years, although that is not the case today. I went to a seminar one time where the speaker said there are enough cut diamonds for every man, woman, and child on this earth. And so I say again, diamonds are not rare. Beautiful and sparkly, but not rare. Expensive and well-marketed, but in the end, still not rare.

Truly precious tanzanite

Using supply math, tanzanite should be considered precious. It’s a truly rare stone, only found in one place in the entire world (Tanzania). Poor tanzanite is often overlooked, but it comes in beautiful blues and violets and honestly, is an incredibly pretty gemstone. It was only discovered in the 1960’s. It’s found at the base of Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa, under geologic conditions so unique it’s estimated that we have a one in a million chance of finding it anywhere else on Earth! It’s a thousand times rarer than diamond and likely to be mined out of existence within the next twenty years.

Plus, tanzanite is cheap! For how rare it is, I’m amazed it isn’t more expensive. Maybe we should buy it now before the rest of the world figures this out and the price goes up.

Ruby versus Spinel verus Garnet

Let’s use an example. We’ll take a ruby, which everyone knows is a beautiful red gemstone. And we’ll also take a red spinel, another fine red gemstone. And then we’ll take red garnet, used since ancient biblical times in jewelry. If I were to line them up in front of you, the average American consumer, you wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between them. They have a very similar red color range, and the difference in hardness is not significant. But people want you to pay more for the ruby, that’s why they call it precious. It’s marketing, not rarity. Spinel are actually more rare than ruby. If we just went by rarity, we would be saying the spinel and tanzanite are precious. And yet we don’t.

Rarity & value of gemstones

Gemstones are supposed to be like so many other things – the rarer it is, the more valuable it is. But are rubies rare? Sapphires? Emeralds?

It doesn’t seem like it to me. I could walk into any jewelry shop and buy any of those. Especially if I wasn’t looking for a stone that was particularly large. Yes, it’s true that large, clear, natural emeralds are harder to find. But their price reflects that.

The precious versus semi-precious is not really about rarity or value. It’s about getting you to spend more on a product.

At a recent conference I went to, I listened to a mineralogist discuss garnets throughout history. It was absolutely fascinating. Garnets are pretty common, I will grant you that. They are found on every continent in the world. But she scoffed at the ideas of garnets being semi-precious! Because she knew, from her research, that garnets were used in jewelry for royalty. In fact, many museums have made the mistake of labeling a historical artifact a ruby when really it was garnet or spinel.

A beautiful gemstone is a beautiful gemstone.

Precious gems are precious to you

Here in America, you hope the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) or some other government entity is looking out for you, and trying to protect you and your wallet. From what I’ve discovered, the FTC occasionally considers banning both precious and semi-precious to avoid confusing consumers. But they haven’t as of yet.

Within the jewelry industry, the American Gem Trade Association has a code of ethics. If you are a member, it says very clearly that you “should avoid the use of the term “semi-precious” in describing gemstones.” Of course, there are almost 75,000 jewelry stores in America. And not even a majority of them are members.

The next time a salesperson tells you something is semi-precious, I just want you to look back at them and raise your eyebrow ever so slightly. Because you know better now. Buy jewelry because it seems precious to you.

But I did remain a fan of Faberge and his eggs. Perhaps teenage me did not need a set of decorative eggs. But I was still hooked, on Faberge and his eggs. The eccentric, out-of-touch Russian Royal Family, and their compelling tragic story just adds to the mystique. It turns out it’s not just me who’s obsessed. It’s everyone.

But as I learned more about Peter Carl Faberge (1846 – 1920), I realized that eggs were only a portion of his work. He was a world-renowned artist with a vast portfolio. He had employees and workshops located all across Russia. His items were sold across society, from working class Russians to the British Royal Family.

Known for his jewelry more than his eggs

Peter Faberge was one of the most prominent jewelers of his time. His workshops in Russia employed over 500 artisans. And they produced thousands of pieces of jewelry. Faberge was influenced by art from all over the world, as well as ancient and modern styles.

His jewelry was unique. Instead of focusing on the size of the gems, he focused more on the design. Peter used precious and semi-precious stones. Not just gold and silver, but malachite, jade, rock crystal, and lapis lazuli. He carved gems. He used enamel extensively. Everyone could tell his work was unlike anything that had been seen before. It wasn’t too long before he had plenty of patrons clamoring for his pieces.

Of course, very little of the jewelry survives today. Most was either destroyed or melted down during the Revolution that followed.

Faberge was a family business

The House of Faberge officially began with Gustav Faberge, Peter’s father. A master goldsmith, he had a shop in St. Petersburg since 1841. Peter and his brother, Agathon, both joined their dad after they trained and apprenticed in Europe. Peter joined when he was only 18, and officially took over from his father when he was 26. He was also designated a master goldsmith.

Faberge Accessories

Not only did Peter make eggs and jewelry, his workshops created tons of everyday items. Little sculptures, desk sets, clocks, frames, candlesticks, jewelry boxes, holders for cigarette and eyeglass, etc. If there was a way to make an ordinary item more beautiful, that’s what they did.

In fact, it’s these items that we see most in museums, and that you can still buy today.

Faberge’s talent with enamel

Peter’s work was widely admired. But the one thing no one could get over was his use of enamel. The amazing colors set him above and apart from other artists of the time. To this day, there is no one that can replicate the tremendous diversity of colors he used.

International Recognition

The House of Faberge won the gold medal at the 1882 Pan-Russian Exhibition. This is where Peter caught the eye of the Russian Tsar, Alexander III, who had their work displayed in the Hermitage as an example of superior craftsmanship. The Hertimage is one of the largest and oldest museums in the entire world. It’s been around since 1764, when it was founded by Catherine the Great. She devoted the museum to art and culture.

The Tsar then appointed Peter as Supplier to the Court. And in his first year as supplier, he designed an egg for the Russian Royal Family.

Peter also won the gold medal at the 1885 Nuremberg Exhibition. At just 39 years old, he was able to recreate an ancient gold Scythian bangle that was indistinguishable from the original. It won him worldwide attention. He was awarded royal warrants for the courts of Sweden and Norway. This meant he could create jewelry and other objects for them.

In 1900, the ever famous Imperial Eggs were shown for the first time at the Universal Paris Exposition. Needless to say, they were a hit and Peter received the highest award.

The British Royal Family

Peter’s success allowed him expand the business, and he opened branches in Moscow (1887), Odessa (1890), Kieve (1905) and London (1903).

While we hear a lot about the Russian Royal Family and his work for them, the British Royal Family loved him too. In fact, the current British Royal Collection of Faberge has over 700 pieces, including over 200 miniature animal sculptures.

Faberge’s Animals

It wasn’t just royalty that loved Peter. Plenty of regular people thought he was great, and what they loved best were his animals. Peter and his artisans made dogs, chickens, rabbits, and frogs. But what everyone loved best were pigs and elephants. They were carved from agate, carnelian, or jade, with rubies or diamonds for the eyes. Throughout Russia, Faberge was was beloved for his amazing craftsmanship of these small sculptures.

One of my favorite books, Faberge’s Animals: A Royal Farm in Miniature, has beautiful pictures of the hundreds of tiny animal sculptures from the British Royal Collection of Faberge.

The End of Faberge

Unfortunately, revolution came to Russia. The revolutionaries nationalized the company and sold the eggs. The royal family was executed and so many beautiful Faberge pieces were sold, destroyed, or melted down. Peter was able escape but never returned to St. Petersburg. He died in Switzerland only two years later.

A sad end to a truly exceptional artist and his work.

We visited a place called Gem Mountain where you can “mine” sapphires yourself. The good news - we eventually obtained some very lovely sapphires that ended up in a beautiful custom ring for me. The rest is all bad news – lots of driving, cranky children, and sorting gravel in the hot summer sun. Basically, the entire experience was not my cup of tea. However, if good jewelry is the end result, I can put up with a lot.

But enough of my story for now. Let’s talk about you. You should love Montana sapphires, and I’ll tell you why.

1. Montana sapphires are American

I know this probably seems obvious, but I’m not sure if everyone realizes how rare it is. America doesn’t have a lot of gems that are available for jewelry. There is some turquoise from the Southwest and some tourmalines from Maine. But that’s about it. Diamonds, rubies, emeralds, amethysts, tanzanite, etc…. the vast majority of them are from someplace else. There is not a lot of gemstone mining that goes on in the United States.

Montana’s official nickname is “The Treasure State” and that’s because they have gold and silver, and lots and lots of sapphires. The sapphires were originally discovered by gold miners who kept getting annoyed with all the little blue pebbles they kept finding!

Montana’s sapphires became so famous that they were declared one of the state’s official gemstones in 1969. They also named places after the sapphires. Rock Creek was named since sapphires are still mined there today. And the mountains surrounding Rock Creek were named the Sapphire Mountains.

The sapphires became an American symbol. First Ladies Florence Harding and Bess Truman were given gifts of Montana sapphires. And they’re displayed all over the United States in different museum collections.

2. Tiffany made them famous

Back in 1895, a guy named Jake Hoover discovered some sapphires and sent them away to Tiffany’s in New York City to see if he could get any money for them. They made their way to George Kunz, Tiffany’s gemologist, who called them “the finest precious gemstones ever found in the United States.” Tiffany’s sent our friend Jake a check for $3,750 (over $100,000 in today’s money) along with a letter describing saying they were “sapphires of unusual quality”.

You might not know this, but Tiffany did everything they could to popularize colored American gemstones, including Montana sapphires. They featured them in major pieces. They paired them with diamonds or moonstones. Americans love Montana sapphires because Tiffany introduced them to America

3. Best gem quality sapphires

Another thing you might not realize is that most sapphires need to super-heated to bring out the best color. It’s incredibly common (over 90%). But there are some special sapphires. They’re called Yogo sapphires because they come from Yogo Gulch in Montana. Not only are they blue enough already that they don’t need to be heated, they’re clearer on the inside. The bad thing is that they tend to be small, most of them are less than a carat. Only 10% are over a carat. If you find one over 2 carats, you hit the jackpot. The largest one ever found was 19 carats.

The sapphires that come from Yogo Gulch are called Yogo sapphires. If they come from elsewhere in Montana, they’re just called Montana sapphires.

Regardless of where in Montana they come from, today the state produces more gem-quality sapphires than anywhere else in North America.

4. Montana sapphires are ethical jewelry

More and more people are wanting to make an ethical choice when it comes to jewelry. And for that, you can’t beat Montana sapphires. They weren’t mined in a war zone, there was no child labor, no horrible environmental devastation, and you can trace them right back to the creek they were found in.

There’s also the “buying local” factor. It take an environmental toll, all the shipping and transportation we do to get products all around the world. By buying Montana sapphires, they have to travel less to get to you. Plus, you’re buying American. What could be better than that?

5. You can mine them yourself

If my husband and I and our kids can sort through gravel on a hot day, you can do it too. Head to the Sapphire Mountains! They’re literally in the middle of nowhere, off the beaten path in the little town of Philipsburg. There’s actually a gas station, and you can visit their awesome candy store on Main Street (the kids really liked that). And then head out to Gem Mountain (that’s where we went) and sort through more rocks that you know what to do with. To date, Montana has produced over 190 million carats of sapphires. And they estimate there’s another 28 million still in the ground.

Here’s the ring we designed from our Montana sapphires.

Jealous? What are you waiting for? Go get some Montana sapphires for yourself!

She was American by birth, but as a Black woman, she had more opportunities in France, and eventually became a French citizen. Her start in America, though, came from her dancing.

Tiny Dancer

Even though she was born into a poor family in St. Louis, Missouri, she got experience as an entertainer by touring with a group called The Jones Family Band & Dixie Steppers. At just 13, she was traveling around the US, performing comedy for their act.

After that ended, she became a chorus girl in a different production. Although they first tried to tell her she was “too skinny and too dark,” she eventually won them over with her gift for comedy. Onstage, she rolled her eyes and purposely acted clumsy. People loved her “act,” and she ended up was attracting big crowds for the rest of the show’s run.

Like every American who wants to make it big, Josephine went to New York City. While she did enjoy some success there, her real break came when she took the opportunity to be in a musical in France. And so off she went to Paris!

Success in France

Josephine was just 19 years old when she went to Paris in 1925. It was the Jazz Age, and musicals were all the rage. Everyone was dancing the Charleston. It was also a time when people were interested in African art and culture. People seemed bizarrely obsessed with the idea that black people would always have a primitive “African” nature. Josephine took these interests in mind and created the danse sauvage (literally, dance of the savage), which she performed at the famous Folies Bergère cabaret hall.

Showing her talent for humor and grace, Josephine literally climbs down from a palm tree and dances around in a skirt with rubber bananas. Unlike anything else at the time, it became a huge hit. People thought Josephine was exotic and sexy. They called her the “Black Venus” and the “Black Pearl.” She became one of the most photographed women in the world. And in just two years, she was making more than any other entertainer in Europe.

An international sensation, she thrived in Paris which, unlike the United States, was not segregated. Her success led to two movie roles in the early 1930’s where she portrayed singers (Zou-Zou and Princesse Tam-Tam). The money she made from them allowed her to buy a huge mansion in southwest France. She named it Les Milandres.

Spying during the war

After all her fame and fortune in France, Josephine returned to perform in the United States in 1936. She was incredibly excited to return home. Unfortunately, her reviews were horrible, critics said her voice was thin. And she experienced awful racist treatment – TIME magazine referred to her as a “Negro wench.” That was enough America for her! She went back to France, got married, and became a French citizen in 1937.

Josephine’s independence as a performer meant she was able to move around freely in Nazi-occupied France. She was a spy for the French Resistance, smuggling secret messages written on her music sheets. Josephine also served in the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force. She earned awards from the French for her service, including the both the Croix de Guerreand and the Legion of Honour with the rosette of the Resistance, two of France’s highest military honors.

Style Icon

Josephine had an extensive wardrobe for her work on stage. She wore miniskirts, fringed dresses, feathers, fur stoles, elaborate headdresses, and shimmery glittery gowns. She literally had no fear when it came to fashion. On stage or off, she exuded style and confidence. And it showed with her hairstyles, clothes, and jewelry.

She dressed in clothes from the most famous designers of the day – Paul Poiret, Madeleine Vionnet, Balenciaga, Chanel, and Dior. Josephine had expensive taste and spent much of her fortune on fashion, jewelry, luggage, and exotic pets.

She even had a cheetah named Chiquita, who would wander with her throughout Paris on a leash. Chiquita, of course, had her own diamond encrusted collar.

Josephine knew how to capitalize on her influence. Everyone seemed to be obsessed with how she looked – they wanted to style their hair like she did. In her early performing days, she frequently gelled her hair down with certain sections fashioned into curls. No one else was doing this except Josephine. But people loved it, and copied her! Not one to miss out on an entrepreneurial opportunity, she created and sold Bakerfix, a hair pomade. And for those who wanted skin like Josephine had naturally, she sold Bakerskin, a lotion that made your skin darker.

Some of today’s biggest stars, like Rihanna and Beyonce, have cited Josephine Baker as an influence, in terms of both music and style.

Civil Rights

After the war, Josephine did what she could to be active in America’s Civil Rights movement. Josephine, unsurprisingly, was not a fan of segregation. After she and her husband were refused service at 36 different hotels on a trip to New York, she was furious. So she wrote articles, gave speeches, and performed, refusing to perform for segregated audiences. Such an inspirational figure naturally upset the Ku Klux Klan, who did their part to threaten her. But she would not be intimidated. Working with the NAACP, she frequently and publicly said she was unafraid of the KKK. The NAACP thought so much of her work that they declared May 20 as “Josephine Baker Day”.

During the March on Washington in 1963, she was the only official female speaker listed alongside Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. She was 57 years old, and wearing her uniform from World War II, she gave an incredibly inspirational speech:

Her Rainbow Tribe

Josephine’s financial independence meant she never really needed a husband. But she was married four times. First there was Willie Wells, then American Willie Baker in 1921. She kept his last name for her professional career. She became a French citizen by marrying Jean Lion in 1937, but later married French orchestra leader Jo Bouillon in 1947. After that, she maintained a long time relationship with American artist Robert Brady, although they never married.

Josephine was never able to have children of her own. With her fourth husband, she eventually adopted 12 children, 10 boys and two girls, from around the world – Finland, Japan, France, Belgium, and Venezuela. It was her way of showing that people of different races and skin colors could live together harmoniously.

She referred to her children as “The Rainbow Tribe.” She invited people to come to her French mansion and visit the children. She wanted people to see how normal and happy it all was. Of course, it wasn’t really normal, but still…..

Her impact

Josephine died at age 68 in 1975. More than 20,000 people filled the streets of Paris to watch her funeral procession. She was the first American woman buried with full French military honors, including the 21-gun salute.

Earlier that year, she had performed a medley of her work at New York’s Carnegie Hall. Before she even began, she received a standing ovation. The reviews she received for her final performances were the best of her 50 year career.

Want to get even more Josephine Baker? Check out HBO’s film about her that won five Emmys and one Golden Globe.

American history has more than its share of amazing talent, and today I want to tell you about George Frederick Kunz, America’s very first gemologist.

You may be asking yourself what a gemologist is. It’s someone who can identify gemstones. Yours truly is a gemologist, and let me tell you, the road to becoming one is not easy. There are lots of gemstones in the world, and a good gemologist will be able to look at any one and tell you what it is. Garnet or ruby? Emerald or peridot? They’ve got you covered. They may have to do some tests, or use their microscope, but that’s all part of their training.

Quick Gemologist History Lesson

Of course, being an official gemologist is something that’s relatively new. The very first school to call their graduates gemologists was the Gemmological Association of Great Britain (you’ll have to forgive the Brits for their spelling errors….), and that was only back in 1908. So gemologists as we think of them today have only been around for 100 or so years. The very first American graduate was a guy named Robert Shipley. He graduated in 1929. Once he returned to the States, he started his own American school for gemology. A classic American entrepreneur! Even though that was back in 1931, the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) still exists today. And in my opinion, it’s the best place to become a gemologist.

Anyway, let’s get back to George.

A rockhound makes a good gemologist

George was born in New York City in 1856, long before any institution was training gemologists. He was a rock collector from an early age, and the ever-expanding New York City was always digging up something for a tunnel or road. That gave George plenty of opportunity to find rocks. One of his first big finds was a nine pound, 10 ounce garnet crystal, which now sits in the American Museum of Natural History. By the time he was 20, his collection of rocks numbered around 4,000, and weighed in at over two tons! He sold the whole set to the University of Minnesota for $400. George was awfully proud of this, and felt he had established himself as a “recognized mineralogist.” (Note that he didn’t call himself a gemologist, because that term wasn’t being used yet.)

Basically, he was a pretty cool guy, and I could go on and on, but to me, there’s really three important things that stick out.

1. He worked for Tiffany.

When he was just 20, he was trying to find a buyer for some green tourmaline he had found up in Maine. Tiffany, at the time, sold only “precious” stones – diamonds, rubies, emeralds, and sapphires. Undaunted, George walked into their New York City office and persuaded the big boss, Charles Tiffany himself, to buy the tourmaline. This was the beginning of a relationship where Fred found and acquired gems, and then sold them to Tiffany. They started to work together so frequently that when George was just 23, Tiffany offered him the job of Gem Expert.

George must have loved working for Tiffany, since he stayed with them for 53 years!

2. He introduced colored stones to the United States.

If it weren’t for George, I think the market today for colored stones would look very different. George, like me, was rather disdainful of the focus on so-called “precious” gemstones. Especially when he was able to see first hand the wide range of colors available. George traveled, not just all over the United States, but all over the world. Everywhere he went, he looked for unique gemstones for Tiffany to use in their designs. Thanks to George, Tiffany’s used tourmalines from Maine, sapphires from Montana, opals from Mexico, freshwater pearls from the Mississippi, and kunzite from California. Tiffany led the way, in terms of design and color, for American jewelry.

Listen to what George had to say in an interview with the Saturday Post:

In those early days, as I have said, no so-called fancy stones were on sale in any jewelry store in the country; one could scarcely find them in a lapidary’s shop, yet, reviewing those that I had gathered, it seemed to me that many ladies ……would be happy to array themselves in the endless gorgeous colors of these unexploited gems. As I looked over a collection of them, with the sunlight imprisoned in the sea-green depths of the tourmaline, lapping at the facets of the watery-blue aquamarine, flooding the blood-red cup of the garnet, glancing from the ice-blue edges of the beryl, melting in the misty nebula of the moonstone ….I thought, how could a woman ever resist their appeal?

George was right. Ladies loved them, and still do.

3. He gave us kunzite.

Not everyone has the distinction of having a gemstone named after them, but George is. In 1902, an unidentified pink crystal from California was sent to Tiffany’s. George correctly confirmed it was spodumene, but he hadn’t ever seen that particular color before. The owner of the stone was Charles Baskerville, a chemistry professor at the University of North Carolina. He ended up naming the stone kunzite, in honor of George, in 1903.

Since its discovery, kunzite has found its way into lots of jewelry. The crystals can be quite large, and the shades are very beautiful (although I’m a sucker for anything purple). Besides California, kunzite has also been found in Afghanistan, Brazil, and Madagascar.

A scientist with no formal education

George was essentially self-taught and didn’t receive much in the way of formal education. What set George apart from others at the time were his collecting abilities, and his eye for unique stones. His influence on the colored stone market in America helped Tiffany be at the forefront of designer jewelry. His expertise was noticed, and many institutions gave him honorary degrees, including Columbia University, the University of Marburg, and Knox College of Illinois.

George considered himself a scientist and public servant. In his lifetime, he authored over 300 article and plenty of books, including Gems and Precious Stones of North America (1890) and The Curious Lore of Precious Stones (1913). He was one of the founders of the New York Mineralogical Club, and a curator at the American Museum of Natural History. George was an advocate for both the metric system and the use of carats as a way to measure gem weight.

George’s legacy

George died in 1932, at the age of 76. He worked for Tiffany’s right up until the end, and by all accounts, loved every minute of it. We should all be so lucky to love our jobs that much.

At the end of the day, George’s legacy is all about his love for gems and the collections he created. Many of his collections are still on display in museums across America. For example, you can see the Morgan-Tiffany collection of his at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City and many of the Tiffany jewels at the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore.

If you have the chance, I encourage you to take a trip and celebrate America’s first gemologist.

So, as it turns out, not really….. Disappointing. But it turns out that’s true only with modern jewelry. Not so in the past. In the days of early America, when we were extricating ourselves from King George, there really was such a thing. Back then, we were eager to make ourself separate and distinct, and that included jewelry.

TV gets it right sometimes

One of the best shows highlighting realistic examples of jewelry in early and colonial America was Turn: Washington’s Spies. If you’re not familiar, it was an AMC series about a spy ring during the Revolutionary War. (It’s a great series, if you need something to put in your binge-watching queue. I highly recommend it.) Many of the female characters showcased some wonderful, historically accurate pieces.

Before the war

Before the Boston Tea Party in 1773 and the cries of “no taxation without representation,” the unpopular Stamp Act of 1765 taxed colonists on items like newspapers, wills, deeds, and even playing cards and dice. Despite its later repeal, the British maintained they still had the authority to tax whatever they wanted. They desperately needed money after fighting with the French for seven years.

This infuriated Americans, who were not interested in paying the British Empire to fight more wars, or pay debts from past wars. They wanted their taxes to go for their needs, in their communities. They were eager to forge their own path, and not be dependent on the British for anything.

That included jewelry. Before, much of the jewelry had been brought over from London or Paris. During this period, you started to see American jewelers have an interest in creating their own pieces, although the materials still sometimes came from abroad.

During the war

After 10 years of simmering anger towards the British, the American Revolution began in 1775. This was the year of Patrick Henry’s famous “Give me liberty or give me death” speech, the year that Paul Revere made his famous ride, and the year that American patriots killed lots of British solders. It all meant that we were really, truly at war with the British. There was no going back.

What a lot of people don’t realize is that the American Revolution was not a short war. We hear quite a bit about the signing of the Declaration of Independence, which took place in 1776. But there was ongoing fighting, battles, and people dying, well into 1781, six years later.

Jewelry was one of the first items to help fund the colonial war effort. After church, the collection bowl was often passed around, and people were encouraged to donate. The new America needed money not just for supplies, but to pay the soldiers for their service. Any jewelry collected was melted down and sold for cash.

Most jewelers quit making and selling jewelry and turned to other metalwork. Like making swords.

After the war….

In the period after the Revolutionary War, the 1780’s to about 1800, Americans were incredibly proud of their newfound independence. But it had come at a cost. Everyone knew someone who had died. Properties had been seized, allegiances to the Americans or the British turned former friends into enemies. Many businesses had been caught in the middle, forced to pick a side when all they wanted to do was to sell their product or service to anyone who would pay them.

In coming together, it was important to them to identify as Americans. That carried over to their jewelry, creating a uniquely American style during that period right after the war. Below I’ll talk about common elements seen in American jewelry during this period, including some we really don’t see any more.

Popular Figures

Garnets were one of the most popular found gemstones in colonial jewelry, and came in suites that included necklaces, earrings, and pins. Martha Washington, our very first First Lady was particularly partial to garnets and compiled quite the collection in her lifetime.

Martha was an interesting historical figure herself, and very particular about her style. She sought to separate herself from European nobility, whose fashion she thought ostentatious. She preferred to be called Mrs. Washington and understood her role in the legacy of America. Abigail Adams, our second First Lady, described her first impression of Martha Washington to her sister as “modest and unassuming, dignified and feminine.”

Elizabeth Hamilton, wife of American Founding Father Alexander Hamilton, had a mourning ring with a lock of her husband’s hair.

After her husband was shot and killed in a duel, she sent the ring to his friend Nathaniel Pendleton, saying he could wear it in remembrance of his beloved friend.

Hair Jewelry

Hair jewelry in early America was jewelry made with actual human hair. If I’m being honest, I find it disturbing. Still, However, many antique jewelry collectors love it, and think it’s beautiful. I will say, it’s certainly unique.

If you think about it, hair is the only part of the human body that doesn’t decompose after death (because hair is essentially dead anyway). If you want to remember someone who was special to you, taking a lock of their hair after they have died isn’t really that unusual or hard to understand. There are many stories about historical figures keeping hair jewelry as a cherished memento.

Hair jewelry wasn’t just used for mourning. It was also an expression of love and devotion. Spouses (like George and Martha Washington) often had each other’s locks of hair. Interestingly, women made hair jewelry. There was even a book showing how to create specific patterns, Women used a turn table and often got together and used the opportunity to gather with their friends. That being said, you could also go as as to your local goldsmith.

Miniature portraits

The Americans wanted jewelry that was meaningful. The war had taken its toll with separations of distance and death. They turned to portraits to have a memento of their loved ones, near or far, living or dead. The miniatures were often worn as a necklace or bracelet, tied with a simple ribbon. Sometimes the portrait was made into a ring.

Goldsmiths of the time learned the art of mini portraits, and artists back then learned how to set their work in little gold cases. Like hair jewelry, the portraits were for mourning as well as for love. They served as a token, living or dead, of the person they wanted to remember. Portraits of family or lovers were common. But most popular were portrait rings showing heroes from the Revolutionary War. Most popular of all were any portraits of George Washington. Even better if it came with a lock of his hair (rumored to be red).

And, of course, pearls!

Pearls were incredibly popular. Not the cultured, large, perfectly round pearls we have today. Instead, there were seed pearls. Cheap and imported from India and China, seed pearls were everywhere, in furniture, on draperies, wallpaper, and of course, jewelry. Everyone loved gold jewelry with white pearls.

Cluster seed pearl earrings were widely available, as were single pearl drop earrings. In necklaces, rings, and brooches, pearls mixed with the gemstones or the time, ususally garnet or topaz.

Pearls were a sign of tradition and purity, so it’s only natural they became popular for wedding jewelry. Pearl tiaras, pearl necklaces, and pearl sets were a common wedding gift. In fact, it’s probably from this era that family pearls got passed down from generation to generation.

You can see from the pictures that all of these styles – the hair jewelry, portraits, pearls and garnets were all mixed together for various pieces. As America matured, so too did jewelry styles. But in this important time, when America was just beginning, these were the pieces that meant the most.

As time went on, styles changed and American jewelry turned away from the individual artisan pieces to those that were mass produced. Instead of going to your local goldsmith, certain cities like Providence, Rhode Island, became jewelry hubs of production for the country. But that is a story for another time.

The truth is, lab grown diamonds are here to stay, continue to appeal to many customers, and will likely stay less expensive than natural diamonds.

There is a real shaming of customers who want lab grown diamonds. It’s disguised as transparency, and comes across as patronizing. Telling an aspiring bride or groom their diamond won’t have the same resale value doesn’t resonate for a ring they plan to wear for the rest of their life. Saying lab diamonds aren’t actually better for the environment is debatable. Talking about carbon footprints isn’t compelling. It’s confusing and doesn’t give a visual picture like the very real impacts like pollution and habitat destruction. Sharing tales of lost jobs is the most shameful, as if you as an individual consumer are really responsible for the economic stability of miners in a different country.

Just stop!

People love diamonds! There are many reasons for this, and some are just how we’re evolutionally wired as humans. We are attracted to shiny sparkly things, it makes us think of sunlight on water. It gives us a dopamine rush. Humans are fine tuned to distinguish light from dark and diamonds shine like a beacon in darkness.

For some consumers, they will never want lab grown diamonds. They will be completely turned off by the idea of diamonds churned out of some factory chute like Legos. The depersonalization is unappealing. It gets wrapped up with the current disdain of AI and the way society doesn’t value you and your choices as an individual. They want a stone with an origin story. You’ll never have that with a lab grown diamond.

Consumers absolutely still want diamonds. They’re simply stunning, and the age old campaign of “a diamond is forever” still rings true. The vast majority of brides get diamonds. We should all be excited they want to wear one for the rest of their lives.

Natural diamonds and lab grown ones are both here to stay. It’s better to get along and promote diamonds as a stone happily showcasing a loving lifelong relationship.

Get to know your customer’s primary motivation. If it’s cost, they will probably consider lab grown diamonds. The economy is horrible. It’s hard to find good paying jobs, homes are out of reach for many, as are big weddings. Some are still paying off student loans. Be understanding. My own diamond is just slightly under a carat. I didn’t care so much about the size, I was in love with the delicate filigree setting. It’s hard to say if I would have chosen a lab grown diamond. We were so poor back then. We were paying off our wedding, our student loans, with a new baby on the way and a down payment we were working towards. I see women now with much bigger diamonds and I do not feel jealous, I feel proud. My small diamond makes me realize how far we’ve come and that’s meaningful to me in a way that’s hard to describe.

For a customer who wants something special and unique, something that has a story, natural diamonds are perfection. Those come from absolutely stunning countries. Canada has breathtaking landscapes, as does Botswana. Its Okavango Delta is like nothing else in the world. Diamonds have given the country a prosperity unlike other African nations. Besides where they’re from, there are interesting anecdotes about jewelry from famous figures like Elizabeth Taylor and Taylor Swift. Natural diamonds shout luxury in a way lab grown diamonds will never achieve.

In my view, the biggest problem in the diamond industry is young people moving towards colored stones instead of diamonds. My own children think diamonds are boring. They want something unique. One wants an opal (a horrible choice from my perspective). The other wants something with rose gold, perhaps morganite. The only one who wants a diamond is the most sentimental. She wants my mother’s ring, a family heirloom.

This is a generation that craves wanting to be different and special.

Honestly, the whole debate makes me think of the stay at home moms versus working moms. Neither option is good or bad. They’re just choices that work best for our own particular situation. Can’t we all just be thrilled we have a chance to shepherd our kids through their lives? Why should we be so disdainful of another person’s choice?

Can’t consumers buy a diamond and enjoy how beautiful it is without getting into a debate of mined versed lab grown? Can’t they buy a diamond just because they love diamonds?

My point is that I wish they two parts could come together with a campaign about how diamonds are great for everyone. If we like diamonds, we like them no matter where they came from.

But there was a time when America’s iconic stars and stripes were put into the hands of a great Italian designer. And our red, white, and blue came out looking amazing.

Bulgari comes to America

Bulgari, a worldwide jewelry and design powerhouse, created the Stars & Stripes collection back in 1972. They wanted to do something big because they had just opened their New York City store. Lead designer Nicola Bulgari was an avid coin collector and history buff, and wanted to use coins and the flag motif to create something bold and unusual. And who better than Cher to model some of the pieces for Vogue magazine?

Instead of using rubies, rhinestones, and sapphires to show off the red, white, and blue, Bulgari changed things up a bit by using coral, diamonds, and lapis lazuli. The pieces were such a hit that Bulgari continued to make their American themed jewelry well into the 1980’s.

You’ll notice the heavy 18k gold, links and chains, enamel inlay, and geometric shapes as hallmarks of the Bulgari design. These are bold, chunky statement pieces.

Nancy Reagan wears Bulgari

The jewelry was so popular that First Lady Nancy Reagan got in on the action. She owned a stunning ring by Bulgari. She wore it publicly on the Fourth of July in 1986 when she was standing for the National Anthem on the USS Iowa in New York Harbor.

I’m pretty enchanted with this ring, and apparently I’m not the only one. When the Reagan estate items were auctioned off in 2016, the estimate for this ring was $8,000. Shocking everyone, it sold for over $300,000. Wow.

Katy Perry loves Bulgari too

Americans continued their appreciation for Bulgari’s interpretation of our American symbols. Pieces from the collection continue to pop up. At the 2016 Democratic National Convention, Katy Perry performed wearing a great Bulgari necklace featuring red and blue enamel (side note: love her stars and stripes microphone!). And she found the necklace on instagram! It turns out a Bulgari collector posted it, she noticed, and asked to wear it. Who knew scrolling through your social media could pay off big like that!

Bulgari loves New York City

In 2022, Bulgari came out with a new collection inspired by the original 1972 designs. They wanted to honor New York City, their home for several decades. This time, they upped the sparkle factor and used rose gold.

The 2022 pieces are bigger and bolder.

Bulgari Today

Today, finding one of these treasured pieces is like your very own scavenger hunt. People love them, but expect to shell out some serious cash. Bulgari, to their credit, has been very deliberate about their designs. They said they hoped one of these pieces would end up in the Smithsonian one day. Me too.

Earrings seem very modern to me, so I was surprised to discover that …they’re not. In fact, they go back much further than I thought.

I honestly don’t remember getting my ears pierced. I imagine it happened at the mall. I mean, that’s where all the cool stuff happened in the 80’s.

As for my own children, we also went the mall piercing route. I imagine like most families, you just took your kid to Claire’s and some teenager with a piercing gun made your daughter cry. I will say, those folks have it down to a science. They even bill themselves as the “world’s leading ear piercing specialists!”

Bottom line, here in modern day America, piercing is really common, available almost everywhere, pretty cheap, and relatively painless.

And yet, not so for my mom and grandma. My mother has a pretty horrific story about how she and her best friend pierced their ears with ice and a needle. And my grandma didn’t even have pierced ears She wore clip-ons her whole life. And if you’ve ever watched Grease, you should know that only bad girls got their ears pierced.

Before the era of clip-on earrings like my grandma wore, I came to realize earrings were back much, much further than I had thought.

Earrings are ancient

Earrings were worn by men and women all throughout history. They were pre-biblical, meaning three thousand years before Jesus walked the earth, we were wearing earrings. From all over the world - ancient Egypt to Columbia to Africa, earrings go back more than 5,000 years. And the Good Book (a.k.a. the Bible) has several mentions of not just earrings, but gold ones. Oh la la!

I shouldn’t have been, but I was surprised by the thoughtful craftsmanship displayed in the ancient world. They used a variety of detailed gold techniques, and some were even made with gemstones.

Gold seemed to be the most common material, although there was silver too.

So who wore earrings back then? Well, lots of people. Persian soldiers, King Tut, women of nobility, slaves. Depending on the place and time, it showed your status or rank in society. For example, in ancient Rome, pierced ears were a sign of wealth. They liked theirs to be showy, with lots of gemstones. However, in other places, your ears were pierced because you were a slave, to identify you as such. And sometimes, earrings were significant for religious reasons.

Men & Earrings

Some of our best archeological evidence of earrings comes from men. King Tut’s tomb was filled with all sorts of jewelry, including earrings. (Interesting side note: In ancient Egypt, even the cats wore earrings!) A 5,000 year old mummy, the oldest found in Europe, was another man (Ötzi the Iceman) who wore earrings. And wall carvings (dating back to 300 BCE) from the Persian Empire show soldiers wearing earrings.

Besides the men of antiquity, noble men of Europe in the 1500’s had pierced ears. Famous men like Shakespeare, Sir Walter Raleigh, and Sir Francis Drake, all wore earrings. The Spanish and French were considered the “bad boys” of their era, and wore only one. So did explorers, pirates, and sailors. One pierced earlobe indicated a long journey by sea. If you survived a shipwreck, you wore an earring in your left earlobe. There was even a rumor that wearing one earring improved your vision. Wouldn’t that be nice?

After that time period, men didn’t really wear earrings again, at least in the United States, until the 1970s. It started as a trend among certain groups of people – sailors, bikers, and gay men. Now, of course, plenty of men wear them. And not just the groups I mentioned before. Lots of modern men wear them. In fact, the stud in one ear seems to be pretty popular, and very normal.

When earrings went away

Oddly, earrings for European women completely disappeared for about 500 years, during the Middle Ages. This was because of fashion and hairstyles. In that time period, women wore giant hats, headdresses, wigs, and high ruffled collars. And this basically meant your ears were covered. So no point in wearing anything in your ears.

What a shame….. Thankfully, fashion changed and those horrid ruffled collars went away! Earrings were back in style again! Women wore enamel designs, and later, faceted diamonds. In the seventeenth century, pearls were all the rage.

Earrings in America

Earrings were worn in colonial America and for many years afterward. All up until those prim and proper Victorians decided that earrings and the piercing that went along with it were vulgar and barbaric practices. That was in the late 1800’s. How annoying. Thankfully, they didn’t cause them to go away completely. But earrings did become smaller, and not as many people wore them.

But times change and fashions change. So in 1900, piercing was still taboo but earrings were coming back. Who needs pierced ears anyway? Screw-back and clip earrings did the trick. Plus, costume jewelry was now available to essentially everyone.

And so earrings became common again for women in America. By the 1920’s, everyone who was anyone was wearing them.

The 60’s Baby!

The 60’s changed everything. The way that generation pushed norms, standards, morals, and values extended to ear piercing. Besides the movie Grease, where Sandy becomes a bad girl and get her ears pierced, there was Mia Farrow in Peyton Place with these perfect little pearl studs.

Before long, teenagers all across America were piercing their ears with whatever would work.

And now, it seems like everyone has their ears pierced and everyone wears earrings. And I, for one, am very happy about that.

But if it were up to me, I would follow our wise Southern states Kentucky and Tennessee, and say the pearl should represent our great country.

Why, you say? Well, not just because I personally love pearls. No, I look to the leadership of this great nation. And I’m not talking about the President. Everyone knows the real power in any household always rests with the wives. So what gem did almost all First Ladies always wear frequently? That’s right, the lovely pearl.

Martha Washington

From our very first First Lady Martha Washington, pearls are their gem of choice. And First Ladies do have an influence on fashion and trends. Martha Washington had a beautiful pearl brooch in the shape of dove that she was quite fond of. She also wore many pieces accented with seed pearls, like cameos and other brooches, which was the fashion of the day.

Abigail Adams

Abigail Adams, our second First Lady, wore what would become the timeless classic – the three strand pearl necklace. What’s interesting about Abigail’s pearls is that they were faux. They were a common imitation – glass beads. Abigail was from a family that would have been unable to afford such a luxury. Many First Ladies have continued to wear imitation pearls, feeling that the real thing is sometimes too ostentatious, especially when the nation is not enjoying widespread prosperity.

Dolley Madison

Dolley Madison, our nation’s 4th First Lady, was a true Southern belle, renowned for her manners and hospitality. Probably remembered by most people for saving precious items from the White House before it was burned to the ground by British troops, she was an astute political wife who used their frequent dinner parties to ease tensions between the two parties vying for power. She took her role as First Lady seriously, and made a conscious effort to promote our new nation through her fashion choices. Dolley wore velvet and pearls, when most royalty in Europe wore satin and diamonds.

Julia Tyler

President John Tyler caused quite a Washington scandal when he quickly remarried the very young Julia Tyler. At 24, she was 30 years younger than him. Vivacious, beautiful, and stylish, Julia had expensive, refined taste.

She frequently wore a pearl diadem in addition to her other pearl jewelry. A wealthy socialite by birth, she was not shy about flaunting her beauty or fashions. Rumor is that she had eight white Arabian horses drive her coach around town.

Mary Todd Lincoln

Mary Todd Lincoln wore pearls as well. A common photograph shows her wearing a matching necklace and bracelet set from Tiffany. Her husband purchased it for her in 1862. Unfortunately, it was to console her after the death of their baby and her half-brother.

Official Portraits

It’s fascinating to me how much pearls showed up in official portraits of our First Ladies.

Grace Coolidge

Grace Coolidge, First Lady during the roaring ’20’s, wore long strands of pearls and plenty of other flapper fashions. She was so commonly seen with an oversized strand of pearls it’s featured on her 2014 issued gold coin.

Mamie Eisenhower

Mamie Eisenhower, a woman forever associated with pink because she wore it so frequently, made headlines for being a thrifty fashionista. She often wore costume jewelry from discount stores. Mamie’s favorite accessories were a pearl choker and pearl button earrings.

Jackie Kennedy

No post about pearls and First Ladies can be complete without a mention of Jackie Kennedy. Famous not just for pearls, but also oversize sunglasses, sleeveless sheath dresses, head scarves, and pillbox hats, Jackie was the style icon of her day.

I know when I say pearls are “timeless,” there are lots of people thinking only their grandma can wear them. They’re not hip or cool for younger women. But I think Mamie and Jackie show how young, beautiful women can wear pearls and look fashionable.

What’s so wonderful about pearls is the variety. They can be imitation (inexpensive) or real (expensive). They come in tons of colors! A single pearl drop necklace can make a completely a different statement than a strand of colored pearls. Pearls come in different shapes, sizes, and styles, and allow you a ton of styling possibilities. Fashion should be about what makes you feel good, and gives you confidence.

Modern First Ladies

For relatively recent history, we’ll start with Nancy Reagan. In terms of fashion, she is most remembered for wearing her signature color – red. Instead of a coin like First Lady Coolidge, she got a stamp.

Barbara Bush wins the award for wearing the most pearls.

It didn’t matter what photograph I found, she was always wearing pearls. Typically a two or three strand necklace. Barbara become famous for her signature pearls. They were imitation pearls, and a symbol of her simple, practical style. She wore them to meet Princess Diana. They are on the cover of her memoir.

Laura Bush usually wore a single strand. Michelle Obama also wore pearls frequently, and wore pearls with more variety. She wore all kinds of colored pearls, long strands, short strands, single, double, triple stands. Her official White House photograph has her wearing the classic pearl necklace.

America has had more than 50 First Ladies. And it’s stunning to me how many images I can find of First Ladies with their pearls. I think they show the amazing adaptability of pearls. For a gem to continually be that fashionable for over 200 years….. well, it’s pretty remarkable. Unique. And American. That’s why the pearl has my vote to be America’s Gem.

A note about Melania

So Melania is definitely a diamonds girl. I couldn’t find a single photo of her wearing pearls, and only one narrative reference. Melania is a unique First Lady in a lot of ways. Perhaps she will be the start of diamonds for First Ladies and I’ll have to update this post in the future.

Who is Wallis?

Now, perhaps you don’t know about the Duchess of Windsor. To this day, she’s something of a controversial figure in Britain. She had a torrid love affair in the 1930’s with Edward, the Prince of Wales. Unfortunately, she didn’t get a lot of love from the folks across the pond. To be fair, she had a few strikes against her. First off, she was an American. She was also divorced. Not just once, but twice. As you can imagine, the British weren’t too excited about an American divorcee becoming royalty through marriage.

The affair went on for longer than anyone anticipated, much to the royal family’s embarrassment and disdain. To make things worse, it was still going on when the Prince became King of England.

A crisis & a resolution

When the Prince’s father died, he became King. He horrified everyone around him by not just continuing his affair with Wallis, but insisting he wanted to marry her! Besides the new King, literally no one thought Wallis would make an acceptable queen. Apparently, it was a big deal that her two ex-husbands were still living. Exes who passed away were more acceptable.

The Church of England, besides not being a fan of divorce, viewed adultery as the only acceptable grounds for divorce. If that was not the situation, your subsequent marriage was not recognized as valid. Wallis’ first marriage ended in divorce due to adultery, but not her second. It was the British equivalent of “irreconcilable differences.” So they could marry in theory. But it wouldn’t be recognized by the Church of England. Problems, problems…..

After less than a year as King, Edward shocked everyone by abdicating his throne. In a radio broadcast, he said,

“I have found it impossible to carry the heavy burden of responsibility, and to discharge my duties as King as I would wish to do, without the help and support of the woman I love.”

Less than six months later, Edward and Wallis married in France. Pretty romantic, right?

Exiled to France

Although the former King had made a very dramatic and public gesture, he seemed surprised by the fallout. The royal family had expected him to give up Wallis and move on. That he didn’t created years of strained relationships. Although they were granted the titles of Duke and Duchess of Windsor, they were not allowed to be on British soil without an express invitation.

Where to go? Well, France, of course. In the years leading up to World War II, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor called France home.

Gifts of jewelry

Edward loved to shower Wallis with jewelry, and given his hefty royal allowance, he could afford to outfit her in style. He was a frequent customer of all the fine jewelry houses. But in France, during the war, you had to go with Cartier. Not only were they incredibly patriotic, they may have been the only jewelry house open, given the restriction of metals and other supplies for the war.

Recycling and reusing items was very common during the war, and encouraged by the government. In this spirit, Edward brought in a necklace and four little gemstone bracelets to Cartier. He asked Cartier’s premier jewelry designer, Jeanne Toussaint, to come up with something special for Wallis’ birthday.

Jeanne came up with something fabulous, of course. The platinum brooch featured a colorful flamingo perched on one leg, set with pave diamonds, sapphires, citrine, emeralds, and rubies.

A lifetime of love

Unfortunately, Wallis and Edward had to leave France just a month after they received the brooch, when the Nazis invaded. But they took their little flamingo with them, and it became one of Wallis’ favorite pieces of jewelry.

During the war, Edward and Wallis lived in the Bahamas, where Edward was appointed Governor. After the war, they lived primarily in France. You’ll be happy to know that Wallis and Edward were together for the rest of their lives.

Where is the flamingo today?

In 1987, the Duchess’s jewelry went up for auction, including the little flamingo. The entire sale generated almost $46 million. The brooch? An anonymous buyer who spent $2.52 million.

Today, the Cartier Flamingo Brooch is part of the Cartier Collection and travels all over the world. If you want to see it, it’s at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London.

All of the old rules around signet rules are out, and today they come in more designs and colors than ever. Nowadays, men and women can and do wear signet rings, but of course, it wasn’t always that way.

Let’s first ask, what’s a signet ring anyway?

Since ancient times

Like earrings, signet rings also go back to ancient times. Way, way back. Back before the Bible, back before writing as we currently know it. All the way back to ancient Egypt, with hieroglyphics and clay tablets. For those of you doing the math, that’s more than 3,000 years before Jesus was born. That’s how old signets are.

The name signet comes from the Latin signum which means “sign.” From what I was able to research, Egyptian pharaohs were the first to use signet rings to put their seal on official communication. Essentially, it allowed you to “sign” a document by leaving an impression in wax or clay. The ring had a design that was unique to you, and typically was either destroyed or buried with you upon your death.

In the Bible

The Good Book also mention signets. In the Book of Esther, for example, they talk about Persian King Ahasuerus’s signet ring. And when telling the story of Daniel and the lions’ den, there’s this:

“A stone was brought, and laid upon the mouth of the den; and the king sealed it with his own signet, and with the signet of his lords; that the purpose might not be changed concerning Daniel.” – Daniel 6:17.

All the Roman Catholic Popes used to wear a signet ring called the Ring of The Fisherman. They’ve done that since around 1265, and it was actually used to seal documents up until the mid-1800’s. It has an engraving of Saint Peter, a way to represent that the apostles were “fishers of men.” People used to line up and seek the Pope’s blessings by kissing his ring, but that hasn’t been done for quite some time now.

Medieval Markers

All the way up through the Middle Ages, signet rings were used “sign” documents. Of course, not just anyone was allowed to have one. You had to be a landowner, royalty or nobility, and/or wealthy. Best if you were all three. If you came from an important family, your signet ring would typically be engraved with your family’s crest or coat of arms. You would use it to mark all your wills, deeds, contracts, etc. It basically let everyone else know that it was really you. Because of how unique they were, and how difficult it was to forge them, they became almost like a legal signature.

Like in ancient Egypt, all signet rings were destroyed when their owner died. This was to protect the documents from forgery.

Signets become obsolete

I did find one woman who used a signet ring. Henrietta, Queen of France (b. 1609, d. 1669). She wore a diamond signet ring engraved with her husband’s coat of arms. But mostly, they were worn by men.

The good news is that as time marched on, signet rings became something everyone could wear.

As society became more and more literate, it wasn’t necessary to use signet rings for authenticating documents. But people still liked the rings, and they remained popular. By the end of the 1800’s, men of all classes were wearing them to show how sophisticated they were. And since they didn’t need to be destroyed anymore, they began to be treasured family heirlooms, passed from generation to generation.

Who Wears Them Anyway?

In the recent past, Winston Churchill, Steve McQueen, Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley wore them. Today, they’re back in style, with Megan Markle, Pippa Middleton, and Cara Delevingne wearing ones with unique designs.

Besides individual people, groups often wear signets. Like the Freemasons. And class rings are essentially signet rings.

Your signet ring

We live in the modern era, which means your signet ring can look like whatever you want it to. Make it reflect your style and personality.

Most of the signets I see today have your initials on them. But as you can see from the examples above, you can certainly be more creative. As long as the design is simple and meaningful to you, it works.

Lots of jewelry designers have signet rings as part of their collections. There’s even a company called Rebus specializing in custom signet rings.

Random Vocab

I want to leave you with new words I learned while researching information for this post. I feel smarter, so should you.

Chancery – a medieval writing office

Sigillography or Sphragistics – the official study of seals

Today, it still has people who consider it a stone of protection with healing properties. Regardless, I’m a fan. Let me share six of the reasons why it’s a big part of my jewelry box.

1. Everyday pieces or make a statement

Turquoise is something that can easily be your everyday jewelry. Your go-to pieces. Whether it’s earrings or bracelets, big and chunky or small and delicate, you really can’t go wrong.

If you want to up your jewelry game, choose a big statement necklace. The one below is only $20,000.

You can also make a statement pairing turquoise with other gems, like amethyst or coral. Below are two beautiful pieces from Kenneth Jay Lane.

2. It’s a Hollywood staple

Turquoise shows up on the red carpet. My absolute favorite showcasing of turquoise came from Helen Mirren. At the 2019 premiere for the Catherine the Great miniseries, she came decked out in literally thousands of dollars of turquoise jewelry. And best of all, wearing one of my favorite designers, David Webb. And her dress was turquoise too! Primo!

Of course, many more celebrities walk the red carpet with turquoise. Like the lovely ladies below.

And just because I fantasize about owning a David Webb piece one day, here’s some of his current offerings featuring turquoise.

3. It goes well with either gold or silver.

Southwestern jewelry and fashion pieces are usually set in silver. However, high end designers tend to favor gold. I do think the gold looks a bit more upscale. The necklace below by Bulgari is a good example of this.

4. A royal history

Turquoise, especially the shiny, deep blue color kind, has always been popular among the elite of society – be it royalty or just the incredibly wealthy. Below is the Teck Turquoise tiara. Crafted in the 1850’s it’s part of a set featuring Persian turquoise. It’s made it’s way through four generations of the British Royal Family, and is now owned by the Duchess of Gloucester.

Marjorie Merriweather Post, heiress to the Post cereal fortune, accomplished businesswoman, and amazing jewelry collector in her own right, owned an exceptional suite of turquoise jewelry.

Before it came into her possession, it had been a gift to Napoleon’s second wife, Marie Louise. Of course, the turquoise is surrounded by gobs and gobs of glittery diamonds.

5. It’s an American gemstone.

Nothing symbolizes the American West like silver turquoise jewelry. Besides all the incredibly talented Native American designers that produce such unique pieces, there is also the Sleeping Beauty Mine. Located in Arizona, it produced the most beautiful robins-egg blue turquoise in the world for years and years.

In Native American cultures, turquoise is revered. It represents the union of sky and water. The Southwestern tribes, like the Navajo, Apache, and Pueblo consider it a stone with deep spiritual protection, leading to good fortune.

As a frequent visitor to the Southwest, I am always scooping up great jewelry whenever I’m there.

6. It’s affordable.

The nice thing about turquoise is how affordable it is. You can get lots of pretty pieces for under $50. And from everywhere – online, boutique stores, department stores, etc.

There you have it. So whatever your reason may be, I encourage you to wear turquoise.