I started the cocktail hour ten minutes early due to all the coronavirus announcements (mercy, my inbox is fully of coronavirus email messagas) and it is much more pleasant to think of the triviality of National Jewel Day instead. So I’m just going to reel out a lot of random crap for you to sort through.
1) About 25 years ago the Museum of Science held a large exhibition called “Gems!” of, obviously, gemstones. The first half was mostly geology (yawn), but the second half - ahhhhhhhhh! That was all fabulous jewelry! As I rounded a corner of an exhibition case, I suddenly saw in its original case (as I recall), a parure of beautiful amethysts: tiara, necklace, brooches, bracelets, a ring, and quite possibly hair combs. And being me, I gasped aloud “AN AMETHYST PARURE!” The friends with me looked askance, as though they thought I might need medical assistance. So I had to explain helpfully, “It’s the most complete set of jewelry you can own.” Which of course solved everything nicely, and they’ve been looking at me askance ever since.
1a) Also included, the Duchess of Windsor’s stained chalcedony bracelets, decidedly less spectatular, and the world’s largest rhinestone, on loan from the Liberace Museum.
2) This is surely my favorite rendition of the Jewel Song from Faust.
3) I just cannot watch Gaslight but I gather that Charles Boyer is obsessed with jewels. Don’t care how brilliant the performances are, it is just so abusive. Makes me absolutely frantic.
4) The chapter on Dorian Gray’s jewel collection just boggles the imagination.
5) My gramma had a beautiful scarab bracelet (Laura has it now, and wears it, which makes me very happy) of semiprecious stones - jade, tiger eye, etc. We must have learned our colors with that bracelet, because I remember pointing to the purple stone and saying “valendar” for “lavender.”
6) You can just tell in this gif that little Virginia Wiedlin is wearing a replica of the famous Marie Antoinette Diamond Necklace that brought down a monarchy.