Proper Holiday Gift Giving

This week, I have been fielding calls from worried gift givers – predominantly male - looking for advice and perhaps trying to assuage their guilt in waiting until the last minute. With time running out, and everyone in a tizzy, allow me to provide some helpful tips that have saved many from grief, heart ache and confusion. My husband, for one, is grateful for these simple gift-giving rules, so here goes:

1.) Never buy anything with an “on/off” switch. That means no TVs, cosmetic/beauty gadgets, kitchen equipment, I-pads, I-anything. Gifts with switches are too prosaic. We want the unusual and interesting.

2.) Never buy fancy kitchenware. Yes, I may be a gourmet chef but let me buy my own pasta machine. You can make dinner reservations for me instead.

3.) Never buy spa visits or gym packages. I know you may mean well – but the convenience of these purchases could backfire. Are you saying we look tired?

Holiday Sparkle

With the holiday party season well underway, the scramble to put together the perfect outfit for each event has commenced. While themed jewelry is not always recommended, in the case of this Retro Van Cleef & Arpels Snowflake brooch, anyone would make an exception.

When one thinks of 1940’s VCA, the Snowflake collection immediately comes to mind. The collection made its debut in 1947, and the use of yellow gold in this piece is characteristic of the Retro style of the 1940’s, when wartime rationing made platinum scarce. VCA and other jewelers turned instead to yellow gold, even for wintry white themed pieces such as this. In this case, the naturalistic bold design and use of gold transforms what is typically white, airy and quite delicate into a bold, colorful interpretation.

The Glamour Lives On

On March 23, 2011, we said goodbye to one of the most glamorous and iconic women of our time. Elizabeth Taylor not only embodied the essence of Old Hollywood glamour, but was also the pinnacle of feminine charm. We at CIRCA have always appreciated that, among her many talents, she was one of the great lovers and collectors of jewelry. This prowess was displayed in all of its dazzling splendor at Christie’s in the lead up to this week’s The Collection of Elizabeth Taylor sale.

Meticulous by Nature

In the world of luxury watches there is one name in particular that is synonymous with the highest level of craftsmanship and design. Founded in 1851, Patek Philippe has forged its way to the upper echelon of the timepiece industry through meticulous attention to form and function. Depending on its complexity, the Patek Philippe process can take more than 1,200 operations to create a single timepiece, sometimes taking 3-5 years to complete.

The Allure of Colored Diamonds

Colored diamonds have been all over the news lately – and what better time than the holiday gift giving season to focus in on these fabulous gems!

Without exception, when I think of important diamonds, the colored varieties come to mind. The Hope Diamond (pictured below left) is, of course, the standard bearer of museum quality gemstones; then there is the 53.23-carat pale light yellow Sancy Diamond in the Louvre and the famous and extremely rare 41-carat Dresden Green Diamond in the Green Vault in Saxony. The one piece I personally would most love to see is the 182-carat Darya-i-Noor (pictured right) – the largest pink diamond in the world. It was part of the Imperial Crown Jewels of Iran and is presently lodged in the Central Bank of Iran.

Fly Me to the Moon

The iridescence of moonstone has captivated its admirers for centuries. It’s always been thought to hold mystical powers, and the ancient Romans even theorized that moonstone, with its unearthly shimmer, was formed from frozen moonlight. This appealing gem variety does shine with a cool, lunar light but it is technically known as the mineral feldspar, which is quite terrestrial in origin.