Metal Matters

I was going to post this week about  the price of gold reaching $1300...again
but on the topic of metal this great post from Privilege is much more interesting 
A Master Craftsman's Secrets to Buying, Maintaining and Fixing Your Silver

Hot Town Summer In The City

Yeah, it really was hot yesterday. Palm Springs or Las Vegas style hot. After one of the coolest summers on record we finally got the big heat. Officially it reached 113 degrees although this photo from the LA Times shows 121 degrees.

Obviously there were a couple of options for staying cool

And no this wasn't my option
(picture snagged from google, I only wish that this was me frolicking on the beach)
The other option was to dress in summer clothes and stay inside an air conditioned office,
which I happily did.

Here's the photo that I tried to post yesterday but my computer was having no part of it. (Ah... little does my hijacked virus ridden hard drive know, but it is being replaced by a newer, faster, and more powerful hard drive this coming weekend, my new trophy computer if you will)
But I digress.
Here is the estate jewelry that I wanted to show you.

Garrard Sapphire Necklace in 18K $3250

I love this necklace because it is reversible, so in the photo I was wearing it on the reverse side with white enamel instead of the dressier sapphires.  This is a great piece because it can be worn with both casual and dressier styles. And, did I mention that it is Garrard.

Gucci Gold Wire Bracelet in 18K $1850

And, a gold wire bracelet, a vintage classic from Gucci. 

I'm pretty sure that I had the exact same style bracelet made out of elephant hair when I was 11 years old and the epitome of all things cool, or so I thought. I like it better in 18K.

The weather has changed already. There are clouds from the ocean this morning and our dry burning heat is over.  We are expecting only 90 degrees today.

Keep cool out there

Estate Jewelry Look Of The Day or What To Wear When It Is 110 Degrees In The Shade

Yes, summer has arrived and it is way over 100 degrees. In fact I heard that it was 110 degrees in Malibu of all places earlier today!
Excellent for me, who loves the heat.  Not so excellent for a friend whose air conditioning has been off for 2 hours.  Luckily the air conditioner at the office is at the usual sub arctic temperatures and I'm dressed in my summer casual clothes.

Well...I was going to show you the Garrard dangle necklace and the Gucci gold wire bracelet that I was wearing...but blogger and/or my computer are giving me attitude.  Apparently no photo uploads from this computer.
No, I'm not annoyed...not really not at all.

Rachida Dati or Another Reason To Love The French

Just trying to keep up with the shenanigans at the Elysee Palace is exhausting.
Thankfully, we now have the new tell all book about femme fatale first lady Carla Bruni.
According to "Carla and the Ambitious" by Michael Darman and Yves Derai, Rachida Dati, former Justice Minister, was also competing for President Sarkozy's attentions.
Miss Dati was fired from President Nicolas Sarkozy’s government last year because of her inability to do her job properly, and her frivolous nature.

She frequently appeared on the cover of magazines in designer dresses and stirred up speculation about the mystery father of her baby daughter to the extent that some still think it might be Mr Sarkozy himself.
Miss Dati was a love rival of Mr Sarkozy’s third wife, Carla Bruni, for many months as both battled for a place in the Elysee Palace bed chamber.

And now, according to this article in the Daily Mail
Glamorous French politician Rachida Dati has been forced to issue a public apology after confusing oral sex with inflation.
The 44-year-old former justice minister and MEP is frequently nicknamed ‘Rachida Barbie’ because of her poor understanding of complicated political issues.
But nobody expected her extraordinary mistake on the national Europe 1 radio station on Sunday.
Seriously, how do you apologize for something like this
say, 'ooops, my bad'?
Can you imagine Janet Napolitano, Kathleen Sibelius or Hilda Solis making a Freudian slip like this?
I think not.

Music - Axis of Awesome

Sunday morning, while I decide whether to go to the gym or go to the office before settling down with a book by the pool, I leave you these four chords to contemplate.

Around Town - Saturday Night Glow In Santa Monica

Well the fog off of the ocean has disappeared and summer it seems has finally arrived in Los Angeles with clear blue skies, hot sunny days and warm evenings.
Last night was the perfect temperature for Glow and a walk on the Santa Monica beach.
What is glow, you ask?

Glow is an all-night cultural experience featuring original commissions by artists that re-imagine Santa Monica Beach as a playground for thoughtful and participatory temporary artworks.

Glow is a production of the City of Santa Monica and the Santa Monica Arts Foundation. 

Having not seen Glow before I was expecting something like this

Well the crowds on the beach scenario was about right, but sadly the the temporary art wasn't exactly this interesting.

Instead, I saw this

Which was a film of a pitbull training class, filmed from the dog's eye view, projected on a wall.  So unimpressive that I didn't even bother to take a photograph.

I admit that I was way too unsophisticated to appreciate the artistic relevance of this and the other art installations that I saw at Glow. 

But there was a huge crowd on the pier and on the boardwalk with everything from young hipsters to street people mixing it up.  And other than the crowds of people that make me bristle, I was happy to enjoy a warm evening stroll and a stop at the bar at the Casa Del Mar for a margarita and a plate of sashimi (channelling the warm nights from my trip to Cabo San Lucas a month ago)

and from the quiet of my table an amazing view of the pier and the rather hypnotizing light show on the ferris wheel.

Note:  Even though Glow was a late night event from 7:00pm-3:00am, Santa Monica restaurants were on their usual time schedule with the kitchens closing at 10:00pm. I would have thought that they would have stayed open until at least 10:30pm (yes Fig and Fraiche, I'm talking about you)  to accommodate the people who had been at Glow.

Lara Stone In Vogue - The Naughty and The Nice

The lovely Lara Stone seems to be everywhere these days and she is most definitely the current darling of Vogue. Christina at Fashion's Most Wanted posted this oh la la image of Lara by Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott for the cover of French Vogue for the 90th anniversary issue. This sexy strong image doesn't actually scream fashion to me, but what do I know, I'm not French.
I'm guessing that you might not go for the full on 'Eyes Wide Shut' (a la Dash) style topless, lace masked look, but the cameo choker is doable, non?
Just buy a wide black velvet ribbon and add this.

 

Antique Victorian Bacchante Cameo Brooch in 14K from Beladora.com $1035

American Vogue leaving the naughty to the French, because they do it so well, instead gave us the nice, with Lara as the girl next door in an editorial also photographed by Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott.
Well coiffed and cashmere covered, we get the good girl ingenue complete with a diamond cross from Tiffany & Co. Perhaps the full on 1950's style Nina Ricci sweater and skirt are too much coverage for you, consider instead the diamond cross because it is a classic.
Of course you could go to Tiffany's and buy it for $8750 with the in store experience and the little blue box. Or you could skip the hassle of going to the store because Beladora has the same diamond cross for you for $3500 less than the Tiffany store price.

Tiffany & Co. Diamond Cross Pendant in Platinum from Beladora.com $5250

et voila

What's Up With Blogger?

And why can't I upload my images?

Prada Spring 2011 - Sending Out The Stripes

Photo from The Sartorialist

Is there anyone besides me who is totally confused by this collection.

I like color and I like stripes but this Prada Spring 2011 collection is just all over the place.

Would you buy these clothes?

The Social Network

One of these days I'll get around to posting my true facebook stories such as

Facebook and Dating - The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
How My Stepson Invented Facebook But Didn't Become a Billionaire
and
Friending the Totally Wrong Person...For A Year

yes, one of these days

Oh and btw, you can become a fan of Beladora on facebook

Fueling Your Private Jet With Pure Hypocrisy

I've always admired Bono and his many years of work to help Africa
so it disappoints me to read this
Bono’s charity, ONE, is the poster child for feel-good limousine liberal activism.  In 2008, they took in $14 million in donations, and disbursed a mere $184,000 (or 1%) to charities.  A whopping $8 million (or 57%) of those donations went to executive and employee salaries.  Meanwhile, ONE spends a bunch of cash sending expensive schwag to New York newsrooms to make them help convince the government to cough up $6 billion of taxpayer cash to fight AIDS and tuberculosis in Africa.

Somehow this doesn't surprise me after reading this Bono and his wife Ali, who created Edun to help develop industry in Africa, moved their manufacturing to China.

And of course
Bono and U2 lobbied the Irish government to send more taxpayer money to feed starving children in Africa. Then U2 moved their publishing business from Ireland to Holland to reduce their taxes.

Somehow this nicely shot photo of Bono and Ali for Louis Vuitton just isn't effective for me 
I still like the song though, especially this version with Mary J. Blige

Around Town - Francis Fukuyama and the Freeman Spogli Institute

It has been another busy week with lots of stuff going on at Beladora HQ.
Fortunately this week, I had the opportunity to step out of the internet and into the academic with a reception for political scientist, political philosopher, global security specialist, professor, author and all around super smart guy Francis Fukuyama, who is now the Nomellini senior fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Relations at Stanford.

The event was held at a private residence in Brentwood and hosted by FSI founders and LA private equity tycoons, Brad Freeman and his business partner (and former US Ambassador to Italy), Ron Spogli.
How a little jewelry girl like me got invited to a well heeled event is a convoluted story, but let's just say that I was very happy to attend because I am a huge fan of Francis Fukuyama.

Fukuyama is now focusing on the subject of development and approaching the issues involved from an interdisciplinary approach.  In his brief talk, he emphasized that governments and international institutions  can't just deal with  developing nations on economic or political terms.  Both must be in place to be effective for the long term.  If massive amounts of capital are loaned to or invested in a developing country without solid institutions and the rule of law, vast kleptocracy, corruption and cronyism will be the (cough Afghanistan cough) result.

All of this seems obvious doesn't it.
I'd like to see the big brains at the FSI shift their focus from the global to the local, because the State of California is shifting from a 1st World nation to 2nd World status.
With our local banana republic, also known as the City of Bell, we've got our own kleptocracy, corruption and cronyism right here at home.
I could go on and on about all the things that ail our State
but for your sake I won't.

If This Box Could Talk - The Stories It Could Tell

Have I mentioned that I love all kinds of history including military history.
And, I consider myself extraordinarily lucky to work in a business where everything that I touch, wear, appraise and sell, has a history.  Of course I don't always know the provenance of a piece of estate jewelry or object d'art, but I appreciate the fact that every piece has a story behind it.
Take this sterling silver cigarette case for example.

I am rarely enamored with inanimate objects but there is something about this specific item that moves me.
Let's start with the top.  You can see from the photo that the case is engraved with a map of Burma with the names of the major cities. Ten of those cities, including Rangoon and Mandalay, are emphasized by flush set Burma rubies. 

The back of the case is engraved
India 1945
Burma 43-44-45
China 45
Obviously, we all know what was going on in these countries during these years.

Then we have the interior which is engraved
Helen From Jim
Who was Helen? And more importantly, who was Jim?  Was he an Aussi, an American or a Brit?  Was he an officer, a diplomat, a businessman, a reporter or a spy?  Who did he know? What did he witness during the war years?
When I hold this case in my hand I have the inexplicable feeling that there is a Somerset Maugham quality story of love and loss connected with it.
So much happened in Burma during 1943,1944 and 1945
and of course so much has happened since.

And on the topic, last weekend's Wall Street Journal listed five of the best books with first hand accounts of WW2 and Quartered Safe Out There: A Harrowing Tale Of World War II by George Macdonald Fraser was on their list.
Here's what WSJ reviewer Andrew Roberts had to say about the book.
George MacDonald Fraser, British author of the Flashman series of novels, fought in the 17th (Black Cat) Indian Division of the 14th Army during the siege of Meiktila and the battle of Pyawbwe in Burma. He believed, probably correctly, that soldiering in Burma rivaled flying in the RAF's Bomber Command as "the worst ticket you could draw in the lottery of active service." This was so not just because of the Japanese enemy; there were also 15-inch poisonous centipedes, malaria, "spiders the size of plates," typhus, jungle sores on the wrists and ankles, dysentery, and leeches. In terse, unsentimental language, Fraser's superb war memoir, "Quartered Safe Out Here," relates how the soldiers in his close-knit company fought their battles, mourned their friends and simply tried to survive from day to day.

Perhaps Jim fought with 17th Black Cat Indian Division.
I wish that I knew.

America's Got Talent - Black Diamond Bling While Sarah Brightman Sings

Oh...I forgot to tell you about this little performance by vocal prodigy Jackie Evancho and Sarah Brightman on the finals of America's Got Talent.
Check out that black and white diamond necklace on Sarah Brightman's neck.
Yeah, you know where it came from.




Isn't this young Jackie Evancho incredible?

September Sundays In Southern California

Southern California Sundays
A week ago at Dana Point Harbor in Orange County

Watching the J24's come back into the harbor from their regatta while sipping one of these

Then yesterday back to the hiking trail in the Santa Monica Mountains

 

From Brentwood, four miles predominantly up to the ranger station on Mulholland Drive where you can see from the north San Fernando Valley to the peaks of the San Bernardino Mountains to the Pacific Ocean and Catalina Island. Then four miles predominantly down...thank god.

There's not much to admire in the landscape of the late California summer. Most of the green is gone.  Which is just as well, because I'm not admiring the view. I hike mostly with my eyes focused on the trail, on the lookout for snakes, dodging out of control mountain bikers, ipod on listening to an audio book.

The Young and The Coiffed

While Vogue's September issue came off as trying to be everything to everybody, there were a couple of editorials that caught my eye.

The Sweater Girl layout featuring the lovely Lara Stone, edited by Grace Coddington and photographed by Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott, stood out for its High Wasp style.

There was something so all American "girl next door" in these photos

And I appreciated the simplicity in the way that she was styled
and the fact that she was not over accessorized

Above all, I loved her carefully coiffed hair.
The well groomed look appeals to my inner trad attraction to orderliness.

So I give you fashion vanguards, the Olsen twins, also in the September issue of Vogue, with their overly dyed straggly rats nest boho hair

and the very obviously coiffed Lara Stone

Which look do you prefer?

Also, in the same issue there was a Grace Kelly inspired editorial, shot by Steven Meisel and edited by Camilla Nickerson, with amazingly elaborate high hair, similar to the recent Steven Meisel shoot with Christy Turlington in Italian Vogue. 

Are we seeing a hair trend here?

Delivering Happiness or How To Succeed In Business

Yes, we all know about Zappos, that "little online company that could".
Really, how else do you describe a start-up business that went from zero to 1 billion dollars in merchandise sales in less than 10 years.
Delivering Happiness , by Zappos CEO and biggest investor Tony Hsieh, is a great business book. 
Tony takes us through his upper middle class upbringing to his Harvard graduation in 1995, to his co-founding of Link Exchange in 1996 and its subsequent sale to Mircrosoft for $265 billion in 1998, to his joining Zappos in 1999 and selling Zappos in a stock deal to Amazon in 2009.
Talk about a career on steroids.
But more than a book about Tony's personal success, this book is a guide to building a better business by having a succinct corporate culture and committed core values.
Here are the Zappos core values:

1.  Deliver WOW Through Service

2.  Embrace and Drive Change

3.  Create Fun and a Little Weirdness

4.  Be Adventurous, Creative and Open Minded

5.  Pursue Growth and Learning

6.  Build Open and Honest Relationships with Communication

7.  Build a Positive Team and Family Spirit

8.  Do More with Less

9.  Be Passionate and Determined

10.  Be Humble
At Beladora.com we know all about doing more with less, being humble, being passionate and determined  and most importantly delivering WOW service. Maybe we need to create some fun and a little weirdness too.

Even if you don't have any specific interest in business, I recommend that you read this book.  It is a great American story of how ideas, capital, expertise, hard work and a sense of humor come together to make something great.