Jewelry In Film - My Cousin Rachel

Last night I dreamed of Manderley
no not really
But I did watch the film of the other great Daphne du Maurier tale
My Cousin Rachel
which stared a young Richard Burton and the verly lovely Olivia de Havilliand

If you haven't read the book or seen the film, the story revolves around a young man, Philip Ashley, who is on the verge of inheriting the coastal country estate of his late uncle.   He becomes romantically obsessed with his uncle's widow, Rachel, while simultaneously suspecting her of murdering his uncle.

Yeah, drama ensues.

Because of his obsession with Rachel he presents her with a magnificent pearl necklace that is entailed to the estate and then more drama ensues.

The entailed jewelry and how it is treated by Rachel plays an important part in the story and leads to Philip's final understanding of his cousin and her motives.

So, if you like classic films, Richard Burton and Daphne du Maurier

My Cousin Rachel is for you.

Jewelry in Film: The Affair of the Necklace

Like Faux Fuchsia, at times I must listen to the commands of the universe.
Where FF is directed by the cosmos to bake
I am directed to watch movies.
Lately the black dog has been scratching at the door and I've keep it at bay by settling down on the sofa with netflix or amazon prime.
For several years I've wanted to delve into a series of posts on films where jewelry is an important element of the story,
and where better to start, as I am still in 18th Century Mode, than with The Affair of the Necklace

The film, based on the true story of an extortion plot aimed at Marie Antoinette, is told from the point of view of the con artist or should I say conne artist Jeanne de la Motte played by Hilary Swank. In the film, she is Jeanne de Saint-Remy de Valois, a woman of noble birth, who is forced into her role because she can't get the attention of the queen for restitution of her family estates.  De la Motte / Valois claims to have favor and influence with the Queen in order to solicit patronage by the out of favor Count de Rohan, played by Jonathon Pryce.

Here is the history from Wikipedia.

and a reconstruction of the infamous Collier Reine Breteuil

Considering the historical importance of the actual Affair of the Necklace in terms of undermining Marie Antoinette and the Royal Family, I thought that this would be an excellent film.
I was wrong.
This film was bad on so many levels I won't name them all.
But it needs to be said that casting Hilary Swank in the role of de la Motte was a mistake.
And, seeing the many historical inaccuracies, large and small, such as watching Swank saunter around Versailles with unpowdered hair was so annoying.

For me, the highlight of the film was the closing credits because of the Lisa Gerrard/Brendan Perry song "Ariadne".

Jewelry In Film - 'The Earrings of Madame de'

Reading this review of Max Ophuls great 1930's film set in Fin de Siecle Paris 'The Earrings of Madame de' reminded me that I wanted to do a series of posts on films where jewelry was part of the plot or just beautifully filmed.
From the WSJ review
The story girding such extravagance may seem simple, but glossy surfaces tend to obscure what lies beneath. The drama centers on a loveless but not unhappy marriage whose delicate balance is upset when a foreign nobleman unexpectedly falls in love with the flirtatious Madame de. . . and she reciprocates his affections. The earrings—costly diamond hearts that were a wedding present from husband to wife—are the tale's catalyst: Unwisely sold by Madame de. . . to pay debts she hopes to keep secret from her husband, they return to the household repeatedly, like the proverbial bad penny, always bringing with them some new twist in the fortunes of the three main characters.
I haven't seen the entire film but it is on my Netflix que
So voila, here is the first 10 minutes of the great Ophuls film.

Film - The Young Victoria

I wasn't sure whether or not I wanted to go see 'The Young Victoria' in a theater or not. It seemed, at least from the trailer, more like a Masterpiece Theater production, something that I would rather order on Netflix. But since I'm fascinated with 18th and 19th Century history especially the art, architecture, furniture, clothing and jewelry of those periods, I thought that this was certainly a film to see on a big screen...at least on a cold Sunday afternoon.

Emily Blunt's performance in 'The Young Victoria' didn't have the fire of Kate Blanchett in 'Elizabeth', the gravitas of Judi Dench in 'Mrs. Brown' or the purposefulness of Helen Miren in 'The Queen' but that was due more to the script than to her acting.

And I felt that the script was incomplete in the sense that there wasn't enough back story explaining the situation in England. How many people today have an understanding of this historical period and the fragility of the British monarchy after the Revolutionary War, the madness of King George, the French Revolution, the years of war with Napoleon and the pressures of an expanding empire. The film didn't give us any of this historical context.

But what the film did give us was the importance of royal marriages in terms of strategic alliances, and what made this story extraordinary was the fact that the marriage of Victoria and Albert, was not only a brilliant strategic alliance, but a true love match.

Historical and Romantical!

But let's face it, I really saw the film for the costumes and the jewelry like these silver gilt (silver and gold) diamond earrings and diamond riviere necklace.
And what isn't seen in this photo was Victoria's wedding ring, a gold snake symbolizing eternal love. Something similar to this.

Here we have the riviere again

The swagged necklace and hair ornament

The earrings either in pietra dura or cameo, I can't tell from this photo

The gemstone necklace and earrings with gold cannetille

And the all important wedding parure

The wonderful thing about well made Victorian jewelry is that much of it is wearable today, particularly the earrings and the bracelets. A week ago in Miami I was going to purchase a Victorian suite, in the original box, with natural pearls in a pair of bracelets, a necklace and a tiara...the perfect gift for a bride, but I hesitated. But now after watching 'The Young Victoria' I'd like to have more Victorian jewelry not just because it is rich in history but because it is beautiful.

For more about Victorian and other period jewelry take a look at Gemgossip.com...thanks Danielle, I snagged the photos from your post!

How To Wear Pearls The Grace Kelly Way

I am a big fan of Turner Classic Movies because I love to see how life in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s was depicted through film, especially in terms of interior decoration and fashion. After watching Hitchcock's "Rear Window" starring Jimmy Stewart and Grace Kelly (in her prime) last weekend, I have been thinking about how jewelry was used as a part of costuming in film.

From Screen Goddess to Princess of Monaco, Grace Kelly had a the kind of icy beauty that few could match. While there wasn't a movie in which she didn't capture the attention of the audience by her sheer beauty alone, in "Rear Window" she stands out even further by being the main visual element in the claustrophobic interior set of the Jimmy Stewart character's apartment. Hitchcock's filmed her in such a way that she dominates the scenes that she is in, and as in the typical Hitchcockian oeuvre, she is his vision of the elegant upper class blonde with perfect skin, impeccably tailored outfits and coiffed with not a hair out of place.


My favorite costume from the film on Kelly's character, a career woman, was this smart Edith Head celadon green suit with white gloves and hat. The suit was simplistically designed with minimal embellishments. The suit had a jacket with no lapel or buttons, only a stand up collar that drew the attention upward to her face, and a straight knee length skirt. Under the suit she wore an crisp shirt that crisscrossed in the front high at the neck and then as she removed her jacket proved to be a halter style that exposed her upper back. The outfit, like the Kelly character, was both smart and sexy.

Even more than the chic suit, the jewelry was what stood out, particularly the multi-strand pearl bracelet with dangling charms which caught the light as she moved through the scene. The bracelet was a hybrid style that used demure pearls but in Retro glam way, with big clunky gold charms that were typical of the Retro era. Also typical of Retro styling was the way that she wore her earrings, large rounded button style worn on the ears, rather than anything in a dangling or chandelier design.

But my favorite jewelry element was the single strand of pearls, the Grace Kelly signature look. She wore rather large cultured pearls, 9mm or perhaps even South Sea size of 10mm and she wore them high on the neck choker style. No prim triple stand or swinging opera length, the choker style gave her a sort of girl next door - dominatrix look which was incredibly sexy.

Like the necklines of the blouses and evening gowns that she wore in the film, the choker length pearls focused all the attention on her face which of course the camera loved.

It wasn't by accident of course that Hitchcock cast beautiful blondes in his films. Not only did he cast actresses with a look of virgin-esque unapproachablity (is that a word?) and innocence who needed the main character's protection to carry his plots forward, Hitchcock was acutely aware of the importance of eye candy for his commercial success.

While all the famous Hitchcockian actresses were stunning, Tippi Hedrin, Kim Novak, Ingrid Bergman, Eva Marie Saint, etc., I think that Grace Kelly had the most memorable individual style and today I can't picture her in my mind without that iconic choker length pearl necklace.

And that is what jewelry is supposed to do, add that little je ne sais quoi that makes our look unique and memorable.

Since I'm loving this look so much I feel like having a BHB contest for my BHB followers.

Next Friday, I will randomly choose one of my BHB followers and give away a choker style pearl necklace using authentic Chinese freshwater pearls, 7-7.5mm, with a 14K clasp. My freshwater pearls are oval shaped with beautiful luster...the shape gives them an edgier rather than a girlie-girl look.

So be sexy and smart and follow my blog!

Also, if you sign up to be a fan of Beladora on facebook, there is a discount code for a David Yurman bangle bracelet with pearl ends in 18K. Get the code from the Beladora page on Facebook!