hands up if you didn't know salvador dalí was a jeweller

Or can it only be me who was ignorant of this? I'm sure we're all familiar with Dalí, surrealist, genius, mustachioed socialite, apparently-normal-old-Catalan-man-who-played-dominos-in-his-hometown... but I was pretty much unaware that he also designed jewelry which, apart from being full of humour, bite, and even pulses of pain like much of Dalí's painting and sculpture, is aesthetically stunning.

On Saturday we took a trip to the Dalí museum in Figueres (pictures to come) and afterwards popped into the complementary exhibition of his jewels. Albert and I were blown away. The golden, rubied heart brooch in the top picture was absolutely my favourite, because the ruby core was beating... it actually had a little engine inside making in pulse in and out! Likewise the angel wings were moving. But trickery and surrealism aside, are these pieces not absolutely gorgeous. Santa baby, I'll have a pair of those Mae West lips in my stocking, please.

If you want to know more, I found this article very interesting--and the first picture is a classic!

really in a cage

Buuffff. You're hearing from me today but after this I think I might have to disappear for a few days. I am in essay purgatory, juggling four at once (three are due after Christmas, but since I'll be away, the research needs to be sorted out). I spend my time either at uni, wishing I was home to work on the essays, or at home, wishing I was at uni to go to the library. Awful.

However, one definite bright point has been the sweet package sent to me by Jazzy Elizabeth of Hivennn. She runs my favourite inspiration blog, and she's just opened an Etsy shop to sell her jewellery, mostly made from semi-precious stones, and I got to be the happy guinea pig! She sent me and amethyst and wood bracelet (above) and a snowflake obsidian ring (below).

I love amethyst but I haven't worn it much in the past since I don't wear much (any) purple and I've been unsure of how to style it. So this bracelet was a bit of a challenge, but a very positive one. It turns out that amethyst goes with lots of things! Here I contrasted it with my favourite comfy orange shirt, which I though warmed up the cool stones a bit, and my surprisingly versatile floral shorts. I liked how the flower pattern mirrored the clusters of stones. With my thickest wool tights added I was ready... to work on my essays. Sigh. The bracelet and ring are definitely coming to Barcelona with me over Christmas; we could all use a bit of sunshine...

Oh, and I got a bit inspired with the cartoonish way these photos turned out. ; )









shorts: Oysho
top: Smart set
jewellery: c/o Hivennn
shoes: Fly London
tights: Boots

baubles and beads

Living out of a 23kg suitcase all the time (plus about 15kg of carry-on luggage) means that I really have to edit what I bring every time I move. Luckily, my parents haven't yet objected to the fact that most of my belongings live at their house, and that I drop in twice a year or so to switch things up. And of course, whenever anyone visits me, I make them bring some things and take others away with them...


obsidian, tourmaline and silk neckace

One thing I usually bring too much of is jewellery. It might seem that jewellery is small and inconsequential and weighs very little, but it adds up like you wouldn't believe. So this time, I decided not to repeat the same old mistakes. And guess what? I brought too little.

So when my sister came last week, I got her to bring me some things I'd been missing.


citrine necklace--I love this necklace to bits but it's so heavy I always have to wear it on the plane! Still, it's worth it, I think citrine is one of the most beautiful of stones.


coral and white glass bead bracelet

All the above pieces were made by me when I worked at a bead store: the best crappy job ever!


I like clunky rings but since I have tiny fingers they almost never fit me, so instead I have more delicate pieces.


My Canadian grandma's opal ring and my English grannie's wedding ring. That one I actually brought back from England recently. I'm kind of allergic to it, but I wear it anyway. And a picture of the Canadian grandma and the English grannie, both of whom I miss very much.


I always consider these two rings to be the two sides of myself, really. I've written about Whitby Jet before, and the jet ring I always associate with the town my father is from, and therefore my father's side of the family. Meanwhile, the other ring is opal, which is my birthstone, and also my mother's birthstone, and her mother's.



And finally, some earrings my mom gave me for Christmas last year in my stocking. When I opened them, I thought they were very nice, but they were on a cheap white card, so I said something like, "Wow, these aren't at all bad for being from Shopper's Drug Mart!" Which is where you expect things you find in your stocking to come from, correct? My mother's response, unfortunately was, "Shopper's Drug Mart? I bought those in Chile!" Oops. They are now always referred to as "the Shopper's Drug Mart earrings."

If you had a 1/2 kg absolute limit on your jewellery, what would make the cut?

Whitby Jet: Mourning Jewellery

I've always loved the jet jewellery you can buy in Whitby, for its dark, gothic nature and its Victorian history. Jet is a semi precious stone that is actually fossilized wood, and Whitby is famous for it, and I believe the only source of high quality jet. There are countless shops selling everything from simple stud earrings to enormous carved antique collars, and it's about the only souvenir worth having, for a price of course.


Jet jewellery was popularized by Queen Victoria, who mourned her husband Prince Albert until her own death forty years later. I found this fascinating and mind-boggling quote while looking into the subject:

As with many aspects of their strained moral earnestness, Victorians reflected Queen Victoria in her habits and ethics. Thus, strict mourning customs came into fashion. Mourning widows were not allowed to leave their homes without full black attire and a weeping veil for one year and a day (called “full mourning) after her husband’s death. During “second mourning,” the next nine months, the widow was allowed some small ornamentation, like mourning jewelry and lacy embellishments to her black attire.

-from the very interesting article "The Art of Mourning," on the webpage Curious Expeditions

The antique jet mourning jewellery remains my favourite, and I dream of one day possessing a brooch such as the one Gwyneth Paltrow's character wears in the movie Possession.


Or pieces like these.


Unfortunately, the jet I like best is extraordinarily expensive. I keep hoping that on one visit to Whitby I'll go into the shop, another year older and perhaps a little richer/more successful, and the prices will seem only a little exaggerated. However, this time I went in and saw a lovely bracelet rather like this one:

For about £650. Pounds. Oh well, perhaps in about twenty years!

However, my mother, on a visit this spring while my Grannie was still alive, did buy my two sisters and I a simpler, modern jet pendent each. I love its smooth roundness and the lovely silver filigree reverse side. Of course I wore it to the funeral: nothing could be more appropriate.


And a further nod to mourning jewellery, if only in looks: hand carved ebony flower earrings, done by carver (and dancer, actor and singer) Todd Woffinden, Granville Island, Vancouver.