Pearls of Wisdom: Jean de la Bruyère

Today's inspirational quote comes from the 17th century French philosopher and moralist, Jean de la Bruyère:

While diamonds and pearls became more available these days, sound judgement may still be among the the rarest things in today's World.

What do you think?

La Lollo's Pearls for Stem Cell Research

Gina Lollobrigida auctioned her magnificent jewelry collection to raise money for stem cell research. Once considered an iconic sex symbol and "the most beautiful woman in the world", she donated the nearly US$ 5 million from the sale to support the research.

"I bought this jewelry to make a gift to myself for my very successful career. These jewels made me feel independent. Now I have another desire, a bigger one. This jewelry will help a lot of children to have a normal life.” said Lollobrigida in the interview posted on Sotheby’s website.

Gina Lollobrigida wearing her gorgeous natural pearl earrings (Photos via dailymail.com.uk)

The noble cause attracted generous collectors. A pair of diamond and natural pearl earrings, which the actress wore on numerous landmark occasions in her career, sold for a record US$2.39 million!

Natural pearl earrings fetched a record-breaking price of US$ 2.39 million
(Photos via dailymail.com.uk)

The record-breaking earrings are adorned with silver white drop-shaped natural pearls measuring approximately 15.6 x 12.1 x 24.9mm and 15.9 x 13.8 x 23.3mm and clusters of diamond sparkles. Said to have belonged to the historic collection of the House of Habsburg, the jewel was pursued by no less than eight bidders before selling to a buyer in the room.

Battle of the Titans: Lollobrigida's pearls beat the record set in 2011 by earrings that once belonged to Elizabeth Taylor
(Photos via: sothebys.com and christies.com)

The earrings beat a previous record set in 2011 from the sale of natural pearl and diamond earrings owned by Elizabeth Taylor. The other pair fetched a measly US$ 1.98 million…

Beautiful pearls with a beautiful purpose.

4 Most Common Problems With Earrings

I was recently browsing celebrity photos from this year’s Cannes festival in search for upcoming jewelry trends. What I found instead inspired or rather pushed me to write this post. I saw a picture of the gorgeous Sharon Stone wearing a stunning white gown with a golden snake detail across her back. Miss Stone matched her outfit with quite impressive pair of diamond earrings. So impressive, that Miss Stone’s earlobes almost doubled in length! I was shocked. Why would one suffer so much just to make an impression… with a pair of earrings?  Wasn't the dress enough?

Sharon Stone's excessive and regular earlobes

Then I started looking around me and saw that many girls do the same on a daily basis. Current jewelry trends impose chandelier or long dangling earrings on us and we happily comply, but how can we make this experience more bearable?

Here are the four biggest earring sins and how to deal with them.

Movie-inspired Pearl Comeback

The comeback of pearls has been announced many times over the past few years. Every now and then, we witness a short-lived fling between fashion designers and our beloved pearls. This time pearls might be staying with us for little longer because of two recent Hollywood productions, Anna Karenina and The Great Gatsby.

While set in two different periods in history, with Anna Karenina living in 19^th century Russia and Gatsby partying in early 20^th century US, both movies emphasize pearls as the most feminine and sought-after jewel for the ladies of their times.

The pearl jewelry in Anna Karenina was designed by Chanel. Keira Nigthley’s beautiful pearl earrings and necklaces played an important role in the story. One of my favorite moments in the movie shows Anna Karenina frightened for life of her lover, Count Vronsky, when he falls off his horse during the race. In the scene, we hear horses’ hooves pounding against the ground and we see Anna’s fan beating and beautiful pearl earrings swinging in the same rhythm. Anna is observing the race from the dark and we can only see her frightened beautiful face and two gleaming and shivering droplets of pearl earrings that intensify the loaded emotions of the scene.

Keira Nigthley as pearl-loving Anna Karenina

In The Great Gatsby, pearls are associated with the wealth and opulence of the era. Carey Mulligan, playing Daisy Buchanan, reveals that she built her spotlight-hungry character based on her observations of the Kardashian family. Indeed, Daisy Buchanan is known for her weakness for beautiful things, so it’s no surprise that jewelry and clothes play an important part in building her character, just like in Kardashian’s ultra-material world.  Tiffany & Co, famed for their breath-taking Art Nouveau and Art Deco jewels, were a perfect match to design a special collection for this movie set in the Jazz Age. 

Carey Mulligan as Daisy Buchanan

Thanks to both movies, more celebrities and designers have rediscovered pearls as their jewel of choice. Let’s hope it’s not just another short-lived romance…