Valentine's Day
– March 2010 –
Red roses, chocolates, candlelight dinner? How are you planning to celebrate Valentine’s Day and your love? Choose the only gift which is a continual reminder of the giver and throughout the ages the most precious gift to give a loved one– a romantic jewel.
Antique jewellery as a Valentine gift embodies a wealth of sentimental messages from the past- rubies for passion, pearls for remembrance…. Jewelled flowers spoke their own symbolic language. Roses symbolized love. The turquoise forget-me-not which decorated so much Victorian jewellery became the symbolic colour and flower of sentimental love. The ivy leaves which surround so many Victorian brooches and pendants symbolized fidelity in marriage. The list goes on and on.
The sentimental jewel choice is endless. An enamel Cupid in an idyllic rustic scene, an emerald heart pierced with a diamond arrow, a large garnet heart surrounded by dainty old cut diamonds, mother of pearl and diamond Edwardian heart cufflinks, a Lalique serpent biting its tail (a symbol of everlasting love), an Art Nouveau natural pink pearl and emerald rosebud, a key to the loved one’s heart, lockets and photo lockets of gold, gem or diamonds, a delicate heart or posy ring with a tiny locket hidden in the ring, a seal to wear on a chain with an amethyst intaglio of a phoenix rising from a pyre-the symbol of love reignited -or a seal humorously engraved “Don’t be a Fool”, or engraved with the loved one’s name “Sarah. ”
If Valentine’s Day becomes truly memorable an antique engagement ring is rich in romantic associations whether it be a ring with the soft sparkle of old cut diamonds, a velvety blue antique sapphire or the luscious red of ruby.
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