On May 3 2010, one of TV’s sexiest mothers, Gossip Girl’s Lily van der Woodsen (Kelly Rutherford), was dripping in drama. The stylists for Gossip Girl selected our Diorissimo necklace to offset Lily’s man troubles with Serena’s (Blake Lively) father. The 24K gold necklace is stunning on brunettes, and amplified even more on blonds like Kelly Rutherford.

As a special tribute to Gossip Girl and the fashions the show promotes, we will be running a 25% fashion discount from May 3rd to May 5th. Enter LILY at checkout for 25% off your entire purchase of M. Sturman Jewellery and treat yourself to some Gossip Girl fashion. And treat your mom to some jewelry for Mothers Day. She will love anything you pick. Shop for the Diorssimo necklace at M. Sturman Jewellery (it’s a limited edition piece) >

We can also act as personal shopper help you pick something special, so contact us for personal attention.

This necklace is made of vintage yellow stones ordered by Dior from Swarovski after WWII.  The stones are bezeled with 14k gold-plated seed beads and suspended from a chain woven of the same beads.  All of it handwoven, totally one-of-a-kind fashion and totally Lily van der Woodsen, played by Kelly Rutherford.

Shop for the Diorssimo necklace at M. Sturman Jewellery >

I’m looking over a four-leaf quatrefoil – I mean four-leaf clover.  A quatrefoil is a symmetrical shape formed by the outline of four flowers, sometimes with less overlap and at other times with more overlap, and sometimes with the outline of a square between the lobes.  And it seems to make people happy, just like the famous jingle.

In heraldic terminology a quatrefoil is a four-leaf clover – the French “quatre” for four and the “foil” is middle English for “flower”.  It is a motif that has been used for centuries in architecture, art and design, reaching its peak during the Gothic Revival and the Renaissance.  The quatrefoil element can be seen in tracery in the windows of Gothic cathedrals and in architecture in the north and the south doors of the Baptistry in Florence.

An excellent discussion of the use of the quatrefoil motif in design – housewares, architecture, and, of course, jewelry, can be found online in the blog, Matters of Style, Crazy for Quatrefoils!  June 16, 2009:  http://www.mattersofstyleblog.com/2009/06/crazy-for-quatrefoils.html .

I researched “quatrefoil” in order to introduce to you my own necklace design using one.  When I made it, as with everything I make, I merely was puzzling out how to use four vintage Swarovski cabochons that I had bezeled with gold-plated seed beads.  I moved them around my worktable – should I attach them each to some sort of cord for a necklace?  Should I make a brooch?  Sets of earrings?  Well, I’d done all of that and wasn’t interested in doing any of it again.  I had four of these and usually in jewelry design all we use are uneven numbers . . .  what to do.  I then pushed the four cabochons in together and considered joining them into a pendant motif, which I subsequently did, added a bail and placed them on a necklace of CRYSTALLIZED^tm – Swarovski Elements crystal pearls, finishing with a closure of margarita crystals.  Then I named it “Quatrefoil Necklace” http://bit.ly/80daUb

I’m nearly too embarrassed to mention that I have a BFA as well as an MFA, with a specialty in Renaissance art and architecture.  And, I had no (conscious) idea when I made my Quatrefoil Necklace about the history of the quatrefoil element or its use, furthermore, in contemporary jewelry.  I’ve seen my daughter-in-law wearing her Alhambra necklace from Van Cleef and Arpels for years and I understand now that David Yurman has made earrings using the form.

Well, such is designing – the visual unconscious rising up.  Have you ever done anything like this?

Apparently, the eco-friendly trend in jewelry is still very much with us:  I saw an amazing line of jewelry by an Italian designer in Bergdorf Goodman again today, pieces made of carved ebony and paired with metals.  I believe that ebony is a very hard wood, making these spidery focals of carved and polished ebony doubly awesome.  This put me in mind of my ebony necklace, in which I paired large ebony beads with chunks of chalcedony stones and used faceted chalcedony lozenges to weave covers over some of the ebony beads.  More rustic and eco than than my Italian counterpart, but distinctive in its own way.

But, then, aren’t all gemstones natural?  To say nothing about pearls, especially natural ones.  Although even with unusually shaped pearls, the sort I prefer to perfectly round ones, dying them can offset their unusual shapes, such as the 3-strand necklace of gold-dyed baroque pearls and woven keshi pearl flowers as shown below in my own fashion  flash.

What do you think of pearls — dyed or natural — are they eco-friendly?

– vintage jewelry that is! I adore vintage beads and cabochons of all kinds. I seek them out wherever I am shopping for beads, anywhere from online to the Paris Flea Market, and everywhere in between. It awes me that they are old — sometimes older than I am!

My absolute favorite of all my vintage pieces is called “Games People Played“. This necklace is perfect for the big spender, with a big strong ego! It’s a large, double strand necklace formed with a bolo and fringe, completely made from vintage beads representing all types of gaming pieces — cards, chess pieces, dice, horseshoes — plus vintage Japanese plastic red beads and vintage French silver beads (from the Paris flea market!) — all crocheted by hand into a magnificent, one-of-a-kind, showstopper! The colors – white, black, red, silver — can go with anything you would want to pair with it, so while its large, it’s versatile.

Do you love vintage jewelry as much as I do?