Cartier

[calissa]

On Tuesday I managed to get out to the Cartier exhibition at the National Gallery of Australia. They're wonderful about allowing photos, though it proved quite a challenge. The pieces were mostly on dark backgrounds under bright lights. It does a wonderful job of showing off the sparkle of the diamonds, but tended to make things overexposed. And hello lens flare! Plus, reflections were a bit of an issue.

Nevertheless, I soldiered on and got some decent shots.

The sapphire above was 478 carats.



The black areas on the tiara above aren't metal that's not catching the light but onyx inlays. Made in 1914.









This next one may look like a tiara but is, in fact, an armband. The central part of it also detaches and can be work as a pendant or brooch.







The necklace below was on loan from Queen Elizabeth II (along with several other pieces at the exhibition. She wore this particular necklace in a portrait commemorating her visit to Australia in 1954. The gallery had the portrait hanging up next to the necklace.



This next one looks HEAVY.



The one below isn't exactly a necklace but more like... a bustier? Usually, I take photos of the labels as well to remind me of what I'm looking at, but in this case it was blurry enough to be unreadable.



Lorgnette belonging to Wallis Simpson. They had a few of her pieces on display and she seemed to have quite a quirky style.


I'm fond of tourmaline quartz, so I was delighted by this clock.


The vanity case below incorporates actual fragments of an Ancient Egyptian plaque. For the imperialist who has everything.


Another vanity case.

Comments

[alee_grrl]

Wow. Those are some stunning pieces.

[calissa]

It was an amazing exhibition. I'm so glad I got the chance to see it.

[nanila]

Wow. The craftsmanship on some of those tiaras (and the detachable armband!) is remarkable. Although the tiger-handled lorgnette might be my favourite.

[calissa]

It was seriously amazing. Some of those pieces are over a century old!

I wish I'd taken more photos of some of the quirkier bits of jewellery.

[rmc28]

Oh my, these are amazing.

[calissa]

Aren't they something?

[pantha]

Wow. I can see why you made sure to get to the exhibition!

I agree, the tiger-handled lorgnette is awesome. Lovely, quirky style that shows off the owner's individuality.

[calissa]

I definitely didn't want to miss it!