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Alison Murray
27th March 2009 15:31

Vand A Bollinger Collection

 

Recently Harriet and I went to the British Jewellery Association Annual General Meeting http://www.bja.org.uk/ which this year was held at the Victoria and Albert Museum. Probably the idea of any AGM automatically makes you stifle a yawn and to be honest, we weren't that sure what to expect. In the end though the meeting was very informative and interesting and gave us a bit of a boost. There is so much gloom and doom in the news these days, its sometimes easy to over look the fact that even in a recession people will still get engaged and married, people will always have birthdays and reasons to buy presents and to celebrate. The British Jewellery Association observed that whilst global demand was down those of us who work hard, believe in our product, innovate and offer the very best service that any customer could want, will continue to do well.

After the meeting and some very pleasant sandwiches, we were fortunate enough to be able to look at the exquisite Bollinger Collection. http://www.vam.ac.uk/collections/fashion/features/jewellery/index.html The William and Judith Bollinger Jewellery Gallery displays over 3,500 jewels and is hugely impressive. The rooms are dark with the lighting coming from behind, above and below the jewels. The atmosphere created by this clever lighting is of walking into a secret cave and your eyes squint and adjust to the dimness only to fall upon the almost overwhelming profusion of gold and gemstones. At first it is almost an assault upon the senses, there is an overabundance of colour, a superfluity of sparkle, but as you walk along the displays and your eyes adjust, you are able to focus upon each individual and unique piece of jewellery. You can separate and appreciate one particularly exquisite gemstone or one intricate design. Even though I work every day with goldsmiths and see the incredible talent that they have, see how they can transform a small piece of gold, into a wonderful original creation, I never cease to be impressed by it; I never cease to wonder at it. As we looked at the pieces in the museum, I could picture Richard Tunstall, Chung-shan or Ryan hammering, shaping and working a piece of metal into the shapes and Vic steadily and skillfully setting the beautiful stones.

Anyway I am going off into a bit of a romantic tangent here! I recommend that you go see the collection; I think you will enjoy it as much as Harriet and I did. Below are a couple of pieces that we particularly liked and a little bit of info which I have taken from the Victoria and Albert website.

This is a Chatelaine. Chatelaines were extraordinarily ornate and decorative jewellery that were used to carry small, useful items such as scissors and keys. They were worn when women had no pockets and dangled down from the waist. Although most common in the 18th century, they were revived in very ornate form during the Victorian era. This example was shown at the Great Exhibition in London in 1851. 'Cynical observers suspected that the chatelaine's decorative function outweighed (quite literally) any real usefulness'.

This is a set of 46 individual diamond ornaments. Aren't they stunning!

Catherine the Great commissioned Leopold Pfisterer to create this extraordinary set of diamond dress ornaments in 1764. Records show that originally there were more jewels in the set, and that they included both diamond and garnet components.

Alison Murray
 

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  • Harriet Kelsall Jewellery Design, North Barn, Fairclough Hall Farm, Halls Green, Weston, Hertfordshire, SG4 7DP, England
    Phone: +44 (0)1462 790565 Fax: +44 (0)1462 790140 enquiries@hkjewellery.co.uk
  • Harriet Kelsall Jewellery Design, 6/7 Green Street, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, CB2 3JU, England.
    Phone: +44 (0)1223 461333 Fax: +44 (0)1223 365269 cambridge@hkjewellery.co.uk

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