Gifts Fit for Kings and Commoners
In 1886, Czar Alexander III gave his wife, Czarina Maria Feodorovna, a gold, jewel-encrusted egg. The egg was created by Peter Carl Faberge, jeweler and goldsmith to the Russian Imperial family. Today, early Faberge eggs fetch millions of dollars at auction.
Contemporary pieces for less are available at fine jewelers nationwide. They range from $14,000 for an egg to $500 for a pendant. Each is handmade in the Victor Mayer Workshop in Pforzheim, Germany. They are 18-karat gold and set with rubies, sapphires, emeralds and diamonds. Many are “enameled” in a guilloche technique, with up to seven layers of powdered glass baked on a layer at a time to create a translucent, silk-like finish.
If a Faberge egg is out of the question for your cherished one this holiday season, there are others for less, such as a cream-and-black duck egg decorated in gold tone and jet and crystal stones. It’s a music box, to boot, playing “Memory” from the Broadway musical “Cats.” By Eggs Fantasy, it’s $180 at I. Magnin in Fashion Island Newport Beach.
Also at I. Magnin is enameled egg jewelry. A two-inch, egg-shaped pendant studded with Austrian crystals, on a 36-inch gold tone chain, is $50.
Remember that priceless heart-shaped diamond Richard Burton gave Elizabeth Taylor for her 40th birthday? The 25-carat stone was named for Shah Jehan, who built the Taj Mahal in the 17th Century for his favorite wife.
Avon, as part of its Elizabeth Taylor Fashion Jewelry Collection, is offering a Shah Jehan-styled pendant for $250 with chain. The pendant, about the size of a silver dollar, is a faceted crystal heart with faux rubies, a jade green inlay and 22-karat gold overlay. It’s available through Avon sales representatives or direct-mail catalogue.
Tiffany and Co. has pearls to die for. A four-strand cultured pearl choker of 18-karat gold and diamonds is $17,500.
Carolee’s pearls, hardly less glamorous, are quite a lot less expensive. Her Hollywood Glamour collection of fashion jewelry is inspired by the real stuff worn by Jean Harlow, Mae West, Greta Garbo and other legendary stars of Hollywood’s heyday. Carolee’s three-rope pearl choker with crystal and faux platinum clasp is $175 at department and specialty stores.
If only diamonds will do, Harry Winston jewelers has a selection of brooches set in platinum for a cool $23,000 to $93,000 per. If ice formed of faux stones is more in your price range, look to Swarovski’s holiday collection. It includes a menagerie of icy animal pins--a snow owl, polar bear and large and small penguin encrusted with Austrian crystals. Prices range from $75 to $175 at Neiman Marcus in Fashion Island Newport Beach and Saks Fifth Avenue in South Coast Plaza, Costa Mesa.
Hermes’ enamel bangle bracelets, hand-painted motifs on enamel and steel, come in two widths and a variety of designs, from seashells to perfume flacons. Prices range from $295 to $350 at its satellite store in Barneys New York in South Coast Plaza.
Krika started making Once Upon a Time bangles for children but found women forcing the bracelets onto their own wrists so the Warren, R.I., company expanded the line of storybook motifs etched on sterling. The collection includes Cinderella, Goldilocks and the Three Bears, Little Red Riding Hood, Wizard of Oz and Snow White. Adult bracelets are $65, children’s sizes $60 and earrings $35. By mail or phone from Krika.
If a timepiece is of the essence, consider Henry Dunay’s 18-karat gold faceted bracelet watch with mother-of-pearl face and concealed crown, $15,000 at Neiman Marcus in Fashion Island Newport Beach. Or there’s a certain whimsy to the bracelet watch from Timex’s Disney Cinema Classics. The one with Snow White on the face and a goldtone, heart-shaped link bracelet is $34.95 suggested retail wherever Timex is sold.
For the man in your life, Cartier will engrave his signature in gold on a black, blue or burgundy lacquer Pasha pen. The pen, with gold-plated cap, cabochon tip and tri-color golden rings, is $1,500 at Cartier in South Coast Plaza.
A ballpoint pen from Warner Bros. Studio Store with gold-plate trim is $12 at its South Coast Plaza store. Each pen has a gold-plated pocket clip depicting a cartoon character. In navy, it’s Sylvester; black, Bugs Bunny; green, Wile E. Coyote.
To keep him warm when you’re not there, consider a heather gray cashmere sweat shirt, $625, and sweat pants, $820, from Ballantyne. Or, from The Gap, a gray cotton fleece pullover and sweat pants are $24.50 each.
