April's Inspiration Board

More of a research board. And a promise board.

I feel there is this great craving and rush for visuals. 

Maybe it's only, I surely think better when I see them all together. 

And maybe there's too much beauty not to enjoy it and share it. 

This is what, starting today, each month's inspiration research board is going to be about:

little glimpses of future articles, hints on things that I will surely aproach one day.

So stay tuned for this April is gonna be blooming with gold, diamonds and a couple of the marvelous stories. 

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ZL

The Castellani Wedding Bracelet.

Sometimes there's not about the ring, but about a bracelet.

As is it is the case of our blog post today. 

When I first discovered this bracelet I was happy just to know it was a Castellani piece (soon more on my passion for Castellani), then I started reading and I get excited discovering it was owned by Jackie Kennedy and I instantly started imnagining there surely must be a love story behind this. Then I got dissapointed for I couldn't find none, but, oh, I was so greately mistakening!

It is true that this Castellani bracelet is famous for it was a bracelet of Jackie Kennedy but it's greatness lies, in its significance. And I don't mean only about the inscription.

Apperantly, Castellani made only 3 bracelets like this. 

One was comission by Lord Layard for his wive.

One was made for Gwendolyn Talbot, Princesse Borgheze, the lovely lady in this painting.
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foto

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Now, the third one was custom made for the Princesse of Bogali. I cound't find any info on her so this is due to some editing, hopefully. Well, this very loved princesse died before her husband got the chance to offer her the bracelet. As it says right here "the Princesse  died thirteen years prior to having the bracelet made.  As an eternal expression of his love, he paid Castellani three times the value of the bracelet to never make another.  He installed a portrait of his wife and the bracelet in an empty room in his home in Milan to honor her memory. That room is still kept intact as he left it by their descendants."

The Castellani Wedding Bracelet was made of 20k Italian gold with enameled mosaic, and on fron contains the inscription "NON RELINQUAM" (I will never give up on you), while on the back it is written "NON RELINQUES" (You will never give up on me).

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The second bracelet, the one for princess Borghese was the one Jackie Kennedy had bought. And, personally, I am so glad she did because in between this great love has been reveiled to ourselves. The kind of love that makes a man want to keep his gift as unique as the woman it was meant to have it. 

ZL.

Because there is always a ring in every story

 (the perfect cut from The Merchant of Venice I found here)

As I told you when explaining my name, whenever there is jewelry, there is a love story. 

That may be not true, but it's statement and I am sure it is true for maybe 80% of the cases.

This statement has evolved from my revelation, after seeing the Merchant of Venice. My passion for jewelry dates from probably the first days of my life. I don't quite remember when my passion for historical Jewish wedding rings has started but it's growing continuously and seeing that beautiful version in the movie simply *clicked* to me. 

I do believe that beyond the value of a gold object, the finess of its manufacture and the enchantement of its design, what gives a piece of jewelry a fantastic value is the feelings it represents.

Beyond value and beauty, jewelry is so much more. Is a concentrated essence of the most treasured feelings, expectations and desires, is a concentration of life bursting from behind golden light, mesmerizing pearls and enchantedly cut gemstones. 

Beyond Jewelry is the journey of Zamfira Luti in the world of these marvelous objects and her share with the world. Mostly, there will be stories of love, but some other times stories on gold, gems and precious stones, historical pieces and simply tiny pieces of information I find beautiful.

Hope you enjoy it and get mesmerized, for there is an infinite amount of beauty in our world just waiting for us to discover it. 

ZL

Who is Zamfira Luti?

I am Zamfira Luti.

But Zamfira Luti is not me.

Zamfira is my great grandmother's name.
I never knew her but I heared wonderful stories about her. 

Not extraordinary, not necesary intriguing, but dear, close to heart stories. 

These stories I've heared have not much to do with jewelry, I don't even know if she had a wedding ring.

But she did had a great sensibility for flowers and perfumes, a great sense for quality and details. 

She lived in the coutry side in not so happy historical times, she was the daughter of a fancy tailor, married to his apprentice ( and I would say they lived happily "ever after" ). 

Probably the most important thing you have to know is that in Romanian (my mother tongue) Zamfira is the women's version for Zamfir, which comes from Sapphire (Safir in Romanian).

Thus, my name.

And Luti... Well, Luti comes from Margherita. For she is a pearl, for that enchanted hair ornament Raphael gave it to her in two of his painting, for the mistery surrounding her and for their love.

As you will come to understand from the stories I try to find, whenever there is jewelry, there is always a love story.

ZL