{"id":269667,"date":"2025-07-17T15:41:17","date_gmt":"2025-07-17T15:41:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/269667\/"},"modified":"2025-07-17T15:41:17","modified_gmt":"2025-07-17T15:41:17","slug":"king-charles-evita-peron-and-me","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/269667\/","title":{"rendered":"King Charles, Evita Per\u00f3n, and Me"},"content":{"rendered":"

You\u2019re reading the latest edition of the Gems of Wisdom newsletter. Sign up to receive the next edition when it hits inboxes later this month.<\/a> Sign Up Now<\/a><\/p>\n

Did King Charles make me a nature girl? Seems so. Last week I got to tour the walled gardens of Dumfries House<\/a> in Scotland with Van Cleef & Arpels (the main sponsor of the Walled Garden project) and I found myself swooning over colored roses and delphinium. Generally I am more of a Mystery Set ruby and diamond Peony clip girl. That 1937 jewelry masterpiece was there too. Van Cleef had invited us to see a new floral themed collection. (I loved the citrine watch. And the peridot blossom charm was a favorite. I think peridot is the new Para\u00edba tourmaline and was so pleased to see VCA using it so well. More on that in the September issue<\/a> of T&C).<\/p>\n

\"Two<\/p>\n

Stellene Volandes<\/p>\n

\"Van<\/p>\n

Stellene Volandes<\/p>\n

The debut pieces were shown alongside some Van Cleef archival and I was reminded once again of just how good they are with flowers. (Google the 8-flower yellow gold Frivole ring. Right? The bracelet too.) And the daring of 1930s jewelry design: the Van Cleef Passe Partout necklace with its yellow gold tubogas chains and aquamarine and ruby flowers is one of my all time favorite jewels. Seeing these pieces from almost a century ago there in all their glory was a testament to another thing I love most about jewelry\u2014it remains<\/a>. Through it all.<\/p>\n

\"Van<\/p>\n

Stellene Volandes<\/p>\n

\"Van<\/p>\n

Stellene Volandes<\/p>\n

So do historic estates with incredible collections of Chippendale furniture, if someone takes care of them. Dumfries House was set to be sold in 2008 when the King\u2019s Foundation raised funds to buy and preserve it. Now you can visit. Wander the grounds and think of me when you see those rows of delphiniums. It\u2019s also available for weddings!<\/p>\n

Now for the jewelry at hand.<\/p>\n

The Best I Have Seen This Month<\/p>\n

-A visit to Oak Spring<\/a>, Bunny Mellon\u2019s home and gardens in Virginia, should be a rite of passage for the editor in chief of Town & Country and Tiffany made it happen this month. The pilgrimage was in service to Jean Schlumberger<\/a>, Mellon\u2019s great friend and recipient of her patronage. We got to see the original Bird on a Rock he made for her (it was set on a huge chunk of lapis) as well as letters Schlumberger sent (oh, to have such a loyal and supremely talented friend!). Mellon\u2019s Schlumberger collection is largely in the collection of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts<\/a> and I was lucky enough to sit next to the curator, Dr. Sylvain Cordierat, at a dinner the night before at the Occidental in DC<\/a> (great food and a Ken Fulk interior). He is working on a Schlumberger biography. Given some of the stories he told me at dinner, it\u2019s going to be a good one. And an important next chapter for understanding a creative genius.<\/p>\n

There is a new collection inspired by Schlumberger that will launch this September at Tiffany but it\u2019s under embargo. One thing I will tell you: Remember what I always say about turquoise in winter<\/a>. And yes, being at Bunny Mellon\u2019s house<\/a> means believing in the power of wicker (the basket room!) and understanding that beauty is always possible, with enough perfectly folded Porthault (my post on the linen closet<\/a> was probably the most popular Instagram I\u2019ve ever done.) There is a famous story of Mellon asking someone to remove the cracked potato chips before serving them in the bowl and, true or not, it\u2019s a way of understanding a style that seems casual in its way but that is always supremely considered.<\/p>\n

\"Monila<\/p>\n

Monila High Jewelry<\/p>\n

\"Monila<\/p>\n

Monila High Jewelry<\/p>\n

-The Gucci x Pomellato collaboration that was previewed on the runway\u2014and then made its official debut during Paris Couture\u2014is one blessed Italian union. Pomellato was founded in the late 1960s as one of the first pret-a-porter jewelry houses. The mission was to create jewelry women could wear every day. Seems simple enough but it was a quite radical idea in an era when jewels had long been kept in safes and taken out for important occasions. That it would pair with the house that made loafers walking signifiers seems fated. And leather and diamonds is that rare thing these days: surprising!<\/p>\n

\"Fashion-forward<\/p>\n

Getty Images<\/p>\n

-Ginevra Elkann at the Bal d\u2019\u00c9t\u00e9 in Paris at the Mus\u00e9e des Arts D\u00e9coratifs<\/a> is the Platonic ideal of personal jewelry style. Vintage coral pieces paired with a sliced agate necklace and Valentino. (Valentino designer Alessandro Michele\u2019s taste in jewelry is fascinating to me. He often posts his collection on Instagram; it\u2019s full of vintage cameos and Grand Tour bracelets. Always something that makes me wonder \u201cWhat is that?\u201d Which is my favorite jewelry question.) Whenever I see jewels this interesting I immediately assume they are from Pennisi<\/a> in Milan. I checked and these are not, but if you feel inspired by Elkann\u2019s jewels, Pennisi is a great place to start<\/a> acting on the impulse.<\/p>\n

\"Fashion<\/p>\n

Celine<\/p>\n

-Yes, I want a full load of the charm necklaces from Michael Rider\u2019s debut collection at Celine. Those blue and white Italian horns especially. I\u2019ll buy something for sure. I still have Celine jewelry from the Phoebe Philo era that I love. And until then, as I do every summer, I\u2019ll wear the colorful horn necklaces from one of my favorite jewelry stores in the world, created and run by two of the chicest sisters in the world: Grazia & Marica Vozza<\/a> in Capri.<\/p>\n

–Paris Couture in July<\/a> is high time for High Jewelry. I was sorry to miss it this year but T&C fashion director Dania Ortiz filled me in on all. Those Boucheron flowers!<\/p>\n

Portrait Cuts<\/p>\n

Those moments where art meets jewelry.<\/p>\n

\"Audience<\/p>\n

Frick Collection\/ Joseph Coscia JR<\/p>\n

There are just three paintings in the beautiful \u201cVermeer\u2019s Love Letters\u201d show open at the Frick<\/a> right now through August 31 and you should certainly pay homage to the title of the exhibition by considering each letter in each painting. Has it been read before? Was it opened in haste? But also please note the pearls in each portrait, their luster, how they catch the light, and how enormous those drops are in the earrings in Woman Writing a Letter with Her Maid, the Vermeer on loan from the National Gallery of Ireland<\/a>. Ponder the meaning over the club sandwich at the new Westmoreland caf\u00e9 at the museum.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

Karolina Wojtasik\/HBO<\/p>\n

Then, rewatch The Gilded Age<\/a> season 3 episode 3, and contemplate what the clue is when Gladys\u2019s pearls break and fall on the floor. Her engagement to the Duke references Consuelo Vanderbilt\u2019s engagement to the Duke of Marlborough, and by that fact those pearls reference the famed Vanderbilt pearls that once belonged to Catherine the Great<\/a> and Empress Eugenie, and that were worn by Consuelo on her wedding day. If we are to follow this logic, do the pearls on the floor foreshadow a similarly doomed marital narrative for Gladys and her Duke? This is a developing story. Gilded Age jewelry (as in both the period and the HBO series) is fascinating because of how the new class of Americans used it to establish a history<\/a> they did not have. Anything with a royal or European provenance was their thing. Famously, the biggest clients at the sale of the French Crown Jewels in 1887 were the Gilded Age American crew. Watching the show on Sunday nights makes me want to get thee to a Mikimoto<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A Perfect NYC Night<\/p>\n

I like to say this is why we live here because otherwise, even I have to admit, it can get hard. My plans this month.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Stellene Volandes<\/p>\n

–Shakespeare in the Park returns<\/a> to New York on August 7<\/a> with Twelfth Night, starring Lupita Nyong\u2019o, Peter Dinklage, and Jesse Tyler Ferguson. Have a lobster roll and baked clams at the Mark Hotel<\/a>\u2019s pop-up clam shack before if you are coming from the East Side. If from the West, take a bit of extra time to walk and have a tuna burger at Caf\u00e9 Luxembourg<\/a> and snatch some of the new postcards with Rob Wilson\u2019s fun illustration. (The famous photo of the three naked graces has been retired. A photo rights expiration issue, I was told).<\/p>\n

-American Ballet Theatre\u2019s Summer Season at the Metropolitan Opera<\/a> ends on July 19 which means that you still have a few days to see a performance. I\u2019m going twice before it closes, and having dinner at the Grand Tier<\/a> before Swan Lake on the 16th. It remains one of the most glamorous things to do in New York. If you missed the chance to do it for ABT, do it during opera season. I rarely do, to keep it special, but when I do I\u2019m always tempted to do it more.<\/p>\n

-Perfect thing to do on a summer weekend in the city: Diane Arbus at the Park Avenue Armory<\/a>. Drinks and a burger at Donohue\u2019s after. Arbus is on until August 17. Donohue\u2019s is forever.<\/p>\n

\"Mamma<\/p>\n

Getty Images<\/p>\n

-Greek Summer? Yes, I am going but I\u2019ll be back in time to relive it all at the Winter Garden. Mamma Mia<\/a> is coming back to Broadway for a limited run (August 1-February 1). Sing your heart out and then go to Avra<\/a> at Rockefeller Center around the corner. Order the octopus, the Marouli salad, the lobster pasta, and the soft serve ice cream. Have ouzo. The winner takes it all.<\/p>\n

-The Conservatory Garden<\/a> in Central Park is back open after years of work. One of my favorite walks<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Sticks and Stones<\/p>\n

How a jewelry person organizes the random thoughts in her head.<\/p>\n

\"Wimbledon\"<\/p>\n

Stellene Volandes<\/p>\n

-I was in London for Wimbledon<\/a> thanks to my friends at Ralph Lauren who host us there in their perfect way: Pimm\u2019s Cup and strawberries and cream to go, tea complete with coronation chicken sandwiches between matches, status merch! The night before, as is my tradition with Ryan from RL, I saw the new Evita<\/a> in London and I will go back and see it again before it closes on September 6. Yes you can, and should, stand outside the Palladium and see the balcony scene but you must also buy a ticket to watch it all from inside the theater. It was thrilling in every way. And this from a girl who asked for tickets to see Patti LuPone in Evita for her sixth birthday.<\/p>\n

\"Diverse<\/p>\n

Stellene Volandes<\/p>\n

-A PSA: The exquisite \u201cSargent in Paris\u201d<\/a> show is closing at the Met<\/a> on August 3. It moves to the Mus\u00e9e d\u2019Orsay<\/a> in Paris from September 23 to January 11.<\/p>\n

-Another PSA: You have until August 31 to see that gorgeous Hockney show at the Fondation Louis Vuitton<\/a> in Paris.<\/p>\n

-I have gone to Paros every summer for the last five years and rented a house through Five Star Greece<\/a>. Had youvetsi at Sigi Ikthios<\/a>. Watched the sunset at Siparos<\/a>. Ate at Thalassamou and Mario\u2019s<\/a> and lunch on the beach at Blue Oyster<\/a>. Had lamb chops at Klarinos<\/a> and breakfast and everything else at Cannelait<\/a>. Trying something different this year and doing Milos with the Museum of Cycladic Art<\/a> and then staying at Skinopi Lodge<\/a>, of Instagram sunset fame. Non-negotiable is time at Four Seasons Astir Palace in Athens<\/a>. Will report back on all next month.<\/p>\n

Large Featherlight Tote<\/p>\n

\"Large<\/a><\/p>\n

-After I mentioned that I travel with a small rolling suitcase and a large tote no matter how long the trip, my friend Brooke Neidich (Sidney Garber!<\/a>) sent me this Away tote<\/a> and promised me it was light no matter how much stuff I packed into it. She was right!<\/p>\n

P.S. If you want to chat about any of the above, email me at stellenesgemsofwisdom@hearst.com<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

See you next month!<\/p>\n

X Stellene<\/p>\n

\"Headshot<\/p>\n

Editor-in-Chief Stellene Volandes is a jewelry expert, and the author of Jeweler: Masters and Mavericks of Modern Design (Rizzoli).<\/p>\n