Diamonds, Diamonds and more Diamonds plus Rubies and Emeralds

Well, they wouldn't let me take pix of the jewelry that we saw today.  We went to the Cooper Hewitt Design Museum in the Carnegie Mansion where the exhibit is the jewelry design of Van Cleef and Arpel, a jewelry business run by one family in both France and the United States, New York, of course.  They are famous for their innovative designs that have managed to lead the changing styles over the decades.  This family has been designing jewelry for the very rich and the very famous since 1900.  Princess Grace of Monaco as well as Elizabeth Taylor and, wait for it, the infamous Wallis Warfield Simpson AKA the slut that caused Edward to abdicate in 1936 because he couldn't live without her and English law forbade him to marry an American divorcee are the types of customers we are talking about here.

Seriously, the jewelry was breathtaking and you could definitely see and understand the design elements that the Cooper Hewitt was trying to display.  The pieces are truly spectacular.  Lots of the pieces are so big that you have to wonder exactly where you could wear some of this stuff.  Ladies manage though.  They also designed evening purses, cigarette cases and compacts.  There was an amusing story that Frances Gould (a big tycoon's wife) was carrying her 'necessaries' around in a metal Lucky Strike tin when she went out.  The Van Cleef and Arpel family decided they could meet that need and thus, some really cunning cases were designed, executed and sold to ladies like Frances Gould.  

If  you would like to see some examples of the jewelry (not the exact ones, but very close) click on this website http://www.google.com/search?q=van+cleef+and+arpels+jewelry+pictures&hl=en&rlz=1G1ASUS_ENUS321&prmd=ivns&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=LX7tTaezMMLi0QHW6byhAQ&ved=0CEwQsAQ&biw=1191&bih=583  

We also took a little stroll along one edge of Central Park today and ate in another new restaurants called Sarabeth's.  This was a ladies luncheon spot - very upscale, very upper west side.  These women are hilarious.  You can spot them a mile away.  First, they all wear black - I swear these New Yorkers look like they've just come from a funeral.  The ladies on the Upper West Side just have his sort of 'buffed and polished' look that you can only achieve with money.  We did a little window shopping and each shop window is like a piece of art - and they are all selling these women lots or crap they really don't need.  However, it's all pretty and in the very best of taste.

More exciting things are upcoming:  New York City Ballet at Lincoln Center; Cirque de Soleil performance at Radio City Music Hall; the American Folk Art Museum; the Brooklyn Botanical Garden to name a few.  Stay tuned - it just keeps getting more fun by the day.