Fitting the Pearl Necklace
A properly chosen pearl or bead necklace can do much to counterbalance features of the neck. Few women realize this and therefore do not pay sufficient attention to their choice. They spend less time on this than on the selection of a hat. Yet I have seen cases where as little as one-eighth of an inch difference in length made all the difference in the world in beauty.
For a long neck, the necklace should be short and rest on or a little above the nape of the neck. For a shorter and wider neck, the necklace should come a little below the nape to create an oval rather than a round impression. A heavy neck can be deftly dressed in three or four strands. The first strand should nestle slightly below the nape of the neck with just a little space left between the rows—too much will give the effect of a dowager. Properly spaced, such a necklace will create a slender and youthful appearance. A motif on each side, by breaking the even line, will further create an effect of a longer and more slender neck.
The Bead Necklace
For thousands of years the lapidaries of India have painstakingly, by hand, cut, polished and pierced rubies to fashion them into beads for necklaces. The often uneven shape is preserved so that the slight irregularity of the beads both stresses their preciousness and adds to their charm. Ruby beads are usually strung on silk or on platinum wire, as are beads of emeralds and sapphires. The beautiful glow of these precious stones is soft and flattering, no less so when interspersed with motifs of brilliant diamonds and baguettes. Such an array of rubies or deep sapphires, directly touching the radiant skin, is a breathtaking sight.
Fashions From India
The Indian Maharanees, visiting the leading fashion centers of the world less than a century ago, came with large assortments of these precious gems. The many-stranded necklace, first seen in the gorgeous costuming of the Eastern lands, created a new fashion in the western world. Today every elegant occasion is sure to be graced with some of these necklaces of rare and exquisite beauty.
I once had the pleasure of designing for Her Highness Indira Dewi, the Maharanee of Cooch-Behar, a parure of ruby beads: earrings, necklace, bracelet and ring of enormous stones, all combined with diamonds. My first visit with Her Highness held me amazed. She opened a great cowhide coffer which contained an unforgettable assortment of pouches made of the finest gold brocade; they held a veritable dream of riches. Rubies, sapphires, emeralds poured forth—thousands of carats in each pouch. I watched, as though in a vision of Aladdin’s cave, while this glimpse of the Orient was spread before me.
It was much as the Elizabethan poet Christopher Marlowe pictured in his dream of the Orient splendor:
Give me the merchants of the Indian mines,