Video: Examining jewellery in Detail
V&A metal conservator and gemmologist, Joanna Whalley, and jewellery specialist, Geoffrey Munn, explore three key pieces of jewellery from the Al Thani collection that feature in the Bejewelled Treasures exhibition.
Crescent Emerald Jewel
This crescent shaped jewel was once worn on the brow of an elephant. Listen to the story of the design, the gems and its previous Maharani owner, Anita Delgado.
1920s Cartier Brooch
Joanna Whalley and Geoffrey Munn examine and discuss a stunning 1920s Cartier brooch with an enormous emerald centrepiece of just under 40 carats.
Peacock Feather Emerald Brooch
This large Colombian emerald was carved in India and set in a peacock feather design with sapphires and natural pearls. Joanna Whalley and Geoffrey Munn examine the jewels and setting and how the piece was constructed to be worn in a variety of ways.
Sponsored by Wartski
Founded 150 years ago in North Wales, Wartski is celebrating its anniversary by sponsoring this major exhibition of jewellery. Wartski is a family business specialising in goldsmiths' work, antique jewellery, Russian works of art and especially that of Carl Fabergé. Over the years the firm has sold many outstanding masterpieces including thirteen of Fabergé’s Imperial Easter Eggs. Its customers have included six generations of the British Royal family as well as celebrated artists, musicians, actors and museum curators throughout the world. From the early 1950’s, the firm’s late chairman Kenneth Snowman published a number of scholarly books, elevating the business to a new level of excellence at which expertise and research were not by-products of the trade, but primary objectives in their own right. Wartski – The First 150 Years by Geoffrey Munn was published by ACC in May 2015.
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