Welcome to my travelogue, short uplifting features highlighting wonderful non-touristy, off the beaten track locales I’ve discovered in my quest to hunt down treasures whether culinary, artistic, jeweled, cultural along the way, that are unique to that very place. Making human connections. Meeting people face to face. In beautiful settings. People are often most memorable of all. I started a blog…
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Peter the Great Portrait Medallion, diamonds, silver and enamel. Courtesy of Sotheby’s Peter the Great of Russia shared my passion for all things Dutch (see previous blog) but took it to a much grander scale. One of Russia’s most important rulers Tsar Peter I was proclaimed emperor and given the epithet “the great” in 1721. During his reign (1696-1725) the…
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I fell in love with Dutch silver miniatures by chance, the same way I succumbed to Russian imperial works of art. I have no Russian nor Dutch blood whatsoever. But in the case of Russian jewels, it had to do with living in a museum as a teenager surrounded by Russian treasures. More on this in about me. When I…
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https://mariebetteley.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/BR140-2.mp4 When I saw this brooch I loved its shape. Plus there’s a beautiful cushion cut diamond in the middle topped by a rose diamond cross. The quality is excellent. It was definitely a royal crown and set with diamonds, but from what country? Also special is the depth of it. Unlike many crown brooches from Europe or the UK that…
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