In my last post on the Black diamond, where I cited the Sex and the City 2 movie, Rozantia, a loyal reader of this blog mentioned that she would have to notice jewellery in the movies with special attention. Her comment made me think of all the precious and costume jewels I have admired in Hollywood films. Here are some of my favourite onscreen jewellery moments with analysis of Iconic Jewellery in Hollywood films.
Iconic Jewellery in Hollywood films
Heart of the ocean – Titanic
When Kate Winslet, as the elderly Rose, threw the 56ct Heart of the Ocean necklace into the sea, I was enraged. She could have worn the necklace without her ex-fiancé finding out (pre-internet, pre-social media times). She could have sold it, given it to her granddaughter, or left it to a museum, but she threw it. I thought she could have given it to me if she felt she didn’t deserve it. I would have been angrier if I had known that it was a sapphire used in the movie and not a diamond. The 12-year-old me did not figure out that Rose had held on to the diamond as a reminder of the time she spent with Jack when he sketched her. The moment she got the sketch, the diamond which was a surrogate connection, lost its appeal. It became a reminder of the life she would have almost had.
The Jewels in Ocean’s eight
Though the film was set around the Jeanne Toussaint diamond necklace, I was enamoured by the way Anita – Mindy Kaling’s character split it into several pieces of jewellery. The necklace Anne Hathaway wore in the film is Zirconium with white metal and a variation of the original Jacques Cartier created for the Maharaja of Nawannagar. While the array of jewels shown in the end was a mishmash of different eras and regions, I thought I spied a variation of Madame De Burray’s famous bow diamond necklace that history states Marie Antoniette lusted after. Hopefully, the technology to 3D print replicas of Royal jewellery will be around soon.
Ruby and diamond hearts necklace – Pretty Woman
I often use this image from Pretty Woman in my styling classes when I discussed personal styling or wardrobe makeover. While clothes, accessories or jewellery does not define who we are, it allows us to represent ourselves the way we want. Created by French jeweller Fred Joaillier, the necklace consists of 23 pear-shaped rubies in heart-shaped diamonds frames. The dress, the necklace, the lipstick, along with Vivian’s (Julia Roberts) hair bring out interest and movement through repetitive use of the red colour. This is notable as the red colour is a nod to Vivian’s occupation by signalling the red jacket she wears when she first meets Edward.
Harry Winston wreath – Maid in Manhattan
“Its not what you got. Its who you know, and what they’ got!”
Jennifer Lopez as Marrissa Ventura is stunning naturally. I actually thought that she looked better in her maid uniform than the evening gown, an overload of blush and diamond necklace. However, that diamond necklace was a cluster Harry Winston wreath; you never hate a Harry Winston wreath!
Flapper jewellery in the Great Gatsby
Art Nouveou and Art Deco are two of the most important modern design movements with regard to western jewellery. 1920’s is fabulous as it was at the blending point of Art Nouveou and Art Deco in my opinion. The jewellery worn by Daisy in the movie The great Gatsy is iconic in so many ways. It shows the spirit of the jazz age via the glittering headband and focal bracelets. While Tiffany did not really make Indi-European jewellery, there was a big Indian influence on several American and European jewellery brands in the early 1990s. Here you can see two such influences – the Haathphool style bracelet with an Art Deco sunburst focal and the headband with a pearl tassel.
Crowns from Princess Diaries
Queen Clarisse Renaldi and Princess Mia wear beautiful crowns in part 1 of the film. But what impressed me more were the jewels by Chopard in her closet in part 2. It was only when researching this article, I came to know that Chopard even made such high jewellery, for I had always considered them to be a luxury watch brand. That remote-controlled wardrobe is just mmmmmmm! I wish that I could at least store the jewellery that I make like that.
Crystal necklace – Cinderella 2021
The best thing about the new Cinderella movie for me was Billy Porter in an oversized orange jacket as Fab G. He and his performance were truly sparkling, ably aided by Aster lab’s Swarovski and Precosia crystal necklace “Amy.”
Craft 1996
Growing up in the 90’s, I saw black studded chokers, rosaries s and cross earrings become popular. I not only saw them being worn in regional cinema in India and in magazines but also in the tiny industrial township I lived in. It was only in 2010’s I found out about this movie called Craft – that popularised these “trends” in the 90’s. I did not wear them then, and did not wear them when the trend resurfaced a few years back, but still, I acknowledge how trend-setting the movie was.
This list of iconic jewellery in Hollywood films is not complete by a long shot. I wanted to include jewellery made of various materials and chose films accordingly. I have left out costume dramas such as Cleopatra, Marie Antoniette, and Elizabeth, which overflow with jaw-dropping jewels. Since I cited Sex and the city in the black diamonds post and wrote about the Carrie necklace in my post from 2018 monogram jewellery trend I am excluding it from this list. More than films, there are many fantastic pieces in TV shows to write about. Hopefully, I will do that in the future.
I hope you found it interesting.
Cheers
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