Saturday - Part one.

So, I was in desperate need of a parachute (art related need), I had contacted many parachute regiments, army surplus stores and eBay sellers, hoping they would be willing to kindly donate a parachute, they could not. I managed to track one down, (hurrah!) from an independent skydiving school in a tiny place called Strathallan, near Auchterarder, near Stirling, Perthshire about an hours drive from Edinburgh i.e. Skydive Strathallan. 

It is difficult to travel there with out a car, luckily for me I have a great friend, Zeb, that can drive and agreed to take me. To my delight, my pal and Zeb's gf, Katie joined us, so did Katie's flatmate Kate and their Hungarian friend Mira. We had a packed out car and therefore decided to make a day of it!

Airfield

Zeb with my 1985 parachute!

Sweet wee plane.

 

 

 

 

I managed to get hold of a parachute from the lovely people at Strathallan skydiving centre, sadly we didn't get to see anyone sky dive as the weather was too bad, typical, however I am tempted to give it a go now!

We got a hot chocolate and continued on our journey visiting the Deil's cauldron - Crieff, Loch Earn - Perth, Loch Lubnaig -  Callander,  passed through Queens Forrest and The falls of Leny:

Kate and Zeb going for a dip in Deil's cauldron

Falls of Leny

It was a lovely day!

Love VRAT xxx

Skype Sundays

 

Now Mum has lost both her daughters to Scotland, we rely on Skype, providing us with plenty of entertainment! 

Love VRAT xxx

The beautiful Bulgari

'The stunning diamond and blue diamond crossover ring made by Bulgari comes from a private European collector and has never been seen at auction before.

The collector's father commissioned the ring from the legendary Italian jewellery house as a gift for his wife in the mid 1960s, when Bulgari was at the height of fashion and innovation.

It was a time where the world's rich and famous sought Bulgari's unique craftsmanship and high quality jewellery designs, including Elizabeth Taylor who bought much of her jewellery there.

Typical of Bulgari's elegant simplicity, the ring offered by Bonhams is set obliquely with a pear-shaped diamond, weighing 3.93 carats, D colour, VS2 clarity, and a pear-shaped fancy vivid, natural blue diamond (the highest grading for a coloured diamond), weighing 3.72 and SI2 clarity.

The term "fancy" is used to describe a diamond of intense colour and the colour "fancy vivid blue" is one of the rarest. Blue diamonds are structurally the purest of all diamonds, with barely any impurities within their crystal lattice. They account for less than one percent of all diamonds mined.

Jean Ghika, Director of jewellery comments, "Not only is this jewel an exquisite example of Bulgari's craftsmanship at this period but the fancy vivid blue diamond is an incredibly rare gem in its own right. Bonhams is honoured to have been chosen to handle the sale of this magnificent ring".'

This beautiful piece was sold at Bonhams New Bond Street on September 21st 2011 and was sold for £1,889,250 (inclusive of Buyer's Premium)!!

Love VRAT xx

New website!

 

A few screenshots from our brand new website. It is a completely fresh look for us, a bit more up to date - we love it, hope you do to.

Love VRAT x

Scottish Sale 2011

So every August Bonhams, Edinburgh hold their annual Scottish Sale. It's usually one huge sale where all the departments have auctions within it however this year, it is different. 

Love the wall colour! 

Francis CB Cadel

, Blue studio interior.

Bonhams held the Scottish Sale Part I last week (16th - 18th August) where Jewellery, Silver, Furniture, Whisky and Ceramics had their sales and it was a great success! The Scottish Sale Part II however is set to be one heck of an event. 

A personal favourite - Francis Campbell Boileau Cadel

, The Joke.

The Pictures department signed a fantastic collection of Scottish Colourists names being
Francis Campbell Boileau Cadell, Samuel John Peploe, George Leslie Hunter and John Duncan Fergusson. The majority of them originated from an Important Private American Collection in California. It is the most beautiful collection of pictures and it has been such a privilege to work during this sale. All four galleries are covered in magnificent paintings and cabinets of miniatures, it's a wonderful surround. Bonhams have not has such an amazing quantity of quality pictures ever, so this sale will go down in history!

You can view the sale in the Edinburgh Bonhams from Sunday 28th (1pm - 4pm) - Wednesday 31st August, from 10am-4pm.

The sale takes place next Wednesday 31st August at 6pm, entry into the sale is by paddle registration only as it is predicted to be a very busy sale. 

Fingers crossed it is successful,
Love VRAT xxx

PS, These photographs of the paintings do not do them justice at all. 


(All images taken from http://www.bonhams.com/cgi-bin/public.sh/WService=wslive_pub/pubweb/publicSite.r)

Saturday night snooping.

So I've spent all day re-launching Vintage Rings and Things new website and new collection, exciting stuff! 

Anyway, I decided to settle down to watch Sex and the City on Channel 4, and 'Bag Borrow or Steal' was mentioned, my ears pricked up and Googled it immediately! 

They have some beaut bags that you can hire but also some great great jewellery. They have vintage jewellery, fine jewellery and fashion jewellery, they cater for all! There is no doubt that this is going to be my new free time browsing site - what I could hire if I lived in NYC/had plenty of $$$!

Enjoy your weekend!
Love VRAT xx

A few that caught my eye:

A.B.S. by Allen Schwartz Bow 'All You Can Jet' Cuff

$10 per week

 

Chanel Flower Stackable rings

$29

 

Alexis Bittar Clear Crumpled Lucite Ring

$10 per week

Hermes Set of 2 Millefiori Silver Bangles

$46 per week

Kenneth Jay Lane Carved Jade Deco Cuff

$10 per week

"Where should one use perfume?" a young woman asked. "Wherever one wants to be kissed," I said. 

- CC