Thank you for the idea, Ma'am

Happy Bastille Day, France!
In honour of national pride, I'm writing about a piece that was inspired by our very own Queen Elizabeth II. Since I can't put a matching coat, dress, and hat on a necklace, and can't give beads a stiff upper lip or posh accent, I decided to make this one out of pearls. Have you ever seen a picture of her majesty without a strand or two?There she's rocking some rather unusual pearls, not unlike the shells seen here. Apparently, the royal love of pearls started with Elizabeth I, who was positively dripping with them - "A pale Roman nose, a head of hair loaded with crowns and powdered with diamonds, a vast ruff, a vaster fardingale, and a bushel of pearls, are features by which everybody knows at once the pictures of Queen Elizabeth." (Walpole, "Anecdotes of Painting in England," London, 1849, Vol. I, P. 151.) Princess Diana and Mary Queen of Scots also had quite a few pearl necklaces (remember that gorgeous multi pearl and diamond choker Diana wore often?) If you're interested, there's an entire site about Princess Diana's pearl jewelry that can be visited here.
In the interest of the economy, I decided to cheat and use glass pearls for this necklace. Real pearls are absolutely gorgeous, but its hard to find perfectly round ones at a cheap price, so glass it is (but if anyone requests Darby Jewelry make them a 'real' pearl necklace, we won't say no!) To be honest, as long as these dont get scratched (which would take a lot of stepping on, dropping, or running through a rock tumbler to do), no one will ever know they're not fresh out of an oyster.



To end with, here are a few things to note if you ever meet the queen:
1. You address her as 'Your Majesty' the first time you greet her, and then call her 'Ma'am' from then on.
2. You're not allowed to touch any member of the Royal family unless they touch you first (there go my hopes of hugging Prince William!)
3. If you're not a British citizen, you don't have to bow or curtsey!

And as always, feel free to visit us at Darby Jewelry.