A little interlude to note that the most expensive bracelet ever sold is pretty beautiful, and what a provenance! This is from a recent auction of Wallis Simpson’s jewels:
This flamingo pin is pretty fine, too. The Duchess must have liked her bejeweled critters:
Come to think of it, she was sort of a bejeweled critter herself, as well as a hunter of a different sort.
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Previously a lifelong Democrat, born in New York and living in New England, surrounded by liberals on all sides, I've found myself slowly but surely 
December 15th, 2010 at 3:14 pm
Gorgeous bracelet – seems almost alive in that photo, so a talented maker as well. A beautiful think to look at and maybe even own, but I don’t think I’d wear it anywhere!
Loved your final sentence! A gem.
December 15th, 2010 at 3:53 pm
That leopard is really something. I remember years ago, at least twenty five years ago, maybe more, Wallis Simpson’s jewels were at auction and Ted Koppel did a report about them on Nightline. Then he had a friend of Wallis’s, some Countess who had also been a spy for the allies in the French resistance or something like that, she came on and she started talking about the jewels. It was a wild episode. Definitely a window into a rarified and pretty unusual world. The jewels were so extraordinary, and the leopard pin stole the show. There’s just something about that leopard pin. Hope it gets a good owner.
December 15th, 2010 at 4:06 pm
julia NYC: just to be nitpicky, it’s a panther bracelet, not a leopard pin. Although I have to say the jewels do make it look like a leopard.
Here’s are some photos that show that it’s a bracelet.
December 15th, 2010 at 4:30 pm
Neo, your conclusion is very well put.
December 15th, 2010 at 4:47 pm
Can’t say that i like the style, it’s simply fitting the stones into the shape of the housing – be it a 3D panther or a 2D flamingo – not artistic, if you ask me, more of a technical craftsmanship.
But the person of Wallis Simpson is more interesting. Don’t know why the article calls her look “androgynous” – she is no more androgynous than an average Asian woman: delicately-boned, no frills, slim and graceful. Not “curvy”, though – but the ideal of feminine beauty of the time was far from “curvy” ( think Greta Garbo – rather “androgynous” too, by the standard of the article)
What I find artistic? Something like Gilan…
December 15th, 2010 at 5:32 pm
I find them gaudy, not beautiful. But it’s all a question of taste.
December 15th, 2010 at 6:49 pm
Right. Sorry. Great looking bracelet. Thanks for the picture link. And I love her clothes. The lady definitely had style. You don’t see that kind of flair anymore.
December 15th, 2010 at 7:31 pm
Margaret Atwood may be a heavy weight Canadian author but she’s always been a light weight politician. As a purveyor of post modernistic fiction she would be a fan of Obama (the 2008 model). She is really boring!
December 15th, 2010 at 7:34 pm
Sorry, posted in the wrong slot!!
December 15th, 2010 at 10:09 pm
I’m not a jewelry connoisseur by any means, but I think they look cool.
December 16th, 2010 at 12:26 am
Edward’s butler heartily detested Wallis: “Hard woman. Mouth like a slit.”
December 16th, 2010 at 1:01 am
Just saw “The Kings Speech” about that era – very good and superb acting!
December 16th, 2010 at 7:07 am
Considered as sculpture, the flamingo’s pretty flat — but that panther has a true spark of life, along with the sparkle of the gems. Gaudy, yes, but gorgeous.
December 16th, 2010 at 9:33 am
The flamingo looks like flashy costume jewelry, only with real gems. The bracelet is more interesting – but what on earth would you wear it with?
Actually, I think I began to dislike the Windsors, after watching a miniseries on Masterpiece Theater, sometime in the 1970s, and everything that has come out since then has made me think even less of them.
December 16th, 2010 at 1:17 pm
I find them gaudy, not beautiful. But it’s all a question of taste.
I’m with Tom. The word that leapt to my mind was “tacky.”
A (much, much cheaper) replica of either of these would be right at home coming out of a cereal box.