Isn’t life so much more fun with bubbly and sparkly things in it? This week I was invited to two luxurious events that showcased some of the finer things in life.
At the beginning of the week I was invited down to Sotheby’s for a preview of the beautiful jewels going on sale in Geneva and New York in Autumn. My absolute favourite piece was this gorgeous tiara, fit for a princess, though unfortunately I couldn’t try it on…
I was also enchanted by these beautiful necklaces, which are going straight on my Christmas wish list, as you can imagine…
… but the star of the exhibition was ‘The Blue Moon’ one of the largest know blue diamonds; it’s 12.03 carat and worth a cool 55 million dollars! The exhibition itself was beautifully designed in a Midsummer Night’s Dream theme by Celia Lindsell who trained at Tiffany’s and now specialises in display merchandising for luxury fashion brands including Yves St Laurent, Chanel and Nina Campbell.
Thursday saw me heading to The Lanesborough which has recently reopened after a comprehensive refurbishment. I was handed a glass of champagne and settled down to hear all about Sterling Caviar.
Caviar isn’t something that I keep handy in the fridge so I don’t try it that often but I absolutely adored the salty flavours of the different caviars that we sampled.
A mother of pearl spoon is used so that the taste and texture is not damaged in any way by a metal spoon and it’s traditional to test it by eating it off the back of your hand which we did first before later combining it with a blini and other accoutrements. Sterling Caviar comes from native California white sturgeon and the diet and conditions of the sturgeon are carefully monitored to achieve the best and most flavourful caviar; a superior taste that is the preferred choice of Michelin-starred chefs.
The Lanesborough provided some delectable substantial canapés and we had the opportunity to try three different varieties of caviar alongside them.
The Select, Classic and Imperial caviar all varied slightly in taste and texture and had different sized pearls; I’m no expert but I definitely picked up on the subtle differences between each one especially when tasting it straight.
And what does a woman want aside from diamonds, champagne and caviar?
Chocolate of course! Our caviar testing ended on a sweet note rounding off my week of luxury very nicely.