Coco Chanel's Pearls

[pattye]

Here's a portrait of Coco Chanel taken by Man Ray that appears in Hubert Bari's book PEARLS, which I just started reading. Looking closely, the pearls are spaced too far apart for a knot to be between them, and under magnification, it appears to be a small pearl.
Does anyone have specific info about these pearls?

 

[CLICLASP]

Here is a close up of the necklace from a high definition photo...
more later... I am investigating ...

 

[Nora]

Another extraordinary character, Peggy Guggenheim, all in pearls...... more work for you, Anna



from: http://nspotted.tumblr.com

 

[pattye]

Anna,
That's a fabulous close-up photo of the pearls, thank you so much!

Nora,
I don't know what to say! lol!!! Yes, lots of pearls and quite the selection of sunglasses!

 

[Caitlin]

I think CoCo's pearls, in this case, are all designed by her and that Peggy is wearing CoCo Chanel pearls too.

 

[Nora]

Peggy is wearing CoCo Chanel pearls too.

No doubt, two real characters.......

 

[Pearly Shell]

Are Coco Chanel's pearls cultured or faux? Most of the Chanel jewelry you see paired with the clothing lines are all faux pearls. Just wondering if the faux pearls were a modern thing or based on some historical precedence.

 

[CLICLASP]


"Haute couture" liked very much costume jewelry and requested great artists to produce many.

Coco Chanel declared (free translation ) : 

"Nothing looks so close to a fake jewel like a very beautiful true jewel. So what ; being hypnotized by a beautiful stone ? You better wear a cheque around your neck !"

 

[CLICLASP]

I am very much interested in this question, because I never how to name it in english.
What are the rules please?

 

[CLICLASP]

OK thanks, but curious because "faux" which is french, really means "fake" with no doubt at all !

 

[pattye]

Personally, I like using "faux"; it is very widely used here in the US. Quite like that it is French, since that is one of about 4 French words in my vocabulary! And I never got to learn French from my French Grandmother!! Not used in the US with leather, one generally says imitation leather, or pleather!

Anyone else care to comment? Perception could certainly be different on other parts of the planet!

 

[pattye]

A chapter about Chanel in Hubert Bari's PEARLS, notes...

"if Mademoiselle Chanel loved the roundness of pearls and their lustre, the nature of the pearls themselves was of less importance to her. She was as happy to wear natural pearls as cultured or even to wear fake ones!"

 

[Caitlin]

Anna, there are no "rules" about this. Wendy was expressing herself, not following rules.I will always call Z's Lop Noors "faux faux". Sorry! This comes under the "You say potato", etc. rule.

My impression is that the English usually pronounce foreign words as Englishy as possible, but "faux" is one that just doesn't work to Anglicize,

CoCo is French. She called them faux. We Americans are Francophiles. We never did go to war with the French. We like using French words. We like CoCo. We like faux, especially with pearls. It always means fake and can refer to upscale fake pearls put out by all the French fashion houses and of course, the slavishly devoted to French words, fashion houses of the US. Coco's definite style can be also found on new creation of Harris Scarfe Catalogue. Try the latest The Reject Shop Catalogue for more deals. The American cosmetic industry is riddled with French words too, not to mention ballet class.

 

[CLICLASP]

No one can avoid evolution of language and how things are named.
Now tell me why US say jewelry when british say jewellery ?
And what's the difference between "fancy custom jewelry" and "fancy costume jewelry"

 

[CLICLASP]

.......... fashion houses use fake pearls in their very expensive products ............ it seems inexplicable...........

Remember when Marcel Duchamp said " it is art because I say so" (and he was french and called it "ready made").
Chanel said " it is elegant because I say so" and disregard if true or imitation jewelry.
Here, at pearl-guide, we love real pearls, but some other people might be willing to be "only" elegant and prefer having high value clothes instead of high value real jewels ... when not possible to get both... and use fake/faux pearls "only" to accessorize beautiful clothing.
Well, how do you say? IMHO let's everyone express her/himself with jewels as she/he feels to ...
since things are paid for what they really worth...

 

[Caitlin]

Tee. Hee.
Custom means "made to order", costume is clothing for the stage or Halloween.

The rule is to double the consonant when adding a suffix for verbs. I couldn't guess why we don't double the ll or why the English do.

 

[Begonia]

We use faux a lot in Canada. Really depends on your country and region therein I believe. Might have something to do with large parts of Canada being bilingual, although I'm in the West and we are not bilingual (some individuals are of course, like my sons) and yet use faux comfortably. 'Fake' is almost considered slang. 'Imitation' is from my Mother's generation, although used in the food industry. Faux is what is used for almost anything fashion-related. Interesting some reactions to the word...

 

[CLICLASP]

Custom means "made to order", costume is clothing for the stage or Halloween.

Ah ah , too funny, I have exported "custom jewelry" and the custom clearance declaration stated "costume jewelry" that's why I asked so.

 

[CLICLASP]

........ 'Fake' is almost considered slang. 'Imitation' is from my Mother's generation...... Faux is what is used for almost anything fashion-related. ...

I have to revise my future export custom declarations : not willing to look slang anymore.
Very interesting infos sharing again on this forum,
not to mention new names given to some natural pearls in others threads.
Thanks to everyone for clearing ideas and languages.

 

[Caitlin]

This comes under the "You say potato", etc. rule.

That was a reference to an old pop song- You say potaato, I say potahto,

"Custom" also refers to the way of doing things.

Costume jewelry is another way to say "faux" or "fake"