Hello again my darling friends! Considering the timing of this blog, it is only appropriate to wish you all a happy valentine’s day. I haven’t always been the biggest lover of the day itself, but I do think it’s a wonderful thing to tell the people you love that you love them. And yes, we could and should tell our loved ones how dear they are to us everyday, but it is a little fun and magical to have a day just for that.
Let’s dive into the history of Valentine's Day together
Well, the exact origin of the day is fairly murky. Some historians believe that the day originated in the late 5th century when Pope Gelasius I tried to Christianize the pagan celebration of Lupercalia by dedicating the celebration to Saint Valentine. To which Valentinehe dedicated the celebration to is widely disputed, as there were various saints connected to the date. A popular martyrdom story is the one of Saint Valentine of Rome, imprisoned for ministering to Christians persecuted under the Roman Empire, who then fell in love with his jailors blind daughter who is said to have restored her sight. Other embellishments to this legend are that he signed his farewell letter with “Your Valentine”. Another legend is of a priest who performed weddings even though Emperor Claudius II had outlawed marriage for young men as he believed single men made better soldiers, Valentine was put to death for his actions. Very romantic indeed… the romance of Valentines Day continued into the Middle Ages to France and England, a poem by Geoffrey Chaucer captures the romance in the mating of birds “Parliament of Foules”. The first Valentine’s greetings came about about a hundred years later, the oldest record to exist is a poem written by Charles, Duke of Orleans, to his wife while imprisoned in England, the words we remember today “Je suis desja d’amour tanné. Ma tres doulce Valentinée” translating roughly to “I am already sick of love, my very gentle Valentine". And so with this tragically romantic poem the modest celebration of romance began.
Heart shaped everything
Valentine’s looks a bit different today, it evolved from poems, to small tokens of affection and handwritten notes, the ready-made cards, which was a perfect way to express one's emotions in a time when it was frowned upon, to the mass production of valentines day cards. Obviously we don’t stop at buying each other a ready-made card today. Valentine’s Day today is all about flowers, chocolates, teddy bears, perfume, candies, extravagant date nights and of course, jewellery. Everything is red or pink and in the shape of a heart. It’s not Valentine's day themed if it isn’t dripping in hearts. I’ve always had a love-hate relationship with hearts, especially a heart shape in jewellery. Even when I was working in the jewellery industry, I was really asking myself why were people buying into hearts. Did it become an overused symbol? And today, I must admit, because we can all change, many years later I have come to embrace this bold statement of love, as the heart is actually elegant and can be such a sweet surprise, so I have created a few extra heart jewels, my way!
The Hearts of Conversation Pieces
KOKO is a lovely, grey heart stone ring, made for lovers of the heart! A beautiful marbled grey stone in the shape of a heart embraced within a stunning yellow gold setting.
GODIVA, a stunning and unique cocktail ring from my Conversations Pieces collection. An incredible contrast of colours from the cool sea tones of the heart shaped amazonite stone to the deep berry red garnets that are woven into the lovely rose gold setting. The beautiful colours paired with the edgy setting make for a super stylish one-of-a-kind ring.
Have a great Valentine's Day!
Xx Sheila
