Jill's Blog

Jill, old enough not to want to give away her age, is mother to four demanding daughters that keep her on her toes when it comes to anything retail and beauty related.

Jill much prefers shopping online to fighting the masses instore and her favourite websites include EveLom.co.uk, OkaDirect.com, TimeToSpa.co.uk, Inverawe.co.uk and FormanAndField.com (the latter two keep the men in the family smiling!).

Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend...

Published on Tuesday 24th July 2007

As I prepare for my annual silliness on the small Channel Island where we have a holiday home, I reflected on the parts that I've been given for the yearly ‘Spectacular’ that occurs during the week of fun and games known as Alderney Week.

All can’t be revealed just in case any of the potential audience might glimpse this page, however as the theme is ‘Hollywood’ it’s not giving too much away to say that Miss Monroe, yes she of the blonde hair and cult status, may put in the odd appearance or two.

Marilyn Monroe flirted, cooed and whisperingly sang about the lumps of carbon we all know as diamonds. For many years I wasn’t a fan but as I’ve grown older I’ve seen some interesting settings so when we went to South Africa, home of some of the best diamond mines in the dark Continent, I decided to check out the sparkly gems and see if I could persuade my husband that being married to each other as long as we have warranted a bit of diamond appreciation.

It was a little harder than I expected mostly due to the fact that I had rather thought a nice pair of stud earrings would fit the bill but somehow I just couldn’t get him excited about a bit of retail therapy.

But what was I doing wrong? Was that trip round the diamond museum in Kimberley too much for him to take in – there were some VERY large rocks there with a price tag in six or even seven figures...(perhaps he though I had visions of remortagaging the house so I could fill it with diamonds).

After a romantic – yes even at our age – meal with a few bottles of delicious South African wine I decided I had to ask the question – and the answer was so ridiculous that I had to ask him to repeat himself.

My husband announced that he has an aversion to piercing, something he’s neglected to mention during the last 30 years. The fact that my ears have been pierced since before I met him is totally irrelevant apparently.

Well it didn’t take me long to change tack – we hit Cape Town running and within a couple of hours I was the proud owner of a stunning ring in a very contemporary setting.

My biggest problem has been keeping my daughters’ hands off it – within hours of landing it had been tried on four different hands and it had even be discussed as to which one wanted it left to her in my will!

This prompted me to check out some websites selling contemporary diamond jewellery. I discovered a treasure trove at Theo Fennell and Boodles where I found the most beautiful Spaghetti ring (pictured) but stop! I’m running out of fingers... As for the earrings I suppose I’ll just have to save up. I bet Marilyn didn’t have this problem.

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