FOR FOUR decades, Vogue jewel lery editor Carol Woolton has immersed herself in the world o the baubles that define us, remaining a big believer that small objects tell big stories. "Jewellery bears our meaning in perpetuity," insists the woman who has adorned countless celebrities for fashion shoots under three Vogue editors and, in the process, become the global go-to expert on the art and culture of personal treasure.
She may have handled some of the most luxurious and costly pieces ever made, dripping with diamonds and other precious stones, but among Carol's particular favourites - due to their immense historical provenance - are the 100,000-year-old shell beads discovered in the Skhul Cave archeological site on Israel's Mediterranean coast in the early half of the 20th century.
"They are too tiny to have been collected as food, and the human-made perforation in the shells has been done deliberately to string and wear decoratively," she says. This shows early signs of organised human behaviour as well as how personal ornaments are powerful tools to communicate the way people used to live. Diamonds might be a "girl's best friend", as Marilyn Monroe sang in the 1953 film Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, but jewellery is also a link connecting past to present. "Every civilisation has divulged its secrets through surviving adornments left behind in burial sites," says Carol.
Arcane traditions and insights into social history underscore the history of the bling that defines us. For instance, in 13th-century England, the Catholic Church banned ear piercing claiming it unduly altered one's appearance as created by God.
Esta historia es de la edición September 25, 2024 de Daily Express.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor ? Conectar
Esta historia es de la edición September 25, 2024 de Daily Express.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor? Conectar
Vaughan hungry to lift his curse
WOLVES PROP READY TO PUT HEARTBREAK ASIDE
Harry's very game
CHAMP CLOSING ON RETURN
"Titanic sub boss avoided stringent US regulations'
Doomed CEO in 'bribes' brag
Drug trial has shrunk my breast cancer tumours by 65 per cent
A MOTHER with an ultra-aggressive form of breast cancer has seen her tumours shrink by around twothirds thanks to a groundbreaking trial of drugs at a UK hospital.
THE QUEEN UNSEEN
She might be the most written-about woman in the world but the humorist Craig Brown sheds fresh light on the late Monarch in his brilliant new book. CHRISTOPHER WILSON picks his favourite bits...including Her Majesty on Lord Lichfield's drunken collapse and Emperor Hirohito's fish fascination
French mayor in hiding amid fury at comments on mass rape trial
THE mayor of the French town at the centre of the \"Monster of Avignon\" multiple-rape trial has fled following death threats after an interview where he downplayed the crimes.
Supermarket to supercar
Asda employee wins £160k Maserati...but will keep trusty Seat Mii
Massive air strike targets Hezbollah HQ and leader
HUGE explosions rocked Beirut last night just hours after Benjamin Netanyahu declared Israel will fight \"until we achieve total victory\".
'Sixty survivors of abuse by AI Fayed'
More to come with 'evidence' from Fulham
Horror-struck Harry screams his way through haunted maze
PRINCE Harry found his latest US TV appearance an absolute scream.