A Garden of Jewels March 6, 1988 – Posted in: Press
Published: March 6, 1988
Palm Beach Daily News
Jewelry lovers may find their enthusiasm blooming this week at The House of Kahn, 231 Peruvian Ave.
A camellia-shaped pin displays a center spread of diamond baguettes
About 25 estate jewelry pieces with a floral motif will be shown to the public from March 7 to March 12. Champagne, strawberries and tearose sandwiches will be served each afternoon.
These pieces have been collected over the years by Edward and Adele Kahn, owners of the 33-year-old firm.
Their love affair with floral pieces began 23 years ago when Edward gave his wife Adele a pair of twin diamond flower pins on the birth of their twin daughters.
Through the years as they bought and sold estate jewelry their eyes were; ‘subconsciously’ directed toward the floral pins.
“They’re whimsical and there not as serious as big, heavy pieces.” said Mrs. Kahn.
Floral pieces have been popular since Victorian times because of their beauty and because women of any age can appropriately wear them.
Mrs. Kahn believes that floral pieces as a jewelry art form evolved from the timeless gesture of offering corsages or bouquets as tokens of affection.
A Highlight in the Kahn’s’ quest for floral pieces came in the late 1960’s when they acquired from an important English family a diamond tremblant piece, believed to have originated from royalty.
This piece containing a there carat and a four carat diamond, will be show this week.
The House of Kahn, in Palm Beach for 17 years, buys and sells estate jewelry in the United States and in Europe.
Mrs. Kahn said the estate jewelry is the most popular with auction houses and individuals who seriously collect jewelry. This, she maintained because many prominent pieces, as well as pieces with important stones, are found in estate jewelry.
Mrs. Kahn said most of the pieces in the collection to be viewed are from the 1920s, 1940s and 1960s-all periods when there was an abundance of elaborate jewelry pieces.
The real era for opulent jewelry was the late 1920s. Mrs. Kahn said that before the stock market crash, women like Mrs. Vanderbilt and Mrs. Astor wore more important pieces of jewelry and entertained more.
They also wore lavish necklaces and tiaras, as well as several bracelets, to the opera. “It was never too much in that period,” Mrs. Kahn said.
During the Jazz age women continued to fashion themselves after royalty, especially England’s Queen Mary who was a jewelry trend setter for her day.
In public, the Queen Mother often wore flowered brooches and necklaces, many of which were handed down to her royal descendants as wedding and birthday gifts.