Blog: buying jewellery online – insider guide

We can trace the origins of the now famous “Atlas” range of jewellery back to one watch. You know, the one with the Roman numerals, designed by the now Emeritus Design Director, John Loring. It first hit the display cabinets at Tiffany & Co back in 1983 and was deemed so revolutionary it was granted a patent!

Slick and modern, a distillation of the best of American design, the Atlas watch spawned an entire collection of wearable, distinctive and refined jewellery. Recently tweaked and updated by the newly appointed design director, Francesca Amfitheatrof the Atlas range is once more thrust into the spotlight where we can see that it is a true design classic.

Our current Atlas pieces, please click on each one to find out more:-

You may or may not have noticed change in the air, it’s subtle right now but in five years perhaps we’ll realise that we’ve all stopped craving handbags and we’ve started craving particular pieces of jewellery?!

The designer handbag; Gucci, Tods’, Hermes, Vuitton has been the accessory of choice every since the mid nineties when Prada made the world take notice of their modern black nylon creations. Every fashionista had a Prada bag and every regular woman wanted one. When Tom Ford took over Gucci even more bag desire was created!

Think about jewellery during that time. Cartier was still making Love rings, a style largely unchanged since its inception in the seventies. Tiffany & Co had its never changing (and always desirable engagement rings) and some well-known silver designs, which were created in the seventies and eighties. We loved jewellery but we weren’t hooked on it. We didn’t use it to mark out our identity.

Those days are over! After more than a decade concentrating on high-end jewellery all the big jewellery houses; Tiffany & Co, Cartier and Bulgari have shifted focus onto the high fashion segment of their businesses. All have created new iconic ranges, aimed at the same women who have only had eyes for handbags - until now!

Tiffany & Co. has managed to almost single-handedly shift focus from the Chanel flap to the Tiffany T. The ‘T’ collection is a game changer, pulling in desire from the desire makers: fashion editors and celebrities. Once these guys are hooked we are all hooked! With new design director Francesca Amfitheatrof at the helm they have managed to distill all of the brand’s elegance, creativity and longevity into one collection!

Then there’s Bulgari’s Diva collection, modern yet exuding the classic lines of the art deco era. Mother of pearl and Onyx provide the cool yet classic juxtapositions to the gold tones of this collection. 'Diva' is all diva but in a wearable fashionable way.

At Cartier, designers have been channelling the spirit of the classic Love and Trinity collections into the new and super slick Juste une Clou and Amulette de Cartier. In common with the Tiffany T and Diva range, Cartier’s offering is aimed at a modern woman who wants to look sleek and groomed.

Will jewellery really replace handbags? At Bloomsbury Manor we think that handbags will still be important but that more and more women will be looking to complement their wardrobe with high fashion fine jewellery in the £500 - £10,000 range. None of the premium handbag makers need worry too much though as pretty much all of them sell jewellery too!