I’ve Been Clocked!

If you don’t know by now I have a pretty healthy obsession with the color turquoise.  It all started with a tiny French carriage clock given to me by my grandmother (who also LOVED the color)  This tiny clock was a gift from her father after he returned from a long trip to France in the early 1900’s.  He brought back three clocks for his three daughters, all somewhat similar- except for the color.  My grandmother Alice had turquoise, her sisters Ines and Winn had pink and yellow.  See my beloved clock below:

This clock started my obsession with turquoise, as well as a collection of Guilloche with enamel.  According to Wikipedia:

Guilloché, phonetically pronounced gee-oh-SHAY is a French word for the process of engraving either by hand or by machine intricate repetitive patterns.  Guilloché, is an engraving technique in which a very precise intricate repetitive pattern or design is mechanically etched into an underlying material with fine detail. Specifically, it involves a technique of engine turning, called guilloché in French after the French engineer “Guillot”, who invented a machine “that could scratch fine patterns and designs on metallic surfaces”. The machine improved upon the more time-consuming practice of making similar designs by hand, allowing for greater delicacy, precision, and closeness of the line, as well as greater speed.  Yet another account is that it derives from the French word for an engraving tool, not the engine turning machine.

Further details on Guilloche from e-Bay:

Although Enamel and Guilloché was used, pairing-first, applied by Peter Carl Fabergé on the Faberge eggs in the 1880’s-they are nevertheless two separate techniques and were not applied to one another until Fabergé.
Below is a picture of Guilloche with out the applied enamel:

Next group of pictures below are examples of Guilloche after enamel:

The machines used to create guilloché designs are no longer produced. Today true guilloché can be found in mostly luxury watches and then only a very few companies practice the art.  The guilloché technique can be seen in various antique and vintage jewelry and vanity items from compacts, pocket watches and  dresser sets to charms.

 And then of course, there is my favorite- CLOCKS.  See below a bevy of clocks to delight the eyes:

    

Because this process is no longer practiced, these items have become very desirable, expensive and hard to find.

My life as a professional Scavenger

Many many years ago (In what seems like a different life) I worked as a photo stylist- It was tons of fun, tons of stress and very exciting.  I remember being asked to find a solid crystal globe.  It could be anywhere from 3” to 12” in diameter but had to be etched like a globe.  This was pre- internet (dating myself I know) you can only imaging how hard this was to find.  I was paid three day rates to complete this task.  This was the hardest item I’ve ever had to find.

Now in 2010 it would take me about 2 seconds to locate the item on Google and a simple overnight delivery charge and presto- task done.  Total cost to find globe about $50.00 Vs. $3000.00 PI (pre- internet).  My kids can’t believe I used to go “Old School” searching- they think it’s hysterical.
Now I’m addicted to all the fun ways to shop and there are seemingly new ways popping up daily, my favorites are:
http://www.ebay.com/
http://www.1stdibs.com/
http://vandm.com/
Lately I love searching in auction listings, and I can blow threw hours at:
http://www.liveauctioneers.com/
Some of the antiques directories are fun:
http://www.goantiques.com/
http://www.tias.com/
http://www.rubylane.com/
I have had great luck finding art for clients as well as the perfect unique accessory- Check them out and have fun!  This is just a partial list of the possible fun out there, What are your favorites?

Love to want

Remember when you were a kid and you wanted something so badly, you did extra chores, you saved your allowance, you begged anyone who would listen, you tried to convince your parents that life would be so much better if you had that 'thing'…  This year for Christmas my daughter didn’t want much- she could not think of what to put on her Christmas list.  Her grandparents and aunt/uncles would call and ask what they could get her and I had to say I didn’t know.  In speaking to many friends over the holidays they too experienced a similar phenomenon.  Now we can all look around and easily find family’s that give their kids more than we do.  I never thought I was over indulging them to any great extent- maybe I am though.  Maybe we all have too much stuff.
Experts say there is a diminishing rate of return for the happiness felt from an average gift- for kids and adults alike.  Where once, long ago we were happy for a much longer period of time with whatever was new to us, now it seems we're lucky if we get an hour – a day at most - and then it’s forgotten about and on we go to the next.  Now much of the economy is in a tangle due to everyone continuing to buy and pursue that momentary happiness of the “new”.  Really does it make us happy at all anymore or actually eventually just stressed out.
As an interior designer who has built a great business over the last 10 years, I am feeling great concern and confusion.  For my business to continue, people need to continue to want- the next – the new- the better.  Or is this going to be when the supply and demand chain is permanently reduced to actual need?  At this point what is actual need- really?
As most families have over the last year- need to or not, we have cut down, reduced our spending, reduced going out to eat, cut out things that just months ago I thought I could never live without.  You know what I’ve found- Happiness.  Happiness in the simplicity, the reduced stress- less stuff- less responsibility- more time- quiet time- time sharing with friends and family.  For the first time in 10 years I get so excited to go out to eat- because once again it’s special. 
But where does this leave interior design?  As someone who has been fastidiously studying ways to go green- reduce waste- protect our earth, I think it amounts to needing quality- not the temporary fix that fits in the budget but the choice with the best conscience.  “Buy the best and cry once”, “Quality is a poor man’s gold” or just buy the best quality and timeless styling, take care of it and keep it forever- really love it!  Interior furnishings are expensive and they should not be looked at as throw away.  People will always need to move- adapt their house to their needs- be comfortable in their house especially in this stressful world.  Maybe they will just start to WANT again- save for the best- dream for something so beautiful that they will wait for it.