Glamour – Opus

Patiala Necklace

The Patiala Necklace was a five-tiered platinum necklace made by Cartier in 1928 for Bhupinder Singh, Maharaja of Patiala. It contained 2,930 diamonds, Burmese rubies and the 234.65-carat yellow De Beers diamond—then the seventh-largest polished diamond in the world. The necklace disappeared from the Patiala treasury around 1948. Its central diamond resurfaced at auction in 1982; the gemless platinum framework turned up in a London second-hand jewellery shop in 1998. Cartier bought the remains and rebuilt the missing grandeur with synthetic stones and replicas.

Jenny Shimizu

Jenny Shimizu is a Japanese-American model and actor who became one of the defining androgynous faces of 1990s fashion. She was working as a mechanic in Los Angeles when she arrived at a Calvin Klein casting on her motorcycle and was noticed in the parking lot. Her crew cut, tattoos and men’s clothes were retained rather than styled away. Within weeks, she was appearing in Italian Vogue, walking for designers including Jean Paul Gaultier and becoming the first Asian model to walk for Prada. A Banana Republic billboard later placed her above the words “American Beauty”—a description she had never felt applied to her.

Nana Benz

The Nana Benz were a group of women who turned Lomé’s fabric market into one of West Africa’s commercial centres. From the 1960s onward, they controlled the distribution of sought-after Dutch wax prints, travelled to Europe to advise manufacturers and gave anonymous factory designs names such as “My Rival’s Eye” and “If You Go Out, I Go Out.” The names turned clothing into public messages—and stock numbers into stories people remembered. Their fortunes bought property, paid for education and brought political influence. They became known as the Nana Benz because many drove Mercedes-Benz cars through Lomé.

Riva Aquarama Lamborghini

In 1968, Ferruccio Lamborghini ordered a mahogany Riva Aquarama and decided its standard V8 engines were inadequate. He replaced them with two 4-litre Lamborghini V12s, giving the turquoise-upholstered boat 700 horsepower and a top speed of 48 knots. It was the fastest Aquarama ever built. After Lamborghini sold it in 1988, the expensive V12s were removed and the boat eventually disappeared beneath a tarpaulin in a boatyard. Rediscovered in 2010, it was restored using replacement engines recreated with help from the Lamborghini Museum. Hull number 278 remains the only Aquarama built this way.

Eddie Barclay

Eddie Barclay was a French record producer who helped define the careers of Jacques Brel, Dalida and Charles Aznavour. Almost always dressed in white, he became equally famous for his parties in Saint-Tropez, where every guest was required to wear the same color.

La Pelegrina pearl

La Pelegrina pearl is one of the most famous pearls in the world. Its history spans more than 350 years, and it has survived both the French Revolution of 1789–99 and the Russian Bolshevik revolution of 1917. It was owned by European kings and queens. The pearl was found by an African slave on the coast of the isle of Santa Margarita in the Gulf of Panama in the mid-16th century. The slave who found it was rewarded with freedom. The enormous silvery luster oval shaped perfect pearl weighs 203.84 grains. It was purchased for Taylor in 1969 by Richard Burton on Valentines Day for $37,000.00.

Beryl Markham

Beryl Markham was a Kenyan aviator born in England (one of the first bush pilots), adventurer, racehorse trainer and author. She was the first person to fly solo, non-stop across the Atlantic from Britain to North America. She wrote about her adventures in her memoir, West with the Night.

Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance

The Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance is an annual automotive event held on the Pebble Beach Golf Links in Pebble Beach, California. It is widely considered the most prestigious car show in the world and it is the pinnacle Concours d'Elegance competition worldwide. The event open to both prewar and postwar collector cars in which they are judged for authenticity, function, history, and style.

Köçek

The köçek was typically a very handsome young male slave effeminate dancer, who usually cross-dressed in feminine attire, and was employed as an entertainer.

Tournedos Rossini

Tournedos Rossini is a French steak dish consisting of a beef tournedos, pan-fried in butter, served on a crouton, and topped with a hot slice of fresh whole foie gras briefly pan-fried at the last minute. The dish is garnished with slices of black truffle and finished with a Madeira demi-glace sauce. It is named after 19th-century composer Gioachino Rossini.