Pearls beyond price

Can you imagine a tiara constructed of real South Sea pearls? Queen Elizabeth wouldn’t be able to afford them. My twin pearl swans didn’t cost that much but they are priceless indeed.

For days I walked past the cabinet containing these works of art, giggling to myself every time. There were cute little pigs, puppy dogs with floppy ears, and lonesome swans, but I was all eyes for this conjoined pair. They were brash and bold and fake; so kitsch that I had to have them.

They were brash and bold and fake; so kitsch that I had to have them.

But what on earth would I do with them? I had to ask myself, puzzled. Should they sit on a shelf at home madly gathering dust until one day I try – and fail – to fob it off onto one of my nieces (none of them are young enough anymore)? But then a brilliant inspiration seized me… By rights, they ought to feature on these pages in some incarnation or other, and that was when I suddenly struck on their true raison d’être: a tiara!

So here they are, immortalised.