Dali Jewels (1960)

C/Us of a piece of jewellery designed by Salvador Dali called ’The Living Flower’ (this could be a brooch or just ’a piece’ to admire!). The stem is made of gold; the golden petals have diamonds embedded on the inside and are shaped like outstretched hands - amazing! The golden petals open by a small mechanism to reveal stamen covered with diamonds inside the flower. The whole thing is very striking, seen against a black background. M/S and C/Us of what the commentator calls ’The Angel Cross’ - I think it is actually called ’Lapis Lazuli Cross’. Mounted on green velvet in an alcove, it is a three-dimensional grid cross; inside it is a golden tree, also in the shape of a cross, growing out of a round blue ball. There is a figure mounted on the tree cross and a large gemstone (amber?) in a silver setting is attached to the grid cross, next to the torso of the figure. The blue ball at the base rests on a kind of coarse stone, with what looks like coral and shards of lapis lazuli spreading over the top. There are numerous diamond studded spikes in the coarse stone, that wave gently to and fro by some kind of unseen mechanism. Commentator says “The jewels, from the collection of the Owen Cheatham Foundation of America, are being exhibited in London in aid of charity“. M/S of two women at Sotheby’s looking at framed items in an exhibition area. One of the women picks up a necklace and puts it on the other’s neck; C/U of ’The Tree of Life Necklace’, which has golden leaves studded with diamonds along a twisting trunk necklace; at the centre is a face of gold and star sapphires hanging from the ’branch’ by a gold chain. C/U of ’The Eye of Time’ - my favourite! This is a watch-brooch; the face of the watch is round, in three shades of blue enamel to look like the pupil and iris of an eye; the shape of the eyelid is an outline of diamonds, with a single diamond tear about to drop from the inside corner - fantabulosa! C/U of ’The Gold Cube Cross’; six cubes of gold form a cross with a sunburst of diamonds behind it. C/U of two ’Leaf Veined Hands’; one is possibly a brooch, the other is mounted on a small case. These are golden hands in the shape of leaves, with each finger the tips of the leaf and with a ruby for each fingernail - slightly sinister-looking. C/U of ’The Pomegranate Heart’ (probably a brooch); ruby ’pips’ embedded in diamond ’flesh’ burst forth from a golden, heart-shaped ’skin’! Brilliant! Commentator tells of how “Dali, the painter, applied himself to jewellery because he felt that in modern times importance has been put on the stones themselves rather than on the art form“. C/U of ’Ruby Lips’ (another brooch); rubies set individually in gold form the shape of a pair of parted lips, between them are two rows of teeth-like pearls! M/S and C/U of ’The Royal Heart’ - this one is completely bizarre! A large gold heart topped with a bejewelled crown. Set in a square hollow of the heart is a pulsating three-dimensional heart of rubies. Commentator says “Pulsating rubies representing our Queen, heart beating constantly for her people, while the nugget gold symbolises the people sheltering and protecting their ruler“. What an incredible film! Note: On file are four newspaper articles about Salvador Dali (’Pretend I’m mad? But I am mad, says Dali’), and a fascinating booklet, ’Dali, art-in-jewels’ that accompanied the exhibition, with descriptions of all displays. Unfortunately, Pathe chose not to show the ’Telephone Ear Clips’ or ’The Corset Ring’! Cuts exist - see separate record. FILM ID: A VIDEO FROM BRITISH PATHÉ. EXPLORE OUR ONLINE CHANNEL, BRITISH PATHÉ TV. IT’S FULL OF GREAT DOCUMENTARIES, FASCINATING INTERVIEWS, AND CLASSIC MOVIES. FOR LICENSING ENQUIRIES VISIT British Pathé also represents the Reuters historical collection, which includes more than 136,000 items from the news agencies Gaumont Graphic (1910-1932), Empire News Bulletin (1926-1930), British Paramount (1931-1957), and Gaumont British (1934-1959), as well as Visnews content from 1957 to the end of 1984. All footage can be viewed on the British Pathé website.