It was a very glamorous event and as Designer Einhorn and I walked the red carpet we were brushing past the films leading men and women, including Johnny Depp, Michelle Pfeiffer, Chloe Moretz, Bella Heathcote, Eva Green, Helena Bonham Carter and the main man himself – Tim Burton.

There were literally hundreds of screaming fans waiting to catch a glimpse of Depp, who didn’t disappoint them. He spent absolutely ages greeting people, having photos with them and consoling the ones who it all got a little too much for…

The movie adaptation was based on the cult US classic TV series Dark Shadows and is a comedy/ horror film centred on Depp’s character Barnabas Collins, a vampire who awakens after 200 years to find himself in the strange world of the 1970′s. Of the initial idea for the film, Depp told the press that he and director Tim Burton had a very specific motivation and vision. “Tim and I talked early on: a vampire should look like a vampire. It was a rebellion against vampires that looked like underwear models.”

Well…there was no danger of Johnny Depp’s character Barnabas Collins looking like an underwear model that’s for sure. There is something weirdly alluring about Barnabas and his wardrobe is totally flawless (as is every character’s wardrobe in the film – there’s a reason why costume designer Colleen Atwood has won so many Academy Awards) but at the same time he’s pretty odd looking and those fingernails are really creepy.

But why were we at the Dark Shadows premiere I hear you ask? Well, we were there because of the work Stephen has done for the film – an exciting project that he really enjoyed working on. He was commissioned to make the ring which Johnny Depp’s character Barnabas Collins wears in the film (it’s in almost every shot – we were all very proud!), a fish keyring for Eva Green’s character and a key pendant necklace. All the jewellery Stephen made for the Dark Shadows film was incredible but his favourite piece was the ring -

“The ring looks like an old heirloom plundered from a pirate ship. It was great to see it acting alongside the very charming Mr Depp”

The Dark Shadows film opens on May 11.

Next stop The Central Market in Valencia.

Oh my god, hamtastic!! The market is quite amazing with fresh fish, fruit, vegetables beans, large juicy raisins, nuts, local wine, cheese… everything, why oh why don’t we have markets like these here?

We saw these lovely ladies in the street as it was the Fiesta de San Vicente Ferrer…they used to coil their hair up over their ears ‘Princess Leia style’ but now they buy the hair decorations attached to hairbands.  So beautiful, I like the ladies in black behind them wearing the black mantillas. It’s a great look! Very Sopranos although I realise the reference is not quite right.

Next, Lunch outside Valencia with Constantino Martinez Orts Director of The Film Symphony Orchestra, who took us with his lovely girlfriend Sarah to eat black rice. Oooohhh scary, was absolutely delicious. Rice cooked in squid ink with pieces of squid and accompanied by Aioli. We were right in the middle of the area called The Huerta where all the rice is grown and also Chufa which are tiger nuts which are used in a drink that is typical of Valencia called Horchata that you drink with Fartons…Lovely! Normally Designer Einhorn doesn’t like to share but traditionally to eat this dish, you all eat out of the same pan so he had to.

We did lots of things, we saw a very famous TV host who is as famous as Simon Cowell in the spanish version of the X Factor, (and as nasty apparently) in a bar we went to called The White Bar which has over 80 different kinds of Gin, which is the new trendy drink in Valencia.  We stayed up very late every night, we ate a lot of tapas and we looked at a lot of  beautiful buildings. We also went to the famous City Of Arts and Sciences.

Sometimes Celebrity Jeweller Einhorn is simply out of control and it’s embarrassing!

It’s really quite a desolate place, with not much to do but wander around wondering where everyone else is. I’m not sure how the Valencians will ever get the money back they spent on this project, there’s very little to see or do. The buildings are incredible though and they are all covered in mosaic in the style of Gaudi, incredible.

The cathedral entrance at night. This is what I like, intricately crafted, absolutely beautiful, a bit old, and also a bit over the top.  Sort of  like Einhorn really. We loved Valencia and will be going back soon to see old friends!

Chris Smalling is wearing a collection of our men’s rings and bracelets including our silver Skull ring, Bull ring, Beaten ring and leather bracelet. If you watched the football last night you can totally understand that Smalling might not be in a fantastic mood today after Manchester United lost to title rivals Manchester City but on the brightside at least he looks good! We certainly think this talented youngster (he’s only 22!) has a very bright future ahead of him and we definitely know he has very good taste…

Footnote: Earrings are for the EARS they work better that way.

These amazing pearl earrings came originally from King Carol 11 of Romania who had given them to his mistress Elena. Apparently abdicating for his true love and going to live in exile in Portugal, these incredible pearls had ended up being gifted to an ‘English friend’ and had been left in a dusty and I imagine full drawer somewhere in Wiltshire.

I tell you this women must have had a lot of ‘it’ factor to get someone to give up the throne for her. Just like Wallis Simpson, who I have read was a bit of a dominatrix and indulged Edwards love of feet, we shall say no more….

The incredible thing about these pearls is how valuable they are. It is thought that they might have come from the Gulf or off Western Australia. They are very large, from the pictures they look as if they are at least 20mm long which is huge. Along with that they are also perfect pair which is one of the things that makes them so valuable. Each natural pearl is a totally organic product so it’s extremely rare to find a pair of pearl earrings that match in this way.

We have our own pearl jewellery collection and the pearls we use are hand picked for their quality of colour, shape and lustre. Check out our Vermeer range for instance. In terms of lustre and colour, pearls should have a kind of deep shine to them that makes them look ‘rich’. I love pearls and the great thing about them is the more you wear them the better they look, as the natural oil from your skin keeps them warm and lustrous. The most amazing thing about these long lost pearl earrings is that they don’t appear to have lost their lustre or colour in anyway which you would have thought would have happened due to the fact that they were unworn and untouched for so long. I wonder who will buy them…..

We then went into the auditorium and just as we were about to sit down we were told that the row we were sitting in was expected to get up and dance at the end of the performance. Einhorn went white as a sheet and tried to run but we managed to hold him down until the lights went down. We would cross that bridge when we came to it and so we sat back in our seats to enjoy the show, (just as a picture of Einhorn flashed into my mind of The Silver Fox at his daughters wedding, on the dance floor, throwing ‘his arms in the air like he don’t care’ and doing ‘The Hustle’…hmmmm it might be me doing a run for it…)

Anyway what to say about the show. As you know dear readers I am not a critic. Yes I am critical but that is a different thing altogether, and if you had to put up with what I put up with day to day, I dare say you would be critical too!

To me Compass incorporates what art is for. I think art is a reflection of the world we live in, as translated or interpreted by the artists who create the work. What they are saying is either understood or not understood by the us the public who see it. There is either a connection or not. Sometimes I don’t believe there is anything that the artist is trying to say at all and it’s just…what shall I make now? There’s no intention, it’s just art for attention.

Compass is different. It has a very strong message and connects emotionally with its audience.  From the moment the curtain went up we were transfixed. CJ Einhorn put his sweets down and didn’t fidget once. We love these shows, the mixture of people taking part, the music, the staging, the different ages, all dancing together, all getting their chance to contribute. It’s like a Utopia on stage and we all want to be involved. What always knocks me out is also the sheer talent of some of the dancers who are taking part, and the sheer professionalism of the entire show, it was stunning.

This is what I want my tax to be spent on. Not taxis for MP’s, not bailing out failing banks, not changing the bus lanes for the Olympics, not the Cross-rail, (we’ve had a 66% business rate rise just for that, thanks very much!) I want my taxes to go towards projects like this that give everyone in the community a chance to be creative and to really shine, and they really did last night!

We are extremely excited to have found out that there is another of these shows on 23rd April. It’s called ‘Compass’ and yet again pulls in different people from the rich community in which we are all fortunate enough to live.

Jane Hackett the artistic director for ‘Sum of Parts’ is also the artistic director for this production and she seems to have pulled together another really exciting show, including two choreographers from the Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch company. (Exciting also because we have actually heard of them, dance not being our usually preferred art form. Although Einhorn does appreciate a neatly turned calf that is also quite springy). We have our tickets and we hope that some of you will join us for what I’m sure will be as exciting a show as last years.

Talking of shows we managed to slip away over this bank holiday weekend, one reason being we never open our London showroom on Bank Holidays. We went to see ‘The Most Incredible Thing’, at Saddlers wells, music by the Pet Shop Boys and what a very dreary boring show that was! Some of the dancing was amazing, the two leads I thought were really good, but oh-my-god! I felt quite sorry for them all having to do something with the score.

If a music student had approached Sadler’s Wells and said he or she had written a little something based on a Hans Christian Anderson story and some music for a ballet, after one hearing he would have been laughed out of the theatre. He or she certainly wouldn’t have been given squillions of pounds to put on the show, with 18 musicians. To be fair the staging was quite nice, but I’m trying to be kind…the finale was a damp digestive in a luke warm cup of tea…really disappointing and being disappointed by something that has had loads of money spent on it, is well, really not great.

See below the pics for more info on which jewellery designs have been used in each shot…

1. Bull ring in silver, Skull ring in silver, Phoenix Rising ring in silver and last but not least our Ring of Sighs in yellow gold & 2000-year-old Thames wood.

2. Ring of Sighs in yellow gold & 2000-year-old Thames wood and Designer Einhorn’s silver Bull ring.

3. Bull ring in silver (there’s a lot of love for this statement ring!)

4. Elipse slim ring in silver, Phoenix rising ring in silver, Bull ring in silver, Slim pull bracelet in silver and our Fairytales charm bracelet also in silver.

You can shop all of the featured men’s and women’s jewellery designs right here online or visit us at our London showroom… It would be wonderful to see you!

The iconic sporting star is wearing our Geo 6 necklace and doesn’t he look great in it… Such a knockout shot (sorry, just couldn’t help it!).

A homely scene bouquet…waiting……. and Gothic Skull taps heads, naturally in the Einhorn home.

The Stephen Einhorn wedding rings encased in our heartbreak breakable plaster hearts of course!

It was a very crisp grey day on the 28th January 2012. The bride looked resplendent in a backless silk satin halter neck ‘New Look’ dress lovingly made for her by her wonderful mother, (couldn’t resist that apologies)  She also wore a handmade bespoke Fairtrade and Fairmined gold and Canadian diamonds Passion engagement ring with a bespoke wedding ring to match. The groom wore a designer pure wool navy two piece suit with correspondent shoes, sharp!  He also wore a silver Lioness ring, a silver Skull ring, a silver Skull bracelet with red garnet eyes and for his wedding ring he had a Fairtrade and Fairmined Ecological white gold and rose gold Geo ring, all made by Lily’s wonderful father.

The service was amazing, written entirely by Lily and Alex, and presided over by the really stupendous Claire. I was glad to be wearing waterproof mascara I can tell you. Einhorn had sand or popcorn in his eyes as usual just like when he took the children to see Free Willy. Ha! Lucky I had my handbag full of tissues.

We the congregation actually accepted Lily and Alex as a married couple and we vowed to support them throughout their married life, (already spent 4 hours in Ikea I’m doing my bit!) and we also told Alex that he may kiss the bride, which I though was most kind and generous of us!

The food was fantastic although the main caterer who was meant to be in charge on the day and make sure that everything ran smoothly, cancelled right at the last minute so I was suddenly in charge which was a bit like trying to put a load of snakes in a very small bag, but went well in the end, although the sword that was used to cut the wedding cake was used with a bit too much gusto, (at the end the cake did look a bit like someone had sat on it!) It all went off without anyone going hungry or being hit by flying icing!

In forefront of Celebrity Jeweller Stephen Einhorn is the groom wearing a Skull ring and HIS NEW Metal Geo wedding ring…aaaah

The cake was made by Victoria’s Cake Boutique and a very clever baker she is. The cups in the front were for one of the guests with a nut allergy (Fred) and the little cup cakes in between them were for a vegan (Marrissa).

The bridesmaid and friend didn’t want to wait for cake…….

Lily and Alex’s friends and now new relatives are amazing and sang songs, made animations, curated poems (for every single guest including the babies). There was a sound sculpture, lovely speeches, a risqué story from a Mills and Boone book, hand nurtured bulbs for every table, chair covers, all handmade, a handmade very special personalised wedding cake, ‘colouring in’ pictures of Lily and Alex on every table, small biographies of every guest so that conversation could start the minute you sat down at the table. Handmade bunting lent to decorate the hall, and special candlelights designed for the occasion by the brides mother and made by the brides father (so talented!). There were speeches more tears and of course lots of dancing.

The father of the bride gives his daughter a twirl..

It was endless what everyone contributed and made the day a day of love and happiness, totally brilliant!

Wedding Photos by Alison Gartshore Photography.

And finally a short animation made just for their wedding by the very creative George Gisborne and Katy.

Men’s leather bracelets work perfectly with an off-duty, more casual look but why not take a few style notes from this chap and sport your leather wrist wear with a suit – adding a subtle dash of individuality, whilst maintaining a professional look.

Opt for more understated leather wrist styles like our classic men’s Leather bracelet and Leather Snap bracelet, both of which will add a considered touch of texture to your workday attire. Finish with a beaming smile and you’ll be ready to take on the world.

All Stephen Einhorn’s men’s jewellery is handmade in our London workshops and you have the choice of having any of our leather bracelets made with either black or brown leather cord. Decisions, decisions…