THE PRINCE OF JEWELS

Summary

Podcast Summary: "THE PRINCE OF JEWELS" If Jewels Could Talk with Carol Woolton
Release Date: February 10, 2025
Guest: Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia

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1. Introduction and Guest Background

Carol Woolton welcomes listeners to the episode titled "THE PRINCE OF JEWELS," featuring Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia. Carol introduces Prince Dimitri as a distinguished figure in the world of fine jewelry, highlighting his lineage, professional background, and contributions to the industry. Prince Dimitri, a graduate of the Gemological Institute of America and former Senior Vice President of Jewelry at Sotheby's Auction House, launched his own fine jewelry collection in 2007. He is also the author of Once Upon A Diamond, a book that delves into his family's rich history with jewels.

Notable Quote:
Carole Woolton [02:23]: "I am delighted to be in New York this morning and I'm at home with Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia, who once said, 'From the moment I was born, I was surrounded by fantastic jewels.'"

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2. Prince Dimitri’s Royal Lineage

Prince Dimitri shares an extensive history of his connections to various European royal families, tracing his ancestry back to the 800s. He details his lineage, mentioning notable ancestors such as King Umberto of Italy, Queen Marie Jose of Belgium, Prince Paul of Yugoslavia, and connections to the British royal family through Prince Philip.

Notable Quote:
Prince Dimitri [02:39]: "Through my parents and their parents and my great grandparents. And it goes back to, I think, before the year 800 or something."

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3. Early Memories of Jewelry

Reflecting on his childhood, Prince Dimitri reminisces about the jewelry he was exposed to, particularly his mother's rings, pearl necklace, and earrings. These early experiences sparked his fascination with gemstones, leading him to explore gemology from a young age.

Notable Quotes:
Prince Dimitri [07:25]: "It's my mother's rings and her pearl necklace and some big pear shaped pearl earrings. It was fantastic."
Prince Dimitri [08:04]: "I was fascinated. Little box like that. Yeah, yeah."

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4. Family Heirlooms and Stories

Prince Dimitri recounts poignant family stories, including the theft of valuable jewels from his grandmother, Princess Olga, in Paris. He discusses the challenges his family faced in preserving their jewelry heritage amidst political turmoil and personal tragedies, such as his grandmother’s struggle with Alzheimer's.

Notable Quote:
Prince Dimitri [09:07]: "It was stolen, yeah."

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5. The Vladimir Tiara and Its History

A significant portion of the conversation revolves around the Vladimir Tiara, a cherished family heirloom now part of the British Royal Family's collection. Prince Dimitri elaborates on its origins, craftsmanship by Boleyn for the Empress of Russia, and its journey through history, including its escape from the Bolsheviks and eventual acquisition by Queen Mary.

Notable Quotes:
Prince Dimitri [14:29]: "Yes, it was made by Boleyn for the Empress of Russia... and then she gave it to Grand Duchess Vladimir."
Carole Woolton [15:16]: "How incredible."

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6. Designing His Own Jewelry Collection

Transitioning to his professional endeavors, Prince Dimitri discusses the inception of his own jewelry collection. Inspired by historical pieces and his family's legacy, he shares insights into his design philosophy, emphasizing the importance of wearability and aesthetic appeal. He highlights his innovative techniques, such as using mother of pearl to enhance the brilliance of gemstones.

Notable Quote:
Prince Dimitri [35:13]: "Three pear shaped, enormous emeralds totaling 95 carats... I lined a slice of mother of pearl behind it."

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7. Inspirations and Design Philosophy

Prince Dimitri delves into his sources of inspiration, drawing from medieval, Byzantine, and decorative arts. He references the Grammar of Ornament, a visual dictionary of decorative forms, and explains how historical motifs influence his modern designs. He also touches on his passion for using unusual materials, such as wood and hematite, to create unique and artistic jewelry pieces.

Notable Quotes:
Prince Dimitri [41:30]: "My source of inspiration is the grammar of ornament."
Prince Dimitri [43:22]: "It's a mixture of everything because of course, there's always the proportions are very important."

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8. Current Projects and Future Plans

Prince Dimitri reveals his latest project involving a QVC collection that translates his aristocratic influences into accessible designs for a broader audience. He shares his excitement about making jewelry wearable and stylish for everyone, emphasizing the blend of tradition and modernity in his work.

Notable Quote:
Prince Dimitri [46:14]: "And you just showed me a piece and I took it out immediately and said, Catherine the Great."

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9. Conclusion

Carol Woolton wraps up the episode by transitioning to upcoming topics, teasing future discussions about American royalty and renowned jeweler David Webb. She thanks Prince Dimitri for his insights and contributions to the podcast, inviting listeners to explore more episodes and Carol's latest book, If Jewels Could Talk.

Notable Quote:
Carole Woolton [48:10]: "And thank you so much for hosting us this morning."

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Key Takeaways

• Royal Heritage: Prince Dimitri's extensive royal lineage deeply influences his appreciation and understanding of fine jewelry.
• Personal Stories: The preservation and loss of family jewels amidst historical upheavals highlight the emotional and cultural significance of jewelry.
• Design Innovation: Combining historical inspirations with modern techniques, Prince Dimitri creates jewelry that is both beautiful and wearable.
• Accessibility: Through projects like his QVC collection, he aims to democratize fine jewelry, making it accessible to a wider audience.
• Philosophy: Emphasizing the importance of design, proportion, and the ability to evoke emotion, his work transcends mere adornment.

Notable Quotes Summary:

• Quotes are interspersed throughout the summary with corresponding timestamps, ensuring proper attribution and context.

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Final Thoughts

"The Prince of Jewels" episode offers a captivating glimpse into the life and work of Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia. His rich heritage, combined with a profound passion for jewelry design, provides listeners with a unique perspective on the intersection of history, art, and personal expression through gemstones and precious metals.

For more insights and stories about the world of jewelry, tune into future episodes of If Jewels Could Talk with Carol Woolton.

Transcript

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[Carole Woolton]

Which is your favorite stone?

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

All of them. It depends on my mood. When I look at them, it's the.

[Carole Woolton]

One I look at at that moment.

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

At that moment. Yeah. Yeah. That's why I did this brooch, which is one side emeralds, one side sapphire, and with an enormous aquamarine in the middle. Because I put my hand on one side and I see the aquamarine and sapphire and that's my favorite. And then I do the emerald and aquamarine, I say, no, that's now my favorite. And I can't make up my mind.

[Carole Woolton]

I'm Carole Houlton, the voice of jewellery. Welcome to if Jules Could Talk. I'm an author and broadcaster and the woman who initiated the role of jewelry editor at magazines like Tatler and Vogue. This is a podcast for everyone, for people who do like jewellery, for people who don't realise they like jewellery, and anyone intrigued by fascinating facts, new ideas and forgotten histories. So join me as I tell sparkly tales and meet all sorts of people delving into four centuries of jewellery culture and investigate what's happening now. I am delighted to be in New York this morning and I'm at home with Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia, who once said, from the moment I was born, I was surrounded by fantastic jewels. He studied at the Gemological Institute of America, was senior vice president of jewelry at Sotheby's auction house before starting his own fine jewelry collections 2007. And he's the author of a book which I think has one of the most romantic titles. It's called Once Upon A Diamond. Thank you so much for hosting us this morning, Dimitri.

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

You're welcome. Thank you for the visit.

[Carole Woolton]

And before we talk about the jewels, I wanted to get an idea of the listeners, to have an idea of how you are related to virtually every single royal house in Europe.

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

Well, through my parents and their parents and my great grandparents. And it goes back to, I think, before the year 800 or something. My grandfather was King Umberto of Italy on my mother's side. My grandmother, Queen Marie Jose, was a princess of Belgium. She was the Daughter of King Albert and Queen Elizabeth of Belgium. And on my father's side, it's Prince Paul of Yugoslavia, who was half Demidov, which was not a royal family, it was just a noble family, but the best collection of art in Russia at the time. And then my grandmother was born, Princess of Greece and Denmark. So she was the granddaughter of King George of Greece and his wife, who was a Grand Duchess of Russia, and her mother was Grand Duchess Helen of Russia. Twice Romandorf.

[Carole Woolton]

Twice Roman.

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

Yeah.

[Carole Woolton]

So I guess it's not surprising in a way, because all the royal families wanted to marry within other royal families, didn't they?

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

Yes. Yeah.

[Carole Woolton]

Keep it in the family.

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

Well, it was a business in those days. You know, if you think of it in the Middle Ages, a king and a queen, they were just the CEOs of a company, except the company was called a country and the title was forever. You were the CEO and it was called King and Queen.

[Carole Woolton]

So they wanted to bring in other riches, other treasures into their country. Alliances, alliances, political alliances, all of that. So did any of them marry for love?

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

Yes, it happened. It happened a lot. And then those who didn't, well, you know, it was too bad, but it was their job. The smart one was, I always, you know, cite. Her was Queen Margherita of Italy. She married her cousin. So, of course, one married one's cousins in those days.

[Carole Woolton]

Victor Emmanuel.

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

Victor Emmanuel. No, Umberto I. Oh, Umberto I. And he had mistresses and all that. And one day she sat him down and she said, listen, I understand you have mistresses and all that, but, you know, try, first of all, try not to, you know, embarrass me by being so public and obvious about it. Please be a little bit more discreet. It's not very good for our image. Secondly, we are partners in business, basically. So you can always count on me for being the face of Italy, and I will work relentlessly for the good of Italy, and let's be just a team and let's be friends. We are cousins. We are family. And he thought, yeah, that's a good idea. And they adored each other. After that, there was no tension because of the mistresses and all that.

[Carole Woolton]

But the mistresses stayed. They stayed.

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

But they were very discreet, and one didn't see too much of them. There was some illegitimate children here and there, but, you know, they were. They went by the back door or something.

[Carole Woolton]

Well, I suppose that still happens. Monaco.

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. But that was before he was married, so.

[Carole Woolton]

Okay, yes, that was before he was.

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

All the children yeah, they were before he was married. But Queen Margherita, she invented the concept of made in Italy in those days, which was very avant garde. She refused to go to Paris, to Melrion or Cartier or any of these to buy her jewelry or her clothes. They welcomed a Greek jeweler called Mr. Sotirios Bulgaris, who then became who? You know, Mr. Bulgaria, Mr. Bulgari. Yeah.

[Carole Woolton]

And you're related to the British royal family? They're cousins, yes, yes, yes.

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

Prince Philip and my grandmother were first cousins. My grandmother, Princess Olga. And she was a second cousin to the Queen's father. So Prince Philip was actually Greek. He was Greek and he was a second cousin to his father in law.

[Carole Woolton]

Oh, my God, it's so complicated.

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

Yes. Because there was a jump in generation. He was the last son of the King of Greece, so he ended up being born 20 years later after his cousins. So he jumped a generation. Same with Prince Michael of Greece, which was at the same time. So his children, Michael of Greece, who are younger than me, are actually my aunts.

[Carole Woolton]

How funny.

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

I call them Aunt Olga and Aunt Alexandra. Yeah. And through my other grandmother, Princess, who was Marie Jose of Belgium, we also related because the Duchess of Kent, mother of Queen Victoria, was the sister, I think, of the first King of Belgium.

[Carole Woolton]

So what was the first memory of these fantastic jewels that you saw growing up?

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

It's my mother's rings and her pearl necklace and some big pear shaped pearl earrings. It was fantastic.

[Carole Woolton]

And would she wear them every day or were these when she went out at night?

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

When she went out at night, yeah. And she would explain to me that there were stones. So I was fascinated. That stones. So I went in the garden. I was sort of digging to see if I would find some. I was what, four years old or something?

[Carole Woolton]

And you were disappointed?

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

Very disappointed.

[Carole Woolton]

They weren't sparkly in the garden like they were on Mummy's ears.

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

But then she gave me little stones in those days, they had boxes of stones with, you know, amethyst lapis and stuff for children, like little things and to learn.

[Carole Woolton]

Really?

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

Yeah.

[Carole Woolton]

So you learned gemology?

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

Yeah, right away. Yeah. So I was fascinated. Little box like that. Yeah, yeah.

[Carole Woolton]

And then when you went to stay with your grandmother, that was Princess Olga?

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

Yes.

[Carole Woolton]

And did you. Did she wear amazing jewels?

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

Yeah. Oh, yeah. She had wonderful things. And Queen Marie Jose also, she had wonderful things.

[Carole Woolton]

So, like what? What kind of things?

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

My grandmother had these fantastic emeralds.

[Carole Woolton]

Were those from the Romano.

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

Enormous drops like that? Yeah. The Romanov, she had that. She had a necklace By Faberge, I remember, which were. It was plaques of enamels on a chain of white enamel with sapphires, cabochons in the middle and held by snakes in between. Like that, all the way around. And on the bottom, a. A sapphire. Wrong. You know, sort of. How do you call it? Organic shape, but it must have been 100 carats or something. And it was held like this by a snake. Snake that was wrapped around it.

[Carole Woolton]

How incredible.

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

Yeah. And it was stolen.

[Carole Woolton]

That was stolen.

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

It was stolen, yeah.

[Carole Woolton]

In Palm Beach.

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

No, that was my grandmother, Princess Olga, in Paris. And in her old age, she started, you know, she lost her memory and she was having Alzheimer's. And that's when all sorts of very dishonest people, friends, supposedly came to visit all the time. And every time things disappeared to the point that my father had to call the police and forbid certain people, you know, Russian, supposedly relatives, to ever go and see her.

[Carole Woolton]

And was anything left?

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

Well, what was in the bank was left. Yes, but those things there. No. And the Romanov albums were not left. Also the ones of the marriage of her parents.

[Carole Woolton]

Did you inherit any jewels?

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

I. No, no.

[Carole Woolton]

They all went to female members.

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

Yes.

[Carole Woolton]

Do you resent that?

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

No, because.

[Carole Woolton]

But it's quite funny when we talk about equality now. Why can't you inherit some of the jewelry?

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

Well, they were divided in two between my father and my aunt. Yeah.

[Carole Woolton]

And where did your father's go? To your sisters?

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

My father.

[Carole Woolton]

Well, he sold them.

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

Yeah, he sold everything.

[Carole Woolton]

Oh, wow. Did you ever find them again at auction?

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

One sees them at auction every once in a while. Yeah. Yeah. The famous Tiara of Boucheron. The famous tiara which is on the.

[Carole Woolton]

COVID of my book, Once Upon a Diamond.

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

Once Upon a. You see this one? You recognize it?

[Carole Woolton]

Yes.

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

Everybody thought it was Cartier.

[Carole Woolton]

It's sort of. It's very high and coming across, but worn. Is that your grandmother wearing it?

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

That's my grandmother.

[Carole Woolton]

She's wearing it very. In a modern way. Very low over her forehead.

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

Yeah. Because that was the 20s and 30s, and everybody assumed it was Cartier. Every Cartier book, it's there listed as Cartier. And I was talking to the people at Cartier because they gave me all the images from Grandac's, de la Guimier's, photos of her jewelry that my grandmother had. And they said to me, but it's not Cartier. What do you mean? It's impossible. So he was very nice. He made some research and he found out that in reality, Grand Duchesse La DeMille was there in 1910, 2. Buying things for the wedding of her parents. And she had this thing that was by Chaumet, and it was broken and needed repaired. She couldn't be bothered to go to Chaumet. And Cartier said, yes, we'll repair it for you.

[Carole Woolton]

And so it's Chaumet.

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

So it is Chaumet. And so I called the second I knew, I just took my phone, I called it, I said, you have to change it. Put Chaumet. She said, too late. We are already in print. We can only delete the word Cartier, otherwise we're going to have to redo the whole.

[Carole Woolton]

I wonder if there's a maquette in the famous Chaumet museum above the store. There may be a maquette in there. We could find that out. If Jules could talk. We'll get on the mission and we'll try and discover that.

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

Absolutely.

[Carole Woolton]

So the book, I love that. I mean, it's just beautiful. It is very romantic. The book basically was based on some unseen family photo albums, weren't they?

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

My book. Yes, yes.

[Carole Woolton]

And they were from. Belonged to Grand Duchess.

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

It was the infantry of. Yes, well, the inventory of Grand Duchess Vladimir, because, you know the whole story, how they escaped from Russia.

[Carole Woolton]

Well, I know you're going to tell me in a minute. And so people haven't seen this family album before.

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

It has been seen. Yes, in the book of Hans Nadelhofer, because at the time, my grandmother had that book. And so he came to look at it and he was allowed to copy it. And I think Cartier also had a book. I think they must have had a few of them, because when everything was taken out of Russia, they photographed everything.

[Carole Woolton]

So basically, if you see Dimitri's book, it's sort of masses of each sort of royal house together at Windsor, shooting with King Edward vii, all sort of lined up. And then Queen Alexandra wearing an amazing Cartier Collis, saying, love, Auntie Alex. And it's just so personal. Incredibly personal. But like anybody's family album. But just. These are kings and queens.

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

Yeah, yeah. And in the Duchess of Windows collection at Sotheby's, remember, there was something like that. And it says, all my love from A to the Duke of Windsor. And nobody knew what it was. And I said, well, I know exactly what it was. It was from Queen Alexandra. I said, but she wouldn't put Alexandra, she would have put Mami. I said, no, no, no, she was D. So her grandchildren called her Amama, like we all do. So it means, Amama, that what the.

[Carole Woolton]

Images show is really the Sort of last gasp of aristocratic life in Russia before the revolution. So it's very poignant.

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

Yes. And I tell all the stories of the escape from Russia in the middle of the night.

[Carole Woolton]

So tell me. So this is really your favorite piece, I think, is the Vladimir tiara.

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

Yes.

[Carole Woolton]

Which is now in the British royal family collection.

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

And they've added the famous Cambridge emeralds.

[Carole Woolton]

Yes. So, but will you tell us about that tiara and what happened to it?

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

So the tiara, it was made by Boleyn for the Empress of Russia, who was her mother in law of Grand Duchess Vladimir, the wife of Alexander ii. And so she was also Alexandra Feodorovna the Elder, the one who was the. Who was painted by Winter Halter. And then she gave it to Grand Duchess Vladimir, who was her daughter in law.

[Carole Woolton]

Yes.

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

And then that was.

[Carole Woolton]

So at that point, it was diamond arches with pearls hanging in between them. They must have been beautiful, natural pearls.

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

Fantastic. It's in the book that they have a big. You saw the photo of the book. High resolution, the whole page. Yeah. You can tell. It's amazing. So the Grand Duchess was able to flee from Russia before the Bolsheviks were able to kill her. First, there was a boat that was going to Constantinople, and she inspected the boat first, and it was filthy, and she decided it was disgusting and she refused to go on board.

[Carole Woolton]

So was this 1917?

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

1919. 19, 1919. She was the last one to get out, and she was five minutes away from she and the whole entourage to be massacred. But she decided it was filthy and she refused to go on board such a filthy ship. So the ship took off, sailed to Constantinople, sailed into the harbor very, very slowly and crashed in the embankment. The captain who was holding the boat then collapsed and was the last one to die of typhoid fever. Everybody on the boat arrived. Everybody was dead. And the poor captain was trying to make it to Constantinople.

[Carole Woolton]

Oh, my God.

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

It's a terrible story. She had this feeling.

[Carole Woolton]

She had a feeling, yes.

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

So then she was able to contact my great grandmother on my mother's side, Queen Elena of Italy, who was the daughter of the King of Montenegro and had been raised in St. Petersburg at the small institute. So she was. And Alexander III was her godfather. I still have in my drawer there some amethysts that he gave her and the rest of the photos in my book. And then she was able to send the semiramis, as in the opera, to get her there.

[Carole Woolton]

So another boat came to the boat.

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

Another boat, and she.

[Carole Woolton]

And this was a clean boat.

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

It was A clean boat. And when I was in St. Petersburg, there was this very old lady on the trip with us. And when she knew I was there and she understood who. Who I was, she said, I have to speak to you. She said, In 1919, when my mother was dying and she couldn't make it, your great grandmother, great, great grandmother, Grand Duchess Vladimir told her that she was going to save her children. And her children could come with us. I was one of them. I was nine years old and I was on the boat. And on the boat, the grand duchess explained to all of us that when we walked by that this table there in the. In the dining room of the boat was the imperial table. And everybody was expected to curtsy in front of the table as they walked by, even if she wasn't there.

[Carole Woolton]

That's so funny. So she kept up her standards wherever she was.

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

But she had to go by to go to the train station. It was in January. They went in the middle of the night.

[Carole Woolton]

So they took nothing?

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

No, they took all the jewels. No, the jewels weren't there. In the middle of the night, an open carriage, all dressed up with feathers and all that. She refused to look. And then she was able to reach the door. The sisters of Nicholas ii, who were there, as they were a few days later, leaving on the Marlborough, the famous boat. And she writes in her memoirs. Because they didn't like the Vladimir very much. And she said for the first time I was happy to kiss her. Because I was so impressed by how she conducted herself.

[Carole Woolton]

Why didn't they like the Vladimir?

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

Because they were plotting. Always the Vladimirs didn't thought that Nicholas and Alexandra were ruining the country. Yeah, that same old story.

[Carole Woolton]

So there was tension there. So she took as much as she could, but not much.

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

Not much. So she arrives in Venice, and Albert Stopford, who was from the British Embassy, you know, brought her some cash because she needed cash and all that. And. And he said to her, but where are the jewels? And she said, it's all in St. Petersburg, in the palace. He said, I'm going. So he and somebody else, I think one of her sons who was still there, dressed as, you know, plumbers or something, went there in the middle of the night. She gave the instructions where to find it. And they found everything. Everything wrapped in two sort of big bags.

[Carole Woolton]

Gladstone bags.

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

Gladstone bags, exactly. With, you know, paper, whatever newspapers. And they were able to bring it to England. And then it was divided by colors. So my great grandmother got everything white, as in pearls and diamonds. And the brothers got, you know, Rubies, emeralds and sapphires.

[Carole Woolton]

And that's what they lived on.

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

Yes. That kept them alive for the longest, I mean, for two or three generations.

[Carole Woolton]

And Queen Mary bought the tiara.

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

Yeah.

[Carole Woolton]

Which is now such an important tiara.

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

And a long sautoir in diamonds also.

[Carole Woolton]

Oh, really?

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

With stones like this that you see her wearing. But it's never really talked about. But I saw one photo of her wearing it and it said it was.

[Carole Woolton]

And she.

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

It's probably still there. I mean, they have it.

[Carole Woolton]

I'm sure it'll be still there. And Queen Mary probably didn't take much to. She loved jewelry and she wanted to get her hands on. But I guess she probably did that also to, in her mind, keep it in the family.

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

Yes, yeah, probably. Well, yeah, because then her son married Grand Duchess Helen's daughter, you know, so they were sort of co. Sisters and I don't know how you call that when your daughter marries my son. I mean, how we are related all of a sudden. Yeah. Princess Marina.

[Carole Woolton]

Yes.

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

Was the daughter, of course, Princess Marina of Kent.

[Carole Woolton]

She's right there and I'm just next.

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

To her sister, my grandmother, and next to her mother. And there she goes.

[Carole Woolton]

These are the family photographs that are on Prince Dimitri's shelves. So we can see her with a gorgeous. She's wearing the honors from the Queen.

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

Oh, the medals.

[Carole Woolton]

Yes, yes. But the Usopovs, the Prince Yusupov, he wasn't so lucky, was he? He got out. He got out. But all the jewels were left behind, weren't they?

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

Except all the ones that were in Paris had showmain being remounted and there was quite a few of them. Yeah. So that he was able to.

[Carole Woolton]

And he had secreted them within the walls of the palace.

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

Yes.

[Carole Woolton]

And then of course, they were found.

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

Yeah, they were found. He was able to bring a painting by Rembrandt, a very important one. He took it out of the frame and he rolled it.

[Carole Woolton]

So he relied on. And he lived off the jewels that were in Paris.

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

Yeah. And the Rembrandt.

[Carole Woolton]

And the Rembrandt. And then a portable wealth we're talking about here. This is one of the points of jewels in time of war and revolution.

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

Exactly.

[Carole Woolton]

And then the Bolshevik found the jewels in the walls and they sold them all.

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

Did they sold? Yes, I think so. There was a famous auction of that along with the imperial ones.

[Carole Woolton]

It was treasures for tractors, wasn't it? They wanted to support.

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

And then Lenin stopped it because he was seeing they weren't getting anything. It was a waste of Money and then whatever. They were not sold. What wasn't sold is now in the Kremlin.

[Carole Woolton]

Do you have any Faberge pieces?

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

Not much. I have a leather frame at the entrance. I'll show you.

[Carole Woolton]

I mean, I love them. I love the Faberge pieces.

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

Yeah, me too.

[Carole Woolton]

Oh, it's so beautiful.

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

No, I had a few, but. But I bought my apartment 26 years ago.

[Carole Woolton]

That was a good swap. Yes, that was a very, very good swap. Yeah. But you say in the book that you have a passion for Russian jewelry.

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

Yes.

[Carole Woolton]

Because you find it very modern and bold and chic.

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

Yes, it's that bold, chic look that they have.

[Carole Woolton]

So, like what. Why do you love it so much?

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

Because the designs are so interesting.

[Carole Woolton]

And what's different about it?

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

I don't know. You can just tell that it's Russian right away. Like, you can tell something is Chaumet, or you can tell something is Cartier or Bvlgari. It's that look. And there's always those curves and there's lots of graceful shapes in it. What is better than the cyclament tiara that Faverge did? I mean, it's in the Westminster family now. They bought it at auction. It was made for somebody else, but then you knew, and then you could turn it.

[Carole Woolton]

Oh, my God. The new duchess wore it while she was getting married this year, and she had it just around a sort of chignon at the back of her head.

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

It was so, so wonderful. And these tiaras, you could unmount them and they turn into necklaces, which I love the idea.

[Carole Woolton]

And you also have a gorgeous tiara, which I don't think exists anymore. By Show Me. Which was given to your great great great grandmother, the Duchess Vladimir of the waterfall tiara. By Show Me.

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

Oh, yes. With all the briolettes hanging.

[Carole Woolton]

It has. But it's like a spray of water, isn't it? Like, sort of.

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

There's three elements, like this, one in the front and two on each side. And then at the 1903 ball, she has this kakoshnik, and she put three holes in it, and she put the tiara behind, and the waterfall comes through the holes.

[Carole Woolton]

Amazing.

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

Yeah.

[Carole Woolton]

So where is that now? Nobody knows. Nobody knows.

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

Nobody knows.

[Carole Woolton]

Maybe broken up, sadly. That's a very Russian thing that they layered tiaras, didn't they? I mean, when they got married, they wore a nuptial crown and a kokoshnik tiara.

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

Ah, yes. The famous one, the little crown, is in Washington, because that was Marjorie Fishermeher Fisher at her. Marjorie Merri weatherpole.

[Carole Woolton]

Why did they layer tiaras? Was that part of impressing?

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

What did that. I mean, remember, the Pope has had the triple tiara always, So I thought they guessed. I guess they bought two was a good idea also.

[Carole Woolton]

Yeah, maybe one was just bourgeois you needed.

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

But that was only for the day of the wedding.

[Carole Woolton]

Only for the day of the wedding. Then your grandmother did it at the ball.

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

Yes, well, she put. Then she sewed things on it. I mean, it was a whole outfit. But then there's pictures of Queen Margherita of Italy wearing two tiaras with a hairdo. But they were thin tiaras. They were not very, very big.

[Carole Woolton]

So Queen Margherita, first Queen of Italy. She had a great muzzi tiara, didn't she? By muzzi.

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

Yes.

[Carole Woolton]

Which was incredible. Russian royals, we know, are sold, broken up in different collections. The ones that were sold, what happened to the Italian Royal Collection?

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

They were. Most of them were sold because they were divided between my mother and her two sisters and brother. And most of them were sold. Yeah.

[Carole Woolton]

Sold at auction.

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

Sold at auction, yeah. There's a few left. There's the musi tiara that my uncle has. Well, he just died, so it's my cousin who has it now.

[Carole Woolton]

Has that one.

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

Yeah. Do they have a one with the pearls? Oh, yeah, yeah. His mother wore it not so long ago at some wedding or something in Belgium, I think. Yeah, that's good.

[Carole Woolton]

Yeah, we like them to be worn.

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

Yes.

[Carole Woolton]

So what about the ones that are left behind that are in the bank of Italy?

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

Who knows? So we put a claim on them and we're in the lawsuit with the Italian government. You are right now we are. Meaning my mother and her and my cousin and her two sisters. Rumor has it that we're never going to see them because half of them have been stolen. So they don't want to admit that.

[Carole Woolton]

So that's why they keep.

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

So they keep on saying, no, no, it belongs to us and you have no claim on it, blah, blah, blah. And then, because we're not allowed even to go and see them anymore.

[Carole Woolton]

So were they open? If it's true, when were they last open? When was this vault last opened?

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

I think 25 years ago, about 1976. Oh, that's more than. That's 40 years ago.

[Carole Woolton]

Okay.

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

Yes. I think it's when Johnny Bulgari went, was one of the experts and what.

[Carole Woolton]

To go and assess.

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

Yeah, yeah. So he said they were worth between 20 and $25 million in those days, which today would be more because there's the 15 carat pink diamond. In it there was an enormous brooch, you know, and then in the middle there's this big pink diamond. I don't know how pink it is. That makes, as you know, the difference.

[Carole Woolton]

In price who bought them or owned them was that they came from.

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

They came down through, you know, centuries of inheritance. And a lot of them were stones that were remounted in those days, like the sapphire parure was stones that were all put together. And it was a double necklace. The photos of my grandmother wearing it in my book, there was no tiara, there was just a necklace and a.

[Carole Woolton]

Socking great pink diamond.

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

Yes, but that's in Italy, in the bank of Italy.

[Carole Woolton]

Oh, that's in the bank of Italy, yeah. So these. Who was the last family member to see them?

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

My grandfather.

[Carole Woolton]

Your grandfather. And why did they land up in the vault? Did he have to?

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

I don't know. When he left, he thought he was coming back or something. He didn't realize he was going in exile forever.

[Carole Woolton]

Right.

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

He left a note saying, these belong to Achill Dirito in Italian, of whoever it's entitled to. Meaning. It was very sort of mysterious, the way he wrote it, meaning if he was dead, his descendants.

[Carole Woolton]

And so the Italian government intervened and won't let them.

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

And they seized him. Yeah, because the thing is, they seized all his property. And that is in the article 13 of the Italian constitution. And there's a listing, an addendum with a listing of all the properties which were mostly art and real estate. None of the jewels are listed in it. So the argument, our lawyers are saying it's not listed in the thing. So it was understood already then that these were private things, personal property, personal things that were not going to be seized, otherwise it would have been listed. But, you know, like everything in Italy.

[Carole Woolton]

And you can't demand to see them.

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

No, the lawyers were going to see them. When was it? Four years ago, I think we're still waiting.

[Carole Woolton]

So I think, you know, your mother was instrumental in giving you this love of gemology, first by giving you these stones and then you.

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

It's in my DNA, I think because none of my brothers and sisters are interested in jewelry. My two grandfathers love jewelry and they design things for their wives.

[Carole Woolton]

That's very romantic.

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. They really liked it and they love stones.

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[Carole Woolton]

And then you talked about your mother doing an image. I don't know if it was for a magazine to be photographed. And she had a lot of Harry Winston gems in her hair.

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

Yeah, I have a doubt entrance. It's also in my book. Yeah. They were doing a story on the. On the young princesses of. In Paris in those days. It was in the 60s. So she was what, late 20s, early 30s.

[Carole Woolton]

Which magazine was it for?

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

French Vogue, I think. Yeah. So she went and she put all the things. And I remember going there and looking at all the stones. I was fascinated when she wasn't. She wasn't doing it that day, but she was talking to them to prepare to make the arrangements. And I was sort of looking at everything. And one of the men there working was explaining to me what sapphires were. And he explained the difference between Burmese, Ceylon and Kashmir. He showed me the three different ones and then I knew and it was.

[Carole Woolton]

That's amazing.

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

Yeah, yeah. And I must have been. It was in the 60s, so it must have been, I don't know, seven, eight years old.

[Carole Woolton]

Really? And it stuck with you.

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

Oh, yeah. Just fantastic. And then When I was 16, I went to Tehran. Fifteen, I went to Tehran with my parents and we went to the Melee bank twice. And two days later, I was so obsessed with it that I forced my mother to take me back again.

[Carole Woolton]

So she was happy when you chose jewelry.

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

Yeah, yeah, because she loved jewelry. Yeah. And. But the treasure, the Melee bank, have you been. No, I can't tell you. And it's gigantic. It's the size of a New York block underground. And if ever there's a burglary or something, you press one button and in five minutes it fills with water. They explained to us. I mean, we didn't see the button, but they explained the system on the security because we went with the niece of the Shah, who took us at the time, the Shah was still there. So we had a very special visit. And the quantity of things, I mean, saddles for horses with emeralds like this in the front and everything. The reins, the saddle, rubies, emeralds, sapphires, all encrusted gold things. I mean, the swords, you know, ceremonial swords. There was a tea set, I remember turquoises and rubies pave like this around the cups, the teapot and vases like that, all from mogul times, from 15th 16th century things. I mean, on and on and on. And the throne and the crown. The crown and the globe, which was about this size.

[Carole Woolton]

So that made a huge impression. Yes.

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

And then There was vitrines with sort of cardboard boxes like that, and then mountains. But literally from here to here, like, you would see a mountain of emeralds and then the other one of rubies and then of sapphires and then of Golconga diamonds. I mean, and you could go like this, like scoop them up and scoop them up, would roll on the floor. I mean, if you had done it, I mean, they didn't do that.

[Carole Woolton]

I think you'd be in jail.

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

But you. One could, you know.

[Carole Woolton]

Yes.

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

It was the cave of Alibaba.

[Carole Woolton]

How amazing.

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

And the coronation robe of the Empress, it was something like 10 meters long. Yeah. Midnight green. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, yeah. She had six ladies in waiting holding it, three on each side. And then they had all the stones. All the stones in modern times, meaning after the war, they decided that the Empress and all the princesses of the House of Palavi should have their own pareurs in every color. So all the jewelers from Paris came and they made a parure in diamonds, emeralds, rubies and sapphires for every princess and for the Empress and the coronation tower and all that that Van Cleef made. And he wasn't allowed. The stores were not allowed to leave the bank because it was national treasury and it was the counterpart of the currency. That's how much it was. It backed the currency of the country. Yeah. So it wasn't theirs, it was the country. But so they had to come and they had to do mock things in wax and things, place the stones and had to copy the stones in wax, bring them to Paris, back and forth. I can't tell you the complication, but they pulled it off.

[Carole Woolton]

I think we first met when you had started your fine jewelry business and you bought a collection to London and displayed it at Mallet's on Bond Street.

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

Yes. And there was a Christie's.

[Carole Woolton]

Maybe it was. And it was a very. There was a very grand party.

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

Yeah.

[Carole Woolton]

And I remember being struck by an emerald tree brooch.

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

It wasn't. Yes. It was manners, I think. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm thinking of something else. Sorry.

[Carole Woolton]

And this was inspired by the cash pose and the orangerie vessel in Versailles.

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

Yeah.

[Carole Woolton]

Which was just beautiful.

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

Three pear shaped, enormous emeralds totaling 95 carats, which is big for an emerald, but they were very dark. I remember they were dark and didn't have much life. So I invented a trick which was to. To cut a slice of mother of pearl the same size and put it behind it and sit them on it. And it worked incredibly well. And I did it the other day when I did, I mounted somebody's amethyst, completely black. And I did a cross in. Actually, I did the polar star in chrysoprase, which is. No, not chrysoprase. Rhodocrochrocyte, which is pink. And I did the same thing of the mother of pearl in the back. And it's amazing how it lights up a stone. And I remember the jeweler said, no, you'd be better off putting it on platinum or a mirror. I said, no, no, no, because that's going to do the, you know, the silvery look of Indian jewelry. So the mother of pearl worked very well.

[Carole Woolton]

And then I remember you had cognac diamonds that were the earth and the roots.

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

You would open the door and it had roots in was amazing cognac diamonds. And then you could close it. And on the door I inscribed, for those who could listen. Even stones speak.

[Carole Woolton]

They sure do.

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

Yeah. So I was in my office one day and this lady said, where did you find that? And I said, well, I was reading an esoteric book and I think it's in the Bible. Where in the Bible is it, you know, one of those somewhere, I don't know. So she goes, well, it would be interesting to find out. I said, okay. So I said, I'll let you know. I'll Google it. So I Google in English and I spend the whole day and I find absolutely nothing. So then I say, let's see. Well, let's Google it in Italian I find something. I mean, the Pope lives in Italy, so sure, in Italian I'll find nothing. I Google in Spanish. Spanish is a Christian language. The emperor said, to speak Spanish is to speak Christian. I'm gonna find it. I find nothing. I say, okay, France was the eldest daughter of the church. I'm gonna find it in the French Google. So I Google and at the end of the day, I find nothing. And then there's one notification on Google that says we cannot find the exact. This quote in the Bible. The closest thing we can find is. And the sex was so fabulous, even the neighbors lit up a cigarette when it was over. Can you imagine? Only in French. So I discovered that day that French. That God was French and had the best sense of humour.

[Carole Woolton]

The cinqasset.

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

Exactly.

[Carole Woolton]

That's so funny. So what made you want to start your own collection?

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

Remember Asael, the Pearl king? No, I don't think I do, Salvador. Asael was the pearl king. He invented, so to speak, black pearls. He would get them in Tai tea. And he convinced all the Big houses that they were beautiful because in the beginning they were black pearls. So they were dirty. A pearl had to be white. So they hadn't thought about looking carefully and saying, oh yeah, it's actually quite nice.

[Carole Woolton]

So he made the fashion.

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

He made the fashion and he became the biggest pearl producer in the world in those days. So he called me, said, you know, I love your jewelry. It's just after 9 11, I can't sell anything anymore. Would you like to do a collection for me? And I said, yes, this is what I did for him. We called it the new look of pearls.

[Carole Woolton]

It's beautiful.

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

And that was my first design because. And he said to me, if you.

[Carole Woolton]

This is sort of rose, I'll take a picture and put it on YouTube so everyone can see it. But it's sort of rows of chains. Other chains hang. It's like almost twisted. I tell you what it reminds me of like a fishing net. And it's caught this cluster of pearls.

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

So this was the necklace, One necklace, a row of baroque pearls. So I cut it like he thought I was going crazy. He said, no, no, no. I said, I know exactly what I'm going to do. I'm going to do two rows of chains. You see this hangs from the top, this from the back, this from the top, this from the front one. I alternate them and all the smaller ones in the center. I did a pom pom and wherever there was holes, I put little diamonds to fill the hole. It's gorgeous, you know.

[Carole Woolton]

So who bought that? Do we know?

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

I can't remember because we made so many of those. This was inspired by the Vladimir Tiara. Yes.

[Carole Woolton]

Circles. Gold circles with pearls.

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

We made these in every color and it was called the New look of pearls.

[Carole Woolton]

So that kicks off, started you doing your own collection. Your cufflinks were all over the place, weren't they? And everywhere. And you still have high end clients that you for.

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

Yeah.

[Carole Woolton]

And you quite like it seems to me different materials.

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

Yes. Unusual materials.

[Carole Woolton]

Unusual. Hematite, steel, wood.

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

Blue jeans.

[Carole Woolton]

Blue jeans. Blue jeans, blue jeans. Oh my gosh, here's a choker. Blue jeans with black pearls chains. It's amazing.

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

I did three of those. Where are the other three? I did three blue jean ones. Yeah, this was wonderful. And when it sat on you, it was fantastic. But there you go, look. I did four of them in blue jeans.

[Carole Woolton]

Four with white pearls, black pearls.

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

Yeah.

[Carole Woolton]

Incredible. Rubies and wood. You like wood?

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

I love wood. 24 karat gold.

[Carole Woolton]

And look at these.

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

He had this collection of rubies Emerald diamonds and sapphires. Every stone was uglier than the next look. If you look carefully, the sapphires were black. These were kind of dark rubies, completely. The emeralds were. You couldn't do anything with them, but they threw everything together. And I did the Byzantine sort of inspired medieval barbarian in 24 karat gold with this page. Baroque pearl. It takes. And it turned out to be fantastic like that.

[Carole Woolton]

It's fantastic.

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

It really worked.

[Carole Woolton]

And you. You. You're inspired by the Middle Ages. The Crusades.

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

Yes, the Middle Ages. By India. Crosses. I love crosses. I'm inspired by all decorative arts, which was the philosophy of Cartier in the old days. And I have this. And my source of inspiration is the grammar of ornament. Do you know that book?

[Carole Woolton]

No.

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

It's all about. It's a visual dictionary of all the decorative arts in history, from every country. It was written in the 19th century, the late 19th century.

[Carole Woolton]

A visual reference of form and color in architecture and the decorative arts and.

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

Actually all the Egyptian period. He was very lucky that Napoleon had brought a team of 170 professors and specialists who catalogued everything decorative in Egypt. So. Which was one of the chapters of.

[Carole Woolton]

This book, Greek keys, obviously. A big everything. Etruscan vases, Pompeian ornament. How amazing. So this is the historic.

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

Yeah, yeah. So I use shapes from there sometimes to do things, you know, when you need an edge, a border, a detail. So.

[Carole Woolton]

And you've just shown me a beautiful paradox stone set in yellow chrysoprase.

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

Yes.

[Carole Woolton]

Which is. So it's such an unusual color combination.

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

Yeah, yeah.

[Carole Woolton]

Beautiful. Two tones of green, sparkling, and then the matte below it. Beautiful. And that's carved in a.

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

In one block of chrysoprase, a sort of medieval cross. Yes, it's called the Cross Fleury. And the cross Fleury has, as in fleur de lys, has four fleur de lys at each end. And it's very symbolic because it was a very Catholic one, because the 12 points are the 12 apostles and the three points of each flower is the Holy Trinity. So it's very Catholic, very full of symbolism.

[Carole Woolton]

And is that a private commission?

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

No, that I did because I had the peridot. But private commissions, I've done it twice before, but with turquoise instead. In which I put one. One of the amethyst I was telling you of Alexander III's gift to Queen Elena of Italy. It's in my book, I think.

[Carole Woolton]

How do the jewels you saw in your childhood, how did they affect your design? Do they inspire it.

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

It's the feeling that I reproduce whenever I see an amazing jewel. I mean, so there's the visual component, but it evokes. There's an energy that comes through. And I know when I recompose things, I get the feeling or I don't get it. It's difficult to describe. Sounds a bit strange.

[Carole Woolton]

It's not a literal inspiration, it's just how you feel.

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

Yeah, well, it's a mixture of everything because of course, there's always the. The proportions are very important. I find the way it's done, it has to be as beautiful behind as it is in the front. Russian, that was the. All the Cartiers and all of them. It's very important. The back and it has to move also, and it has to make you pretty. I mean, sometimes people do all this funny, strange modern jewelry today that looks.

[Carole Woolton]

Like it's got to enhance.

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

It's fun as an object, but it's unwearable. For instance, I even did a wood necklace, but I made it in a way that's wearable with a bit of diamonds and things. But I used all the gold in it. I did links in 24 karat gold. So it brings a certain light and certain energy.

[Carole Woolton]

And you love those sort of paisley patterns, don't you?

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

Yes, Yeah, I love the paisley. Love, love, love paisley. I've done a ton of things in paisley. Yeah. Like those two bracelets.

[Carole Woolton]

They're gorgeous. And I love the sort of paisley idea in the wood with the slightly different stones on each side.

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

Yes.

[Carole Woolton]

The pink and lavender spinel. Really beautiful.

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

Yeah, I like to do that.

[Carole Woolton]

Which is your favorite stone?

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

I don't know. All of them. It depends on my mood when I look at them. It's the one I look at at that moment. At that moment. Yeah, yeah. That's why I did this brooch, which is one side emeralds, one side sapphire, and with an enormous aquamarine in the middle. Because I look, I put my hand on one side and I see the aquamarine and sapphire and that's my favorite. And then I do the emerald and aquarium. I say and. No, that's now my favorite and I can't make up my mind.

[Carole Woolton]

Yeah, I'm a bit like that, too. So now you have a new project which is taking all this aristocratic influence and inspiration onto qvc.

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

Yes.

[Carole Woolton]

For a QVC collection.

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

Yes.

[Carole Woolton]

And you just showed me a piece and I took it out immediately and said, Catherine the Great.

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

Catherine the Great. Yeah.

[Carole Woolton]

And they're these gorgeous little flowers recreated that she used as sort of buttons, didn't she?

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

Buttons and no, they were just sewn. I think of the coronation dress.

[Carole Woolton]

On the dress.

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

She invented the. She was the inventor of the total look. I think they're made of a cubic zirconia. A new variety that's made today called Diamond Nick. And they looked. They look very good because you know how cubic zirconia, they have too much color in them. This one is exactly like diamonds. The same between refraction and white light.

[Carole Woolton]

I think. Miu Miu. This year on the Runway for autumn winter, they showed costume flowers, slightly different, each one, but in a group of three on the shoulder, which was really effective. You could do that with those. I have to Google men and women.

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

Yeah.

[Carole Woolton]

Could just sort of expand on the floral idea. It would be super chic.

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

But I think it's great that everybody can wear jewelry. Everybody should. Should be allowed to.

[Carole Woolton]

And how do you think women should wear jewellery now?

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

Well, this depth. You can't wear as much as before. Of course. It's good that we have fake jewelry because you can make them look very, very pretty. And then it doesn't look vulgar. It looks like artistic because sometimes, you know, a thousand carats like. Like that on it. It's a little bit.

[Carole Woolton]

So you need design.

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

It can look. I think you need design. Yeah. Yeah. That's very important.

[Carole Woolton]

So now we're going to go and have a look at some of these other treasures and photographs.

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

Yeah.

[Carole Woolton]

And thank you so much for hosting us this morning.

[Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia]

You're very welcome. Thank you for the visit.

[Carole Woolton]

Thank you for listening. For this and other episodes of the podcasts, Please go to carolwalton.com we have a new website. And don't forget, the book of the podcast if Jules Could Talk, published by Simon and Schuster, is out now in all bookstores and on Amazon. Do share the podcast any way you can if you've enjoyed it. And don't forget, we love to have a rating and a comment and of course, any suggestions of things that you would like us to explore on the podcast. Now join me again in two weeks for the next jewelled nugget. Having looked at European royalty today, we are now going to look at American royalty, David Webb, the quintessential American jeweller that all the royalty of Fifth Avenue in Manhattan flocked to and wore and still do. So we are going to the store and the workshop above the store overlooking the bustle of New York's Madison Avenue. So join us then and thank you for listening. Bye. Bye. If Jules could talk with Carol Woolton is produced by Natasha Cowan. Music and editing by Tim Thornton. Graphics by Scott Bentley. Illustration by Jordi Labander.