This is all about jewels, the joy of women and passion of mighty men who can afford to ignite sparkles in the eyes of their flames The long-legged, red-haired, rhythm-gifted, young-departed Kate Mirovska used to often quote a Bulgarian saying which declares: Ne gledaj ce sam gola i bosa, gledaj kakva putka nosa" (which, roughly and most politely, translates as "Don't pay attention to my poverty, look what a great chick I am"). The accent of the meaning of the saying is on physical beauty and the epitome of woman's beauty is her sensuality, while the core of sensuality is all around the Venus Hill, which, in my mother language may translate as "putka". Phew! (Pic on the left: a Byzantine style neckless with emeralds, rubies, pearls on 22k. gold) Oh, my, where did I wind up when all I wanted before I started this post was talk about jewelry as the ultimate emphasizer of femininity and if the tempo and the length of the story allowed - about its big come back (not in the Netherlands, of course). Although I have gotten a short lesson in Eastern design of jewelry by my new friend Faruk Terzihan from the main street of the Covered Bazar (Kapali Carsi) of Istanbul - I am a total ignoramus when stones are concerned. Terzihan told me that many seamingly poor women , back-packers, would spend (credit cards and cash) easily $2,000 for a neckless. I do not know a thing about stones, all stones, in jewelry. It could be pieces of glass taken from a vitrage. This, of course does not mean that I m not dazzled with precious stones. Yes, those stones have a bewitching effect on my senses. (Here left: An Egyptian-style inspiration composed of beads of turquoise, lapis lazuli and goldbead cuff braced on a clasp of solid gold with hieroglifed message) Why discuss jewelry here at all? I have a feeling that blogger-women hate diamonds and gold nuggets. When in a form of arm-bands or bracelets they dangle from their wrists. When composed as rings they distract the eyes. Try blogging in bed stretched on your tommy and typing on the laptop. Once the bracelets and the rings are gone - what is left? Tiaras, earrings and brooches composed of precious stones and pure gold do not go with blogging because they do not add to comfort. Quite the opposite. But diamonds and gold are always an interesting topic. Although I prefer the real stuff to words, I rarely evade the chat about diamonds and gold. All it takes to have my attention glued is the fill of gold and stone. Here in the Netherlands you would be lucky to see a fraction of the number of women wearing jewelry as you do in England, France or Germany (countries by order from bottom to top of the gradation line) or for that matter even in totally different lands like Greece, Turkey or Bulgaria. (This pic is of a modern neckless designed by Marie-Helene de Taillac, a French dame with a chateau in southern France and very chic web-site on the World Wide Web; She spends half the year in Jaipur, India, designing and producing stuff like that and the other roaming around Europe.) I thought over these impressions before I'd make them conclusions and tried to find out whether the fault was with me. Maybe my daily contacts (family, friends and the like) have either no affinity or money or both to buy jewelry. Since I go to concerts, an occasional opera, often a museum, a gallery, not to speak of almost regular weekend-morning coffee at the American of Leidseplein, the Kurhouse hotel or Laren's chic establishments and then despite my walks (more contact-searching than real or window-shopping) through the innermost corners of the super-brand stores along PCHooftstraat - I would bet a reputation that on average Dutch women do not care for jewelry. Neither they display it where and when it is the most convenient. This is strange because Dutch women (and their men especially) have the money for a nice creation by the designers, say, of Coster Diamonds or for a trip plus the jewels from the world renown Gem Palace of Jaipur. So, why they, these beauties around me, do not display their jewels more visibly? Probably because it is in the culture. You cross the eastern border, hit the main street (never know for sure whether it was Keiser or Koning Alee) in Dusseldorf next month and when stopped at the pedestrian crossing try count all the expensive pfeltze around you and the opposite side waiting to cross. Those women out there display their wares including the jewels! (to continue)

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