The Cornflower Blue Sapphire from Sri Lanka – Truly Royal!

In the world of gemstones, there are three imperial sisters who has reined over any dynasty and rules. Their status - The three royal princesses of gems have withstood the test of time. They have stood high and proud in value and demand over many years and they are The Sapphire, The Ruby and The Emerald!

Amongst these three sisters, my favourite is the sapphire. This fancy stone can be found in as many colours as the rainbow and sometimes even more than one colour in a stone but if someone tells you that she knows Sapphires but not the “Cornflower Blue” Sapphire, then she is definitely trying to pull a fast one! Don’t waste your time talking to this one! The legendary “Cornflower Blue” is one of the two most coveted colours when it comes to blue sapphire. Many Tai Tais go on a ceaseless hunt for this coveted colour sacrificing much money along the way. In fact, this colour is so rare that it has been said that once you see it, you will not forget it!

But Why Sri Lanka?! While there are also sapphires to be found in the Land of a Thousand Smiles, Amazing Thailand and Madagascar, the stones from these two countries are considered by many Tai Tais to be poor substitutes for the poor. Thai Sapphires appear to be darker (colour wise, Thai Sapphires can sometimes be almost black!!!) than the Sri Lanka ones while the ones mined from Madagascar appear to be less rich and intense in terms of its hue of blue. It also often presents a rather false-grey-ish metallic sheen that the Sri Lanka Sapphires do not have.

So what is this Legendary “Cornflower Blue” Sapphire! What is a “Cornflower”?

A Cornflower but which blue? (Source: www.wikipedia.org)

So when we look for a “Cornflower Blue” Sapphire, do we look for the colour in the centre of the flower or the colour of the petals? In my experience, when you see a cornflower blue you will know. The feeling is like seeing a perfect male specimen naked in the most unexpected of places like a mall on Christmas Eve! It leaves you breathless! Many have gone to the extent of matching the colour with a pantone code and so on but to me, it is really futile because the legendary cornflower comprises more than merely colour. There has to be luster and scintillation, which takes a master craftsman to bring out. Like a man who is good looking who has a great body and possesses a well-developed fire-fighting department! What’s the use of mere looks when you cannot satisfy the woman!?

The Sacred & Divine Guiding Rule: 3 out of 4!

The 3 out of 4 rule is the sacred and divine guiding rule in our search for jewels. For the benefit of those who have not heard of this rule, the 4 Cs means Colour, Clarity, Cut and Carat-age (if there is such a word, but who cares!).

I’d like to think that finding a gem is just like looking for a man and like most things in life, nothing is perfect. You can win one but never win them all, at least most of the time. When a man has a handsome face, they are more often than not cursed with either a less than desirable figure (which can still be redeemed) a character flaw (meaning that they either have a weird fetish for stinky feet and/or arm pits or they get turned on by wearing women’s underwear) otherwise they beat up their women. To me this is the worst because there is little or no cure as they are often diehard addicts to their vices. I have even met some who have acquired all of the above bad points and managed to top it with an ugly face BUT these rare species are mostly of the time, loaded beyond belief!

If they are good-looking, gentlemanly, do not smoke, drink or do drugs, do not beat up women and are rich, then they are either gay, married, dead or all of the above. AND! If they are straight then one has to be VERY careful because they are very likely to be less than blessed in their department “down there”. A little tap? A Chinese teapot spout or a limp garden hose, a really short garden hose… This makes visits down there during sex less that desirable. Sometimes, us poor women have to even feign pleasure when we do not feel a thing, literally!

However, having said all of that, there are an extremely rare few who score a perfect 4 out of 4 but it will be easier to find unicorns! For most mere mortals, be it a man or a gem, 3 out of 4 will mean a good catch.

In the world of gems, a stone with a good colour, (different colours are coveted for different types of stones) good Clarity (meaning the thing is clean) a good Cut (refering to the symmetry of the stone. The proportion of the cut affects luster and intensity of the colour of the stone). Last but most importantly, the Carat-age! In other words, how huge your blinkers are! Out of these 4 Cs, 99.9% of Tai Tais will swear by their gems and their men that size is most important in giving pleasure! The larger they are, the more pleasure it gives... Hence, the sacred divine rule is – Be it a Gem or a Man, any that scores 3 out of 4, think hard about how to make it yours!

At the end of the day, we Tai Tais love our gems like we love our men! Big! Big! Big! How else did you think, Carat-age became the first and most important criteria, in gems I mean!

Achieving The Look, The Look of a Tai Tai!

It is never easy when one marries into prominence. A great deal of restrain is required in executing the look that is indisputably Tai Tai. How high your hair should be considering the racial origins of your family and your husband’s family? The Indonesians and Thais have always been known for their mile-high soufflé like hair-dos. This style requires hundreds of hairpins no one can find with even a looking glass on top of several cans of hairspray to make it typhoon proof. The Cantonese will only sprout similar hairstyles at Gala events and dinners. The modern and younger ones will sprout little bobs and shorter more chic styles for convenience. Of course, they live in constant fear of the possibility of mockery and jest by peers for not being able to afford a trip to the stylist on a daily basis. And then, there is the issue of jewelry and clothes.

The Chinese prefer imperial jade while our Caucasian counterparts prefer gold, silver in death defying proportions and designs, their semi-precious gems and reconstituted turquoise. The Indians on the other hand fancy love exquisite craftsmanship evident in the filigree and cuts in their gold neck-pieces, bangles an bracelets but Diamonds are obviously a universal favorite.

some stuff from my stash of stones...

The problem is how much sparkle is too much? Should the 5 carat diamond wedding ring stacked with the eternity band and worn with the diamonds-by-the-yard bracelet be crowned with the 2 carat earrings and the oh-too-huge pendant? Or should the 3 out of 4 rule apply? What is the 3 out of 4 rule? Exactly how much is too much and where should we stop?

Tai Tais: The Ladies That Lunch but Never Eat! Or do they!?

A group of international elites exists amongst the various echelons of society wielding immense influence on multi-billion dollar industries all across the world from the fields of jewelry and fashion, to beauty (both invasive and non-invasive) to real estate, skin care, shoes, health care, automobile, F&B and furnishing, not forgetting Charity. We are not confined to restraints of bearing official office nor do we carrying official titles affiliated to any commercial or non-commercial organizations, support groups or companies and we are very much happy to be that way as well. We have been conferred the titles like “The Ladies that lunch but never eat”, “Ladies of Leisure” or in the region called Southeast Asia, “Tai Tais”.

The Blue-Bloods

Us, Tai Tais, have existed since the time of civilized society. Many aspire to attain this status by marrying upwards however, a group of us, some call “the snobs”, take immense pride in being the blue blood of Tai Tais. We relish the fact that we are descendants of prominent families who marry members from other families of equal prominence. You can easily distinguish the blue blood snobs when you see a group of us at some Gala event, huddled together whispering softly into one another’s ears and then laughing loudly but always gracefully at a junior Tai Tai, an entry level freshee who just got married into prominence.

The Original Blue Blood Tai Tai - Empress Dowager CiXi (source: www.radio86.co.uk)

If anyone were to ask me, I would say that the first Blue Blood Tai Tai will have to be Empress Dowager, Ci Xi. Allegedly born from the family of court officials from the Bordered Blue Banner of the Eight Banners in Qing Dynasty, she shares the same passion as I do, the love for Gems, especially pink tourmalines and imperial jade! I sometimes wonder if that is the reason why fuchsia pink is the most coveted colour among the wide spectrum of tourmaline colours!?

CiXi drank from a jade cup and ate with golden chopsticks. At the end of her life, her personal jewellery vault held 3,000 ebony boxes of jewels. (source: www.sacu.org) I have chosen an image of CiXi in an embroidered bamboo leaf robe with her famous pearl cape made of 3500 pearls of perfect shape and colour. The Tai Tais of today can only dream and drool at the wardrobe and jewels she had! (photo www.radio86.co.uk)

Even in death did she lavish herself with precious gems. It is a little sick I know but I am envious…sometimes…

Cixi’s mausoleum was built for 14 years altogether. Her mausoleum was the most luxurious in the all emperors of Qing Dynasty. Her mausoleum can be said to be a grand underground palace. Then how much jewelry was there in her mausoleum? According to the historical records of Qing Dynasty, there was a gold silk mattress inlaying gems in the coffin bottom of Cixi. 12604 pearls, 85 rubies and sapphires, 2 emeralds, 203 green jades and white jades were inlaid on the gold silk mattress.

In addition, other jewel and jade in the coffin are as follows: east pearl, coral necklaces, white diamond, green pearl, emerald bracelet, yellow quartz, agate, gold peach, white jade antelope, white jade cat, purple gem, red-and-white diamond, yellow gem, shoe-shaped gold ingot, etc.

(Source: www.mysteriouschina.com/mystery-of-jewelry-in-the-mausoleum-of-queen-cixi)

I doubt that anyone is this day and age will be able to accumulate a tiny fraction of what she owned. Hence, to me, she is undoubtedly the original Blue Blood Tai Tai!