The restoration has been paid for by William and Judith Bollinger, financiers and collectors. Their pounds 7m (links of london charms) gift enabled the V&A to commission Eva Jiricna, a London architect, to redesign the space and Beatriz Chadour-Sampson, a jewellery consultant, to work on the displays. Only the best of what was previously on show has been kept, including the 400 finest rings. Many of the displays are new, including Goldstein’s legacy. Judith Siegel, another American, has given more than a dozen pieces by Fortunato Pio Castellani, a 19th-century Italian jeweller, and his pupil and later competitor, Carlo Giuliano links of london sale. The Bollingers have lent three pieces of their own: thistle-inspired jewels by ReneLalique, the father of modern jewellery.
Ms Jiricna’s eye-popping, blue-lit, glass spiral staircase connects the main hall with a new mezzanine floor. Running down the centre of the main gallery are a series of undulating, curved display cabinets each with a futuristic, swooping top. The effect is at once delightful and overwhelming links of london. But the jewels are more than a match for Ms Jiricna’s razzle-dazzle. Among the collection’s star pieces are the “Shannongrove Gorget”, a gold Celtic collar made around 700BC, and the 16th-century “Armada Jewel”–a pendant (pictured below) given by Queen Elizabeth I to her privy counsellor after the defeat of the Spanish Armada links of london items.