Love is beyond price

Except, of course, for that perfect Valentine’s Day gift.

By: Laurel Tielis
   If you, like Dorothy Parker, want to substitute "smashing" for "subtle," or "one perfect limousine" for "one perfect rose," come along on a Valentine’s Day shopping trip in Princeton on which nothing exceeds like excess.
   First stop, Hamilton Jewelers on Nassau Street, where a simple, tasteful and oh-so-expensive 1.25 carat, princess-cut pink diamond ring can be found for $105,000. Pair it with incredibly beautiful earrings of 1.68 carat reverse triangle yellow diamonds supporting 3.5 carat pink diamonds, all surrounded by pavé diamonds, for a modest $160,000.
   The ring and earrings are magnificent, but like Goldilocks and the baby bear’s chair, too small for this year. Size-wise, think in terms of Elizabeth Taylor gazing down at her ice-skating-rink-sized diamonds and cooing, "Aren’t they vulgar?"
   Luckily, Hamilton’s has started carrying Fred Leighton jewelry. An early 1800s tiara necklace from the Leighton firm, with a total weight of more than 100 carats, is just right. Set in gold and silver (jewelers didn’t work with white metals like platinum at that time), its back is as beautiful as its front, and it’s a bargain at the $275,000 price tag. Since you can wear it as a necklace, or as a tiara, it’s the kind of piece you can live in — and most of us would have to at that price point.
   Presented with a gift like that, it could be hard to find just the right words to say "I love you, too." A visit to Micawber Books on Nassau Street is the answer. The 43rd love poem in Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s "Sonnets from the Portuguese" begins, "How do I love thee? Let me count the ways." Could there be better words to use?
   First published in 1850, the 44 sonnets record the growth of her feelings for her husband, Robert Browning. While initially privately published (and not available in a simple search), a red Moroccan leather, gilt-edged first edition printed 100 years ago by G. P. Putnam’s, can be yours — search fee, book price and overnight shipping — for about $200. Think of how many hands have lovingly passed the book back and forth since first published.
   Champagne goes with Valentine’s Day the way love goes with marriage. Princeton Wine & Liquor on Nassau Street offers vintage champagnes such as Dom Perignon for $149.95, Krug Cuvee Brut for $133.95, Pommery Cuvee Louise for $125.99, and Veuve Cliquot Grand Dame Brut Tête de Cuvee, also for $125.99. The Louis Roederer Cristal costs $169.95 a bottle, but since it’s sweet, rather than dry, it won’t work with the caviar that seems fitting this year.
   Champagne of this quality calls for just the right glass. The Silver Shop in Palmer Square has two sets of 10 Venetian glass champagne coupes, each set circa 1900. You can choose between the one with green bowls and base, and a yellow fluted stem, or the more intricate one, featuring blue bowls and base, with a gold-trimmed red swan stem. Each set will set you back $2,200.
   Since those glasses were blown, oenophiles have learned that a flute- or tulip- shaped bowl works better with champagne bubbles. The Silver Shop also has a pair of Lalique toasting glasses that have angel stems, with their wings etched in the bowl, for $465.
   As for the caviar, when it comes to Beluga, why not push the boat out? Beluga, the world’s best caviar, comes from sturgeon swimming in the Caspian Sea. Usually, an ounce of caviar is considered a portion. But this Valentine’s Day, the shiny, steel-gray pearls can be found in 3.5 ounce tins at Bon Appetit in the Princeton Shopping Center for $195.
   Unlike lesser caviars, which do better with accompaniments, Beluga should be served simply, well chilled, either on toast points or blini. If you’re really a purist, eat it straight from a gold or mother-of-pearl spoon. Remember to chew the eggs so that the flavor bursts in your mouth.
   And although Dorothy Parker was less than impressed with her one perfect rose, flowers can make an ideal Valentine’s Day gift. Not the cut ones though. Lovely as they are, they die in a few days.
   No, think of hand-woven ones, like the forest of flowers on the 13-1/2 by 20 foot silk rug at Bijan Gallery on Nassau Street. More than five years in the making, the 1,500 knot-per-inch "magic carpet" from Kum in Iran was designed by a master artist and produced by a master weaver (check out the border of the peach and rose masterpiece, with deep blue highlights, for the signature in Arabic).
   With diamonds, you’re looking for cut, clarity and color; with Oriental rugs, you’re seeking quality of the material and dye, as well as the intricacy of the design. This rug, like the Leighton tiara necklace, is as beautiful on the reverse as it is on the front. It’s priced in the neighborhood of $45,000.
   Welcome to the neighborhood!