April

William Shakespeare said it best in Romeo and Juliet, with Juliet commenting that, “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet”. Basically, meaning that it did not matter that Romeo was of a family that was a rival with Juliet’s family.

The same circumstance comes to mind involving the families of Napoleon Bonaparte and the then known Marie-Joséphe Rose de Tascher de la Pagerie during their courtship, marriage, coronation, and consecration. The Bonaparte family thought that the match was unsuitable as Rose was older, had been married before, and had two children. Rose’s family were sugarcane plantation owners from Martinique and although wealthy, they had no connection to the upper-class station of the Bonaparte’s. There was a lot of tension, arguments, and hatred that ensued.

Upon their marriage, Napoleon decided that “Rose” was not an appropriate name for his new bride, so he renamed her Josephine. When they were both crowned, she would forever be known as Empress Josephine of France.  

Josephine was not well educated, but she was a supreme hostess and a fabulous dresser. With her Emperor on her arm, Josephine’s great style embodied the couple’s political power, station, and honor. Napoleon was said to have commented that “I win the battles, but Josephine wins hearts”. She is thought to have been instrumental in creating a rage over a style of necklace called a swag. There are many portraits of the Empress wearing this style of necklace. The necklace usually had a center component, two components on either side with all connecting to two or three strands of chain or set diamonds that swagged between the components.

A Rose By Any Other Name . . . is inspired by this delicate necklace style. The central component is a bezeled oval CZ, encircled with set stones, with a pearl drop. The side components use the same size of oval CZs but are encircled with pearls. The two strands are a variation of CRAW (cubic right-angle weave) for an open, textured look. Pearl cabochons are bezeled and embellished as they work up the sides of the necklace ending in a bar closure.