Eating out up until the time when I was first married (1965) was a rare event reserved only for special occasions like a wedding. It goes without saying that I was completely overwhelmed when my boyfriend took me to the Back of the Moon Room at the Oceanic Hotel at Coogee Beach and became my fiancee. Served with roast vegetables the meal was washed down by a glass of Lindemans Sparkling Porphry Pearl, which was the ultimate in cool in 1964.

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During the reign of Augustus (31BC – 14ACE) Rome emerged as an economically successful city with a population approaching one million. To become a free citizen of Rome was considered a great honour.

Whoever you were if you were born within the boundaries of the Roman Empire you had the right to hold the highest office in the State. Under Augustus the concept of an eternal Rome emerged, revealing its link to the legendary past and its promise of a new era.

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When people today talk about jewels, jewellery, gemmology and gems it is clear the vocabulary has become confused. Gemstones are treasured minerals found in the earth. ‘Gems’ are the objects fashioned from them. Jewels are gem ready for mounting into jewellery and other objects of art. And, jewellery – it is the finished product that if its designer from Cupid to Cartier has succeeded, adorns its wearer well.

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Classical architecture reflects the very nature of a society, its attitudes and philosophies, fashion and passions. It provides us with an insight into the cultural development of ancient Greece and Rome at any given time in their history.

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During the rebirth of humanism in Italy from the 4th to the 14th centuries patrons began recognizing that artisans, who had always worked under the direction of guilds or the church, were not only skilled technicians but also thinkers, discoverers and inventors. They sought to acquire the works of these ‘artists’ and use their talents to advance their own social agenda. So nothing has changed really.

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Palaces are lavish, enduring decidedly posh monuments developed during times of prosperity, expansion, peace and stable government. Are they monuments to folly or success? Well that’s for you to decide. They certainly reflect, in architectural terms the personal tastes and self-gratification of wealthy, powerful potentates.

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Wine was made before history was recorded. For thousands of years it has given comfort, pleasure and evoked high spirits among man people in many different countries and cultures.

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In the Catacomb of Priscilla at Rome are the beginnings of Christian Art. The image of three Kings represents the faithful coming before the throne of God

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Mrs. Wallis Simpson, later the Duchess of Windsor, was an enthusiast of jewellery, fashion and the prevailing modern style. The stunning jewellery fashioned for her by Cartier, Van Cleef and Arpels, Belperron and Harry Winston and given to her in love by her Prince, King, or was it a Duke, inscribed ‘My Wallis from her David’ says it all. What more could any woman want than a man who would give up being a King for love.

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If you bring both gold and precious or semi precious stones together skilfully a add a dash of passion, smidgen of sentiment, make them expressive of romance as well as symbolic of true love then you have a ‘tour de force’, a triumph of Cupid’s D’art Love Jewellery, Rome to Renaissance

An important aspect of every human society yet recorded is a belief that gold and gemstones had an enormous effect on the affairs of many. This has not been limited to any age or culture some of the first tokens of human affection were worn as treasured souvenirs.

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This is the starting segment for our course of study the evolution of western art, design, style and culture antiquity until today. It is surveyed in chronological order from antiquity to the contemporary age with respect to intellectual and philosophical ideas, other cultural influences and social change.

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