Memento Mori : Remember that you are mortal

Diamond Skull by Damien Hirst


1930's Swiss watch


1810 skull pocket watch


Mary Queen of Scots skull watch


Heads up to one of my favorite sites/blogs BoingBoing ! They had this fabulous post about Mary Queen of Scotts skull watch and I followed the link and came to Watchismo Times , a watch collectors blog that showed also the ivory skull watch. This got me going and I added the Damien Hirst Skull. I saw a picture of Hirts Memento Mori (latin for "Rememeber that you are mortal) this summer and was totally fascinated and appalled by it. Hearst contracted a jeweler to create this piece for him. It took 18 month until completion, 8,601 diamonds were used and it costs now 50 million British pounds. I love skulls, I love jewelry. I have always been a fan of Memento Mori. But was this necessary? If the message of Memento Mori is to humble us and show that death is always present, than doesn't this message gets diluted by adding an obscene amount of diamonds to it. Isn't it actually misleading the viewer, because it is so breath taking dazzling? My greedy little it is enthralled with this piece, while my alter ego knows that the money would be better spent on food and medicine in a place where it's needed. Disgust and Delight can sometimes be close companions! Happy Halloween...