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A lady with a love for literature and shiny things discusses books & bling.

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Meet Apollo and Artemis, the world’s most expensive earrings.

This has been a busy week already, so I’m excited to relax, sit back, and look at something mind-blowingly gorgeous. Lucky for me, I saved a whopper for today.

I’d like you to meet Apollo and Artemis. They’re widely being called the most important pair of earrings ever to go to auction, and they’re likely to be the most expensive as well (current estimates reach $68 million for the pair).

The Apollo blue diamond and the Artemis pink diamond make up this pair of earrings, called the most important ever to be sold at auction.Despite the fact that they pair perfectly, the two earrings are being offered as separate lots at Sotheby’s Geneva on May 16th. They’re listed as the Apollo Blue and the Artemis Pink.

(I need to pause for a moment to roll my eyes at the blue diamond being a boy and the pink diamond being a girl. I love a good mythological reference as much as the next nerd, but must we be so heteronormative?)

That said: who cares?? They’re SO freaking pretty. There’s probably no name anyone could give them that would make me love them less.

The Apollo blue diamond and the Artemis pink diamond make up this exquisite pair of earrings, which are called the most important ever to be sold at auction.
Here’s Vivenne Becker for Sotheby’s on why the Apollo Blue and Artemis Pink are so very remarkable:

The Apollo Blue is a Fancy Vivid Blue, 14.54 carats, Internally Flawless, Type IIB, and ‘The Artemis Pink’, a Fancy Intense Pink, 16.00 carats, VVS2 clarity, Type IIA; both are amongst the purest, chemically, of all diamonds, with an alluring limpidity, while the Apollo belongs to the most elite group comprising less than one-half of one percent of all diamonds, pure, with the presence of boron, the element that gives the diamond its blue colour. Diamonds of this quality, with this extraordinary depth and sophistication of colour, and of this size are unfathomably rare.

The sheer randomness of their very existence, the confluence of cosmic conditions that generated their miraculous formation process, billions of years ago, deep in the earth, is wondrous. Twinned, as they are, both cut into lyrical pear-shapes, and named, appropriately for the most revered and powerful of Olympian deities, enhances and intensifies their rarity, mesmerising beauty, dignity and distinction. “

The Apollo blue diamond and the Artemis pink diamond make up this once in a lifetime pair of diamond earrings.I tragically have not had the opportunity to meet these luscious, shining droplets of the divine in person, but several of my fellow jewelry Instagrammers have.

You can see them sparkle in video here and here. And holy moly, do they sparkle.

The Apollo blue diamond and the Artemis pink diamond make up this once in a lifetime pair of earrings, called the most important ever to be sold at auction.One more photo for good measure! There’s not much I can tell you about these that they don’t say themselves. Please behold them and enjoy.

Unless you can afford them…in which case, don’t forget to bid on May 16th and please can we be friends?

Images via Sotheby’s.

 The Apollo Blue diamond and the Artemis Pink diamond make up this exquisite pair of earrings, called the most important ever to be sold at auction. The Apollo blue diamond and the Artemis pink diamond make up this exquisite pair of earrings, which are called the most important ever to be sold at auction. The Apollo blue diamond and the Artemis pink diamond make up this once in a lifetime pair of diamond earrings - likely to be the most expensive ever sold at auction. The Apollo blue diamond and the Artemis pink diamond make up this once in a lifetime pair of diamond earrings.

Super cool Dana Bronfman earrings.

As a writer, I pay attention to the words I find myself using to describe the jewelry I see. Many pieces are pretty, glamorous, interesting, or unique – but not that many are just utterly cool. These new Dana Bronfman earrings, however, are a spectacular example of total coolness.

A closer look at the new Dana Bronfman earrings.What makes something cool? They’re interesting, unusual, fresh – they surprise and delight the eye in a way that’s not precisely “pretty,” but still pleasing to behold. They’re full of yes.

I often feel this way about Dana Bronfman’s work, but the earrings from her latest collection really go above and beyond in pure awesomeness. These pieces take the designer’s signature design moves and multiply them against each other to create something bold and utterly irresistible.

Dana Bronfman earrings with black rutilated quartz and white and yellow diamonds (4.45 tcw).Let’s start by taking a look at the first pair that caught my eye. There’s a lot going on here, so we’ll take it one step at a time.

The surmounts – aka the top of the earrings – are two gold circles pierced with round holes, echoing the design of much of Dana’s Occulus collection. These lead to strings of connected white and yellow diamonds in yellow gold, which lead to two pieces of  rutilated quartz.

And speaking of that rutilated quartz…doesn’t it look particularly interesting? Is there something special going on?

Back detail; Dana Bronfman black rutilated quartz Oculus mismatched earrings with white and yellow diamonds (4.45 tcw).Because Dana Bronfman is a genius, she’s set these pear-shaped black rutilated quartz drops in way that makes the light shining through the quartz slices echo the Occulus design in the earrings’ surmounts.

It’s an brilliant idea, totally unique, and adds the coolest element of shadow play to these beauties. Using rutilated quartz = cool, giving rutilated quartz polka dots = SUPER cool.

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Playful spring brights from SheBee.

Spring is struggling to arrive in my neighborhood, and it’s got me craving floppy hats, sundresses, and – above all – bright colors!!

I discovered this SheBee necklace while I was researching a story for Instore Magazine, and I loved it so much that I had to feature it here, too.

The beautiful Daisy Chain necklace by SheBee, with brightly colored sapphires and tourmillated quartz in silver and gold.Isn’t it fabulous?

This joyful SheBee piece is called the Daisy Chain necklace – a whimsical name that perfectly captures this necklace’s playful but lovely spirit.

SheBee’s Daisy Chain necklace is sterling silver with rhodium plating, which makes for that rich, dark look to the metal. It’s set with colorful sapphires and tourmillated quartz, with gold-plated detailing.

Mixed metals, mixed stones, mixed colors – no wonder I like it so much. Visual interest galore!

Detail of the beautiful Daisy Chain necklace by SheBee, with brightly colored sapphires and tourmillated quartz in silver and gold.Here’s a closer look at those daisy-like elements: you can see the tourmillated quartz inside its gold-plated border, surrounded by colorful sapphires in darker metal.

I think it’s the use of the tourmillated quartz that makes this necklace as utterly fantastic as it is – it’s an unexpected texture, and it introduces a slightly more serious, organic element into the design.

I was originally just going to show you the necklace, but I can’t resist sharing the earrings and bracelet with you as well.

Ready??

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