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

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The Art Deco dragon bracelet of my dreams.

I’ve met this Art Deco dragon bracelet several times over the years now, and I’ve tried to photograph it every single time. I don’t think I’ll ever do it justice, but these photos are better than what I’ve gotten in prior years so I’m going to share it with you so that you can be in love with it too.

A stunning Art Deco era bracelet from Pat Saling! Diamond dragons with ruby tongues and emerald eyes.

Okay. I don’t know what you pictured when you read “Art Deco dragon bracelet” but I bet you didn’t expect it to be quite this incredible.

This stunning treasure was made in 1935 and the design is attributed to Gustav Manz. Look at those lashing ruby tongues, the flashing ruby eyes, the spectacular, half-raised diamond wings! Are the dragons fighting? Are they flirting? Are they both trying to eat the marquis and trillion cut diamonds in the center? Are the diamond columns in the background part of some fantastic castle or fortress that the diamond dragons are guarding?

I can barely look at this Art Deco dragon bracelet, it gets me all in a tizzy. Who expects to see magnificent mythical beasts like these rendered in classic Art Deco geometry? It’s so amazing!!

Up close and personal with a stunning Art Deco era bracelet from Pat Saling. Diamonds with ruby tongues and emerald eyes!

I’m dying to know how this Art Deco dragon bracelet even came to be. Did it just come into Gustav Manz’s mind one day? Or perhaps a special commission for a Jazz age Khaleesi flapper badass?

It’s so unusual that I think there’s a good chance it was a special commission, but we’ll never know. You absolutely need to see a video of this Art Deco dragon bracelet. I will post it on Instagram later today, so stand by.

A huge thanks to Pat Saling, for letting me fondle this Art Deco dragon bracelet at several different antique shows (it was still for sale, the last I heard!). I still pine for these dragons and I will probably ask to touch them again in the future, unless some dragon enthusiast with excellent taste and a large budget snaps it up!

A stunning Art Deco era bracelet from Pat Saling! Diamond dragons with ruby tongues and emerald eyes. Design by Gustav Manz, circa 1935.

A stunning Art Deco era bracelet from Pat Saling! Diamond dragons with ruby tongues and emerald eyes. Circa 1935, design by Gustav Manz.

Up close and personal with a stunning Art Deco bracelet from Pat Saling. Diamond dragons with ruby tongues and emerald eyes!! Design by Gustav Manz, circa 1935.

A stunning Art Deco era bracelet from Pat Saling. Diamond dragons with ruby tongues and emerald eyes!!! Design by Gustav Manz, circa 1935.

A stunning Art Deco era bracelet from Pat Saling!! Diamond dragons with ruby tongues and emerald eyes. Design by Gustav Manz, circa 1935.

More Miami antique show favorites.

All right, my darlings. I promised you more treasures from the Miami Antique Show, and I intend to deliver!

I hope you’re ready for more glorious antique jewels, because they’re comin’ at ya.

A breathtaking Victorian era brooch from Poli Trading Co. Diamonds in yellow gold with enamel detailing.I thought we’d start here, just in case you were worried I didn’t save anything spectacular for the second part of the recap. Can you even with this Victorian era brooch?

This baby is from Poli Trading Co and I want to wear it on my bosom every day.

An extremely cool banded agate and diamond pendant! Edwardian era, spotted at Maryanntiques.Hello, beautiful. This pendant from Maryanntiques is a perfect example of my very favorite kind of antique jewelry: it’s not the biggest or the sparkiest jewel, but there’s just something about it that makes it irresistible.

Look at those dainty platinum swoops, those dangling pearls and – most of all – that perfectly carved banded agate stone. Is it supposed to be a hot air balloon or does it just kind of resemble one? We’ll never know, but I know I love wondering.

Antique rings from Lucy Verity!! Gold with turquoise, coral, pearls, and other pretty stones. Victorian and Georgian era, mostly.

If you know me at all, you know I have a weakness for antique turquoise rings, especially from the Victorian and Georgian eras.

This is a whole handful of turquoise darlings from Lucy Verity (and a few turquoise-adjacent beauties). I would happily have taken home every single one of these.Read More

Glorious antique jewelry from the Miami show!

It’s been a while since I had the pleasure of attending the 2018 Miami Show. I had a fantastic time frolicking among the aisles of antique jewelry dealers, and then immediately afterwards I got so sick that I had to stop blogging for almost three months.

That means that I never showed you the treasures I met at the Original Miami Antique Show, which is unacceptable. I’ve given you a peek or two here and more on Instagram, but no big juicy recap (yet).

That changes today!

A magnificent pair of antique Iberian earrings with emeralds in gold. From Jane Fletcher.

Let’s kick things off with this little pair of Iberian emerald dream earrings from Jane Fletcher. These are a bucket list item for a lot of antique jewelry lovers, myself included.

I flipped one over so that you can see how incredible the back is! You could stare at either side of these pretty much forever.

An utterly stunning Art Deco era necklace pendant in the shape of a question mark! With diamonds and cabochon emeralds. At Pam Benson.

This is the very first piece I saw at this year’s Miami Show and it utterly knocked my socks off. I mean, LOOK AT IT.

It’s an Art Deco era necklace pendant in the shape of a question mark. A HUGE one. Those are some very sizable emerald cabochons and how about that center diamond?

I would love this piece if it were tiny (actually, if it were tiny, I would have bought it in a second) but it’s surprising size makes it all the more delightful. Why did some glamorous Art Deco era baller want to dress like The Joker? We’ll never know, but I’m glad it happened.

Thanks to Pam Benson for showing me this beauty!

When I meet a tiara, I put it on my head! This is an antique Victorian piece from JS Jewels LTD and Keith MacRae!

It’s not an antique show if I don’t get to try on a tiara. This was my favorite of the Miami show. It’s just so elegant and well-proportioned! Also I suspect it looks amazing on me.

This antique Victorian era piece was in the collection on JS Jewels LTD and Keith MacRae! Thank you again, gentleman, for letting me play with it for so long.

Here’s a closer look:

An exquisite diamonds tiara from the Victorian era!! So beautiful. Spotted at JS Jewels LTD and Keith MacRae!Just in case you wanted to see only the tiara, instead of the tiara and me (although I stand by my assertion that it looks awesome on me).

It’s such a stunner. How about those big juicy old cut diamonds, eh?Read More

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