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

Pairing Books and Bling (a Book Riot cross-post).

Good morning, darlings!

I thought it was time about for another Book Riot cross-post. This piece originally ran on Book Riot on January 26th, 2015.

It is my personal opinion that books and jewelry have a lot in common: they’re both art forms that take small, separate elements and combine them into something new with beauty and meaning.

They are also pretty much tied for my All Time Favorite Inanimate Objects. In fact, I spend so much time looking at and thinking about one or the other that I inevitably start to draw connections between particular books and pieces of jewelry.

Here are a few books and bling pairings that I thought worked especially well.

Victorian cuff bracelet with “Dinna forget” inscription: Outlander by by Diana Gabaldon.

This gold Victorian bracelet with pearls, diamonds, and turquoise reminds me of Outlander because of the inscription Dinna Forget Alex Hatrick

I’m going to tell you right up front that this glorious gold, pearl, diamond, and turquoise cuff is a historically inaccurate choice for Outlander. It’s Victorian, so it’s not from Claire’s or Jamie’s native century. But the inscription on the back, with its Jamie-esque diction and heartfelt “Dinna Forget” message, is just so perfect that I couldn’t resist it.

Anthony Lent’s Vulcana earrings in 18k gold with diamonds: The Child Eater by Rachel Pollack.

Anthony Lent's Vulcana earrings in 18k gold with diamonds.

If you’ve read The Child Eater, I don’t need to explain this choice to you. These are by Anthony Lent, a gifted and charismatic sculptor-turned-jeweler with imaginative vision. This pair of luminous golden faces with diamond eyes has such an eerie presence that it isn’t hard to picture them dispensing questionable advice to aspiring wizards.

Here’s a closer look:

Anthony Lent's Vulcana earrings in 18k gold with diamonds; close up.
You see my point? I’ve read far too much fantasy not to be extremely suspicious of this earring. It obviously has at least one or two supernatural powers.

To read the rest of this post, please click through to Book Riot.

This post contains affiliate links.

 

Casoro jewelry safes: the storage your collection deserves.

Those of us who love jewelry do tend to suffer from certain problems.

I’m not talking about bank account problems (although what serious bling-lover hasn’t been there?); I’m talking about the never ending struggle for adequate and appropriate jewelry storage.

Some of Becky's jewelry storage solutions.

I have a workable system right now, but it’s somewhat cobbled together: my collection is spread among a  wall-mounted wooden jewelry rack from Etsy, a Mele & Co. jewelry armoire, a bracelet display bar (similar), an acrylic screen (similar), and a customized DIY cigar box.

At the risk of sounding dramatic: I’ve long dreamed of the perfect jewelry storage solution; a way to hold all of my beauties in one place while keeping them safe and allowing me easy access to my collection. The only problem was that I’d never seen anything that actually met all of my ideal criteria. At least, not until now.

When Casoro Jewelry Safes first emailed me, I didn’t pay much attention. I pictured a cartoon safe, gray and blockish with a fat rotating dial on the outside and a big empty inside. Then I checked out their website, and I was blown away.

Cesaro jewelry safe, Amethyst mode, with maple hardwood, champagne fabric, custom drawers and necklace hooks.

This jewelry safe is no rough-hewn lockbox. Not only is it designed with aesthetics in mind, with its customizable features (shown here in “jewelry box” blue with champagne interior and maple hardwood), it’s fitted with jewelry-perfect drawers and necklace hooks.

Build your own custom-designed jewelry safe from Casoro

The safes are also highly secure, fire-resistant, and completely customizable. Have I ever told you, darlings, that my childhood home was destroyed by fire when I was in college? My family all made it out safely, thank goodness, but we lost a large percentage of our possessions. Fire protection is no joke.

This custom Casoro jewelry safe is designed with watch collectors in mind; above the custom hardwood drawers is a section just for watches, fitted with high-quality watch winders.

This sedate, manly version of the largest model was designed with watch fanatics in mind – note the bank of watch winders at the top. A very smart option to have available if you’re marketing to serious collectors.

A Casoro jewelry safe - Topaz Model - in pink with maple and chrome details.

And then there’s this little pink one. Heehee. It’s pretty small for what I’d need, but isn’t it adorable?

What do you think of these Casoro jewelry safes, my dears? Are your jewelry storage daydreams going to look like this from now on? I know I can’t be the only one who has jewelry storage daydreams.

This post contains affiliate links.

More treasures from VicenzaOro Winter 2015.

Good morning, my darlings!

I promised you more beauties from VicenzaOro and more beauties from VicenzaOro you shall have. Someday I’ll do a post for you about my photo editing process and you’ll understand why these photo recaps take me so long.

Why don’t we dive right in with something spectacular?

Fantastic colored pearl, diamond, colored gemstone necklace by Yoko London

Yoko London is a brand I’ve met before – at the 2014 Couture Summer Press Preview – but I was thrilled to see them again. They remembered me, too! I went straight for this necklace, which was actually one of the pieces I featured in my 2014 Dream Jewelry Wishlist.

It’s more divine in person than I could possibly have imagined. The gentleman serving it to me here was also very charming and had a British accent (it seemed worth mentioning).

Diamond star and pearl ring by Yoko London

Yoko London also had some gorgeous multi-finger rings with them at VicenzaOro. This one with the pearl and diamond stars was one of my favorites, although they also had a rose gold version with butterflies that was very lovely.

London Blue topaz and diamond rings by Vianna Brasil

I was delighted when I spotted the Vianna Brasil booth at VicenzaOro. I saw a couple of the Brazilian designer’s pieces last summer at JCK Luxury Prive and I was excited at the prospect of seeing more.

I was a liiiittle disappointed that the very in-demand Vianna Brasil staff didn’t have time to give me a closer look at the spectacular gemstones in their display cases, but I was glad they were doing such roaring business and they were kind enough to let me play with some of the pieces they already had out, like the two exquisite London Blue topaz rings above. Aren’t they wonderful?

Fabulous London blue topaz and diamond earrings by Vianna Brasil
Here are the coordinating earrings, which I might love even more. I love the variation in blues, the way the stones are set at different angles, and the perfect sprinkling of diamonds that brings out the way the light catches on the topaz’s facets.

Spectacular tourmaline and diamond earrings by Vianna Brasil
These, however, were my very very favorites at Vianna Brasil. I have a serious weakness for this exact shade of green tourmaline, and these gems are just magnificent.

Diamond bat ring and ear cuff with ruby eyes, by Vanessa Pederzani

Meeting Vanessa Pederzani was one of my favorite parts of VicenzaOro. Not only is the designer herself extremely friendly and charming, her designs are fabulous.

I never knew I could love bat jewelry so much until I saw hers – look at the ring and earcuff above. Aren’t they just wonderful? I love the shape of the wings and the little ruby eyes.

Burlesque inspired pink diamond lace up bow ring by Vanessa Pederzani
This pink diamond ring is from Vanessa Pederzani’s burlesque-inspired collection and I love it dearly. I’m afraid the lighting was bad near Vanessa’s booth and not that many of my photos from our meeting are worth sharing, but I promise to get more for you, my dears.

Beautiful rings by Pasquale Bruni

VicenzaOro was also the first time I had the very great pleasure of meeting the fine folks of Pasquale Bruni. The rings above are an iconic design of theirs I’ve seen before, but never in person. Aren’t these perfectly lovely? So wearable, too – I could see them with a gown or a sweater.

Pasquale Bruni amethyst and diamond cocktail ring
You could try to dress this one down for everyday wear, but it would definitely be harder. Even the way it says Pasquale Bruni on the shank is elegant.

Pasquale Bruni amethyst in gold with diamond accents and tiny dangling charms
This beauty finds the perfect the middle ground: magnificent, but less enormous than the one above. And even better: it’s adorned with tiny dangling gold and diamond charms. So fabulous.

This amazing Pasquale Bruni pendant in gold features mother of pearl cabochons and diamonds
This gorgeous Pasquale Bruni necklace is from a collection inspired by the moon. Gold and diamonds with mother-of-pearl cabochons. Those cabochons caught the light in the most mystical, softly glowing way.

Pasquale Bruni diamond and pink gemstone collar from the Field of Flowers collection

This diamond and pink gemstone collar necklace by Pasquale Bruni was another of my favorite pieces of the entire show. I believe that central drop is morganite but the small stones scattered throughout were a few different gems. It’s made up of countless numbers of tiny, perfectly formed flowers.

Look:

Detail shot of a Pasquale Bruni diamond and pink gemstone collar from the Field of Flowers collection
Marvelous, yes? Apparently Pasquale Bruni had finished this piece just two days before VicenzaOro. I can’t imagine how much time went into all those teeny tiny flowers. And speaking of teeny tiny flowers…

Detail view of the gold and diamond Flowers in Motion pendant by Quaglia

One of the best moments of VicenzaOro was one of the least expected. I was walking through one of the pavilions when I heard someone calling my name. I turned around, expecting to see one of my American Press Posse, and instead ended up making the acquaintance of a lovely woman named Julia who had seen me walk by and recognized my face from my blog – a surreal and totally awesome thing that has only happened to me once before.

I was delighted, both because Julia was wonderful and because she introduced me to the lovely designs she was representing at the show. The above is one of those: the Flowers in Motion pendant by Quaglia, made up of tiny, wonderfully textured golden flowers with diamond centers. Each bloom spins on its own axis, giving the flowers their motion.

I think that just about does it for my recap. I hope you enjoyed seeing my photos of these beauties as much as I enjoyed taking them! Thanks again to the fantastic VicenzaOro show and all of the exhibitors who were so welcoming to me. I had the most wonderful time.

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