Diamonds in the Library

Glorious cool-colored earrings by Cartier.

June 5, 2013

Oh, Cartier. It’s possible I should try to post less of you, but I just can’t help it.

Turquoise, amethyst and diamond earrings by Cartier, Paris. Via Diamonds in the Library.

These marvelous earrings are by Cartier, Paris. I think they are simply bursting with fabulousness.

Each surmount of is of cluster design and set with circular-cut amethysts, cabochon turquoise, and brilliant-cut diamonds. Each surmount suspends a detachable drop similarly set with turquoise, diamonds and pear-shaped amethysts, mounted in gold and platinum.

These earrings were sold as part of Sotheby’s November 2011 Magnificent Jewels sale. All images and info are thanks to Sotheby’s.

But the title of this post was plural, remember? I couldn’t resist giving you a double-hitter today. (Did that make sense? I am only marginally sports-literate.)

Sapphire and diamond earrings by Cartier. Set with pear-shaped sapphires and brilliant-cut and baguette diamonds. The bottom pendants detach.

Fabulous earrings #2 are set with pear-shaped sapphires and brilliant-cut and baguette diamonds. The bottom pendants detach so that you have the option of slightly less formal earrings, if that’s what you want. The earrings are signed Cartier and numbered, French assay marks.

These earrings were sold in Sotheby’s May 2012 Suburb Jewels auction. All images and info are thanks to Sotheby’s.

Reading in the Bathtub: One Woman’s Quest (a Book Riot cross-post).

June 4, 2013

Hello dear readers,

Today, I’m going to share one of the pieces I’ve published on Book Riot. We will return to our regularly scheduled book reviews next week.

(Image source.)

The First Attempt

You’re in high school when you first decide that you’re going to combine two of your favorite things for maximum relaxation – reading and bubble baths. You don’t really think it through. Your glasses steam up and you get wet fingerprints on the pages of Robin McKinley’s Outlaws of Sherwood. You have nowhere dry to put your book down to adjust the water temperature. Your neck hurts from leaning on the edge of the tub. The experience fails to live up to your expectations.

Props

This time you have a plan. You wear your contacts. You roll up a towel to make a pillow for your head, and you bring the Rubbermaid stool from the kitchen to be a lap table, like when people in movies have breakfast in bed. The stool is unexpectedly buoyant; it doesn’t stay put over your legs the way you wanted it to. The towel soaks up water and slides wetly down your back. You notice, at close range, that the floating stool you’re now bathing with isn’t particularly clean. You are grossed out and uncomfortable. You surrender and decide to re-strategize.

Strategy

Your mom lets you borrow her waterproof bath pillow, and it’s just what you needed. You put the questionably hygienic (but now much cleaner) kitchen stool on the floor outside the bath to act as a table. You drape a towel across the stool for drying your hands. You line up your vanilla-scented Bath and Body Works candles on the radiator cover and light them for ambiance. You feel pretty good about yourself.

Hiatus

The bathtubs in your dorm room and first apartment are questionable. The quest is put on hold.

A New Hope

You live in a grown-up apartment now with your boyfriend. You clean your bathtub (somewhat) regularly. You have a Kindle, which is easier to manage in the bath with one dry hand. You’re reasonably sure the Kindle can’t electrocute you if you accidently drop it in the water. You also now drink red wine. You slip into the lavender-scented bubbles and settle in for bliss. You attempt to recline and immediately learn that you have the world’s slipperiest bathtub. It is slapstick, slip-‘n-slide style catastrophe. You spill your wine, but manage to toss your Kindle over the side as you go under.

An Assist

At Christmas, your parents present you with a waterproof bath pillow of your very own. Your sister contributes a selection of colorful, scented bath additives and the piece-de-resistance: a bath caddy that sits across the top of the tub. It is fitted with an adjustable book holder and two metal arms; one with a platform for a candle, the other with a metal swirl designed to hold a glass of wine. You have never seen anything so wonderful.

Mastery

You buy a non-slip mat for the bottom of your bathtub. You suction cup your waterproof pillow into position and adjust your bath caddy so that it won’t fall in. You place a eucalyptus-scented candle from Whole Foods in the candle holder and a giant plastic goblet of Cab Sav in the wine holder. You prop your Kindle in the book holder and place a folded hand towel on the side of the bath caddy to keep your fingers dry. You light the candle without setting anything else on fire. You climb in, add the bubble bath, and let the water run until the foam just kisses the bottom of your candle. It is perfect. You are never seen again.

(Image source.)

This post originally appeared on Book Riot on March 12, 2013. For more of my bookish writing, please check out my Book Riot author page.

Art Nouveau necklace by Louis Comfort Tiffany of Tiffany & Co.

June 3, 2013

I’m pretty sure you’ve heard of Tiffany & Co., the beloved jeweler of Holly Golightly as well as many before and after her.

I must admit, I’m not big on Tiffany’s most popular contemporary pieces: squiggly open hearts and chunky charm bracelets don’t do much for me. But I ardently admire their high jewelry and absolutely die for their older designs.

For example, this necklace by Louis Comfort Tiffany:

As I mentioned, this spectacular piece is the creation of none other than the great Louis Comfort Tiffany. (It’s his family’s “Co.”) And looking at this piece, it’s not hard to see how the company ended up with such renown. It’s dazzling.

The simplicity and the complexity all in one just blow me away. Look at the interaction of the colors, the shapes of the enamel elements, the repeating patterns and pops of color. And all on such a small piece: this necklace is only 16.25 inches long.

I had a dream about this necklace. A nightmare, actually. I dreamed that my parents gave this to me for my birthday (I wish) and then I lost it in my couch (horrifying). The entire dream was me searching through the couch and panicking, knowing that the necklace was gone and that it was my fault. Feel free to psychoanalyze me now.

This piece was made between 1914 and 1927, but I’m calling it Art Nouveau because of the style. It features a double-chain of small fancy-shaped links applied with champlevé enamel in shades of blue, green and plum, spaced at intervals by cabochon emeralds. The center of the chain is decorated with a large floral link enameled in blue and green and set with cabochon sapphires, rubies, and an emerald. The center of the chain supporting an unusual blue and plum colored sapphire drop.

Even the back of the links of the necklace are enameled to match the sapphire.

Let’s look at that sapphire for a minute. Deep blue at the top, fading to vivid purple – almost fuchsia – by the bottom. Have you ever seen anything like this in a piece of jewelry before? I haven’t. How spectacular, that Tiffany saw the promise in this exceptional gem and created this incredible chain to compliment it. Thank you, LCT. You rock my world.

This mind-blowingly beautiful necklace by Louis Comfort Tiffany was sold in Sotheby’s December 2011 auction, Jewels from the Estate of William B. Dietrich Sold to Benefit the William B. Dietrich Foundation.

Guess what? You get a bonus today. Check out this incredible brooch, also by Louis Comfort Tiffany:

This beauty was made in 1910. It centers on a black opal within a textured surround of vine leaves and fruit, decorated with blue and green enamel and accented with circular-cut sapphires and green garnets. It looks to me like the opal’s chipped, which is a shame, but it’s still a lush and memorable piece.