Diamonds in the Library

What I’m reading: Vol. 102.

August 28, 2018

Good morning, my darlings!

This is a such a sleepy, late summer sort of week, isn’t it? I just want to lounge around and read books. I’ve been doing a little of that, but hopefully I’ll manage to accomplish a bit beyond lounging. We’ll see.

xoxo,
Becky

What I’m reading:

A Hope Divided by Alyssa Cole. I love everything I’ve read so far by Alyssa Cole. So far this book isn’t drawing me in as much as the other Loyal League book, An Extraordinary Union, but it’s still wonderfully written.

The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton. Still working on this one, mostly because I had a huge batch of library holds come in and I’m trying to finish them before they’re due!

Internets:

7 Days With the Most Talented Theater Teens in the Country. This is oddly fascinating.

Underwater Photographer Spends 20 Years Capturing Photos of Microscopic Plankton. These are incredible!

Fidelity, Dogs and Jewels – an interesting article from the always knowledgeable Art of Mourning.

Lorna Simpson’s Glowing Collages of Women and Heads of Hair.

15 free ways to make your home happier! In case you, like me, have spent more money on jewelry this summer than you budgeted for.

LEGO Is Releasing a Hogwarts Castle Set and It’s So Magical.

Newborn goat, Hector, makes friends with barn kittens. You’re welcome.

This post contains affiliate links.

Glorious antique jewelry from the Miami show!

August 23, 2018

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!

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.

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!

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:

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

Harwell Godfrey poison ring: dreamy, not deadly.

August 21, 2018

Do you know what a poison ring is, my darlings? They’re one of my very favorite unusual forms of jewelry: a ring with a hidden, hinged compartment that can hold small items like poison. Poison rings are so romantic and mysterious.

Most of the poison rings I’ve come across have been antique or vintage, but this modern poison ring by Harwell Godfrey is oh-so-dreamy.

Isn’t it a beauty?

It’s inlaid with mother of pearl, white onyx, and lilac enamel with a large and lovely central pearl. That color scheme is so dreamy that I can barely stand it. So delicate and romantic and subtle, with just enough color and texture variation to be as irresistible as it is elegant.

The Harwell Godfrey poison ring does not contain poison – it contains solid perfume, a custom Harwell Godfrey blend.

A perfume insert is both more useful and less felonious than poison, but I’m sure you could replace it with poison if you really needed a poison ring that could be used for its traditional purpose (I don’t know your life).

I haven’t smelled the perfume, but the blend does sound lovely.

Here are a few of Harwell Godfrey’s other rings!

This designer is very new to me but I’m loving what I’ve seen from her so far. There’s a beautiful inlaid locket that comes with the perfume insert, in case the ring isn’t your cup of tea, and I love the necklaces with this design, too! Especially this custom one.

What do you think, darlings? Do you like the poison ring’s gentle color scheme or would you choose one of the other, more vivid Harwell Godfrey rings? I have a weakness for the one on the right above, with the opal, blue enamel, and pink topaz color combo.

Images c/o Harwell Godfrey.