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

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.

How I make money blogging: peek behind the scenes.

When I go to events, there’s one question I am asked more frequently than any other…and it has nothing to do with jewelry.

“But…how do you make money blogging?”

The delivery varies. Some people ask aggressively because they’re uncomfortable in the face of something they don’t understand, or they can’t accept the changing times that my business represents. Others ask the question with awe or hope, and I wonder if they’re holding a blogging dream in their own hearts.

Most of the time, they’re just genuinely curious. They don’t understand how Diamonds in the Library can be my full time job, and they want to learn.

I’m a big fan of understanding things, and honestly, I also think blogging is fascinating – why else would I have been doing it for nearly 5 years? So I’m going to satisfy your curiosity and just lay everything all out here for you to see.

I want to tell you all about how I make money blogging.
Here’s how I make money blogging:

The short answer is that I do a whole lot of different little things which – most months – add up to an income. Keep reading for all the details!

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Ethereal chic with Ruta Reifen.

Usually when I meet a designer, it’s because I’ve seen their jewelry and then sought them out: I see the designs first, and then the person. With Ruta Reifen, everything happened at once.

I was walking a trade show when a woman in a super cute white sundress stopped me because she recognized me from Instagram.  She introduced herself as Ruta, and we immediately hit it off: I didn’t know who she was or why she was there, but her bright energy and warm, open friendliness drew me in right away. It wasn’t until we’d been chatting happily for a several minutes that I even realized she was there as a designer.

And then: holy moly, her designs.

Three beautiful handmade yellow gold necklaces by Ruta Reifen, set with colorful gemstones.

Don’t these necklaces look like something that mermaid would gift you in exchange for a favor, probably through swirls of a silver mist near a secret lagoon?

I love the delicacy of the color contrast – it range from gentle to drastic, sometimes with a close enough gradient to feel almost ombre, but never going with what’s expected.

Two beautiful handmade yellow gold rings by Ruta Reifen. One with blue sapphires, the other with morganite and aquamarine.
Perhaps the most distinctive element of Ruta Reifen’s design aesthetic is the texture of her gold work.

There’s something organic about the barnacle-esque texture of the gold settings; and you know I love a bit of well-executed texture. Ruta blends the “maybe it just grew this way” feeling with glamour and finesse in a way I find totally irresistible.

A beautiful handmade necklace by Ruta Reifen, with colorful sapphires and morganite in yellow gold.
I was getting the mermaid vibe from Ruta Reifen’s pieces all along, but when I interviewed her for this article I found out that’s it’s intentional: the sea is a major inspiration for her. In her own words:

Growing up by the Mediterranean gazing into the sea with wonder, I’ve always been fascinated with underwater forms, they have punctuated my life with slivers of happiness. Their flowing lines, endless shapes and colors, are the source of my creative work.

A synergy of classic silhouettes, coral-like texture and evolving color story create the romantic feel I wish to extend to the wearer.”

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