Diamonds in the Library

What I’m reading: Vol. 81.

May 2, 2017

As I mentioned in my last little note, Mr. DitL and I are moving to a new house basically right now, so I’m going to take a few days to focus on getting those ducks are in a row.

Packing is the WORST thing, but sharing some of it with you all through Instagram stories has made it more entertaining. Thanks for all the DMs! You light up my life.

I’ll be back next week! For now, the boxes demand my attention.

xoxo,
Becky

What I’m reading:

The Girl With The Make-Believe Husband by Julia Quinn. I don’t have much time to read right now but I HAD to make time for this one. It’s a Bridgerton’s prequel!! The Bridgertons were the first family-focused historical romance series I ever read and they’ll always have a special place in my heart.

Internets:

JCK Magazine listed me as one of the jewelry industry’s top 5 Influencers in a recent article about the new age of marketing. Thanks, JCK!

Lionette NY invited me to curate their combo of the week this week! If you buy all three of my picks, you get 30% off your purchase.

How 5 Remarkable Women Changed Technology.

This super interesting article about how many books the average person reads in their lifetime will make you think twice about slogging through that novel you’re not enjoying.

Secrets Of Historical Reenactors.

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Alternative engagement rings at Fellows.

April 28, 2017

There’s something silly happening on the internet.

That’s not a rare occurrence. But this time, it’s something I take personally: there’s been an avalanche of random websites publishing articles about alternative engagement rings and giving truly idiotic, completely uninformed advice.

I love the alternative engagement ring trend, but when it’s practiced without understanding of the relevant gemological facts, it’s going to end in tears. And in a world with SO MANY beautiful rings that would work well as an alternative engagement ring, there’s no reason to give bad advice.

Today we’re going to talk a little bit about which gemstones make good alternative engagement rings and look at a few gorgeous and currently available possibilities.

Tradition isn’t the only reason diamonds are the most frequently chosen engagement gem: it’s also because they’re the strongest. There aren’t actually all that many gemstones that can hold up to everyday wear.

There are a few stones that genuinely work well, like sapphires and rubies, and a lot more that are an okay bet if you’re prepared to baby your ring and not wear it every day, but there are some – like pearls and opals – that are seriously high risk engagement stones. As in, you shouldn’t pick one of those unless you’re prepared to replace your engagement ring periodically.

Personally, I had been wearing my own engagement ring for about 4 days when I slammed it in a drawer. It hurt my finger, but because my ring was platinum with diamonds, it remained unscathed. If it had been an emerald, I probably would have been picking green shards out of my socks.

I understand completely the impulse to pick an alternative engagement gemstone based on what calls to you, rather than what is practical, but if you do, you could be setting yourself up for heartbreak. The more fragile the stone, the more likely that it will chip, break, or fall out and need to be replaced.

I got to talking – by which I mean Twitter ranting – about the recent avalanche in bad alternative engagement gemstone advice with the fabulous Nikky of Fellows Auction House (that’s where these stunners are from!). Nikki and I both agreed that it’s a shame that popular websites are giving people such bad advice about alternative engagement rings when there’s a whole world out there of fantastic rings that would work well as alternative engagement rings.

Auction houses – especially one like Fellows – which has a dazzling reputation for jewelry sales – can be a great place to find charismatic rings that you’ll be able to admire on your finger for years to come.

Let’s look at some, shall we? These beauties are all headed to auction at Fellows on May 11th.

Lot 2: A ruby and diamond ring.

Let’s be honest, this is a super sexy ring. The sensuous curves, the deep hue of the ruby, the sheen of the gold. We’re looking at a first class alternative engagement ring right here.

Even better: ruby is a great stone for everyday wear. The ruby and its corundum cousin, the sapphire, are just one step below diamonds on the Mohs scale of hardness.

The Mohs scale of hardness is one of the ways that different minerals’ properties are measured. It’s a great quick reference chart for how likely a gemstone is to survive everyday wear.
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Meet Apollo and Artemis, the world’s most expensive earrings.

April 26, 2017

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).

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.

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. “

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.