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More jewels from the 2016 Original Miami Beach Antique Show.

Good morning, darlings! I promised you more jewels from the Original Miami Beach Antique show, and I intend to deliver.

But first: last night was the 2016 Oscars, and I was asked to join in with INDESIGN.JEWELRY’s fabulous team to further the discussion of all things #OscarJewelry. Check out my article here, and the whole team’s coverage here.

Now: back to the  Original Miami Beach Antique Show jewels! If you follow me on Instagram, you may recognize a couple of these finds…but don’t worry, I saved some really good ones just for this post.

A glorious beautiful diamond and ruby double ring from Victorian England, circa 1880.Starting strong with the most wonderful antique English ruby and diamond double heart ring. From Bell and Bird. I can’t really talk about this one because I love it too much.

An exceptional antique pink topaz and pearl necklace in gold. With foiled-back gemstones, dating to the Georgian era. From Spicer Warin.This is one of the loveliest Georgian foiled-back topaz necklaces I’ve ever seen, anywhere. Look how perfect the condition is, and how lovely the color! The flowers are centered by pearls and set in gold.

A rare and exceptional antique ring with gold detailing and a turquoise carving showing a clasped pair of hands. At Spare Room Antiques.One of the coolest fede rings I’ve ever seen! This antique piece from The Spare Room features a carved central turquoise piece flanked by textured gold and other gemstones. So unusual, and in ridiculously good condition.

Detail of an incredible turn of the century necklace with rose cut diamonds and 80 carats of blue sapphires. From Terry Lucy jewelry.This magnificent thing from Terry Lucy jewelry is a late Victorian silver-topped gold necklace with rose cut diamonds and 80 carats (!!!) of no-heat Ceylon sapphires.

It is glorious and it has matching earrings. I wore this around the show for a while.

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Jewelry hunting at the 2016 Original Miami Beach Antique Show.

About a month ago, I achieved one of my jewelry dreams: I attended the Original Miami Beach Antique Show.

Miami is really not the worst destination for a business trip in January.This massive 5-day event draws dealers, buyers, and enthusiasts from all over the world to create one of the most dynamic, treasure-filled antique shows out there – in a location that’s delightful in late January, especially when one has 29 inches of snow at home.

I’ve wanted to go for years, but I couldn’t exactly take time off from my day job for “a really cool antiques show.” As soon as I became my own boss, attending the Original Miami Beach Antique Show went straight to the top of my list.

My badge for the Jewelry History Series at the Original Miami Beach Antiques ShowThanks to my antique jewelry fairy godmother, the one and only Lenore Dailey, I also had the great privilege of attending the 2016 Jewelry History Series; two days of lectures alllllllll about antique jewelry.

There is nothing like being in a room full of people who are as passionate as you are about your favorite thing. It made my nerdy little heart sing, and my new knowledge lent greater context to the treasures I would see over my days at the Original Miami Beach Antique Show.

It also gave me a chance to get to know some of my favorite Instagram buddies IRL, which was a wonderful added bonus. And to try on said buddies’ jewelry.

My encounter with the Olsen twins, the legendary pair of diamond earrings belonging to the fabulous proprietress of Jewels by Grace.These antique diamond earrings of my dreams are better known around Instagram as the legendary Olsen twins, property of the incandescent Grace Lavarro.

So: my brain primed with knowledge, glowing with the wonder of having touched the Olsen twins (you know what I mean), I set foot onto the floor of the Miami Beach Antique Show within 10 mins of opening on the first day. And oh my goodness, the treasures I saw.

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Jogani’s antique cat’s eye necklace is the cat’s meow.

You know that thing where you see someone around for a while and you know you want to meet them but it takes you a while to make it happen? That’s exactly how it was for me and Jogani’s antique cat’s eye necklace.

I saw it on Jogani’s Instagram, then I saw it pop up on some other people’s pages – my cat’s eye necklace was out there, it was making friends, but I hadn’t yet found a way to get an introduction to it.

Then: it found me.

A magnificent antique cat's eye and diamond necklace. Featuring sapphires, chrysoberyl, emeralds, and alexandrite. At Jogani.I was walking the show floor at the Original Miami Beach Antique show (more about that soon) and I saw Jogani’s sign. I headed over, because I’d learned at Lueur that they are as friendly as their treasures are swoonworthy, and then I saw it. The cat’s eye necklace of my dreams, sitting there waiting for me.

Let’s talk about what makes this necklace remarkable.

Item #1 is the obvious one: it’s effing gorgeous.

Jogani's antique cat's eye and diamond necklace. Featuring sapphires, chrysoberyl, emeralds, and alexandrite. Sigh.Masterfully articulated swags of diamonds, designed with elegantly architectural swoops and lines as well as elegant floral elements and perfect diamond bows. The diamond cuts are all over the place – from rose cuts to at least one table cut, which suggests that they might have been removed from other jewelry or at least collected from a number of sources to create this wonder.

Jogani's antique cat's eye and diamond necklace. Featuring sapphires, chrysoberyl, emeralds, and alexandrite.Jogani thinks that this spectacular piece dates to the 1800’s, although they told me that not enough is known about it yet to have an exact date estimate. The diamond swags of the design certainty feel Edwardian, so perhaps that’s a clue that this beautiful thing came to being in the later end of the 19th century, rather than earlier.

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