morganite Archives

Melanie Casey jewelry.

July 6, 2015

Happy Monday, my dears. Not the finest day the week has to offer, is it? At least, it tends not to be. Never fear: I have something truly wonderful for you today.

I first found Melanie Casey jewelry on Etsy years ago – for proof, please see my first ever holiday gift guide (right here). When I rediscovered her recently through Instagram, I was delighted to see how her brand has blossomed in the past few years: I was treated to a wide selection of lovely stacking rings, which I remembered from before, as well as entirely new collections of gorgeous original jewelry.

Melanie Casey’s jewelry backstory is my favorite kind of jewelry backstory: she started out working in finance, a field that became very stressful in the housing crisis of the early 2000’s. Hoping to find a relaxing hobby, Melanie took a jewelry design class and fell in love. After gradually developing her technical ability on nights and weekends, Melanie started selling her work on Etsy and eventually made the switch to full time jewelry designer in 2011.

Sounds more than a little like me and blogging. The first part, at least…I’m still working on next few steps 🙂

These ruby and garnet earrings are the piece that caught my eye on Instagram. Aren’t they wonderful? Such luscious, juicy gems nestled in that knobbly gold setting.

I’m a sucker for Victorian jewelry with discolored turquoises – I think the combination of all those different shades of blue and green is stunning. This ring from Melanie Casey’s Wisteria collection gives the same feeling by ringing an emerald-cut aquamarine with sapphires, turquoise, and topaz.

Much like yours truly, Melanie Casey has a soft spot for antique jewelry, especially pieces that date to the 1930’s and earlier. When she told me that, I immediately thought of this morganite and diamond ring. Something about this beauty feels 1930’s to me – it’s simple silhouette, gently softened by color and curves, perhaps?

I love seeing a morganite in yellow gold. I know they’re frequently set in rose gold, and I understand that choice…but I think that the way the soft pink pops gently against the yellow setting is wonderful.

Rubies and garnet again. Apparently I have a weakness for this color combination. Can you blame me?

Here’s something brighter. I love how the pearls around this citrine wake up the brightness of the central stone.

Can I interest anyone in some brilliantly colored gemstone earrings? I think both of these are great, but it’s the gently faceted pair of peridots in the back that really caught my eye.

This ring is one of my personal favorites: a beautiful, marquise-cut blue kyanite set on a band of delicate gold leaves. I love the contrast between the crisp points of the kyanite’s bezel and the more plumply rounded leaves of the band.

Here are a few of the classic Melanie Casey stacking ring sets – they come in rose, yellow, and white gold; all kinds of textures, and in almost any gemstone. The possibilities for customization are endless.

These three beauties are billed as wedding bands, but I think they’d be fantastic on any finger. Which is your favorite?

All images and info in this post are thanks to the fabulous Melanie Casey jewelry. Find these pieces and more on Melanie Casey’s website.

Photo recap: JCK LUXURY Privé.

August 8, 2014

Good morning, my darlings!

As you know if you follow me on Twitter or Instagram, I recently had the privilege of attending my second JCK LUXURY Privé show. This industry-only jewelry show was held this year in the historic NYC Waldorf Astoria hotel, which was a wonderful venue choice, I must say.

I met fabulous people and fabulous jewelry, both on the show floor and at the expertly curated Editor’s Preview, which culminated in a delightful lunch event for bloggers and designers alike.

I also came home with a whooooooole lot of photos. I’ve been enjoying sharing some with you on Instagram and I’m going to share a bunch more with you today.

Here are some of the prettiest pretties I met at the at LUXURY Privé:

I was far from the only blogger I saw spending time with these fab earrings from Andreoli. These are one from each of the two pairs. Which do you love more?

Andreoli also had this incredible cabochon emerald ring in the Editor’s Preview. That emerald was gorgeous: it practically glowed.

I couldn’t help but smile while test driving Coronet Diamonds’ 20.60 carat diamond showstopper, the Hekate necklace. Don’t you love the shape of it? It’s pointier than I would expect from this kind of piece, and I think it works really well.

I’m not really sure where the name comes in, but I like the idea of a bombshell diamond necklace named after a somewhat eerie mythical figure.

And now for a completely different kind of diamond necklace:

This diamond slice necklace by Dilamani was one of my very favorite pieces of the whole trip.

It’s 22 carats of naturally colored grey diamond slices set in 18k gold with 8 additional carats of round accent diamonds. It’s beautiful, but what really seduced me was how it felt when I put it on. Light and cool and impossibly delicate.

It reminded me of when, as a child, I used to go the house of a friend who had woods in her back yard with a really good stream-bank for finding mica. We would fill our hands with the flaky, sparkly stuff and throw it in the air. This Dilamani necklace felt exactly that light, that enchanting.

This bombshell of a ring is by David Mor, who apparently has a penchant for megawatt stones. This beauty has a yellow diamond and an emerald surrounded by variously cut white diamonds. What do you think of it?

These David Mor pink diamond and diamond earrings were like something out of a dream.

Same for Mor’s diamond and yellow diamond necklace. Yep, that’s my hand. Ah, memories.

Another superfavorite: this perfect moonstone and diamond ring by Blackbird and the Snow. Doesn’t this piece make you want to see everything else they make?

I’ve never seen anything quite like this hummingbird ring by Emiko Pearls.

The details were breathtaking. Be sure to notice the texture on the inside of the wings, the carefully worked stem and petals of the flower, and the fact that the bird’s body is a perfectly contoured pearl.

Here’s a closer look.

These H. Weiss gold and diamond lace cuffs were another of my absolute favorites. So softly beautiful, so infinitely wearable.

And the details were to die for:

I’m pretty sure I took 30 photos exactly like this one.

Kaura Jewels’ slogan is “Modern Armor for the Urban Warrior,” which I think is awesome and badass.

That’s also how I’d describe their jewelry, with the addition of “unique,” “boldly graphic,” and “gorgeous.” These are the Petal Strength earrings: 18k yellow gold with black ink, blue tapered baguette sapphires, opals, and pink sapphires.

This is Kaura Jewels’ Balance ring, which (for the record) I would wear allllllll the time. It’s different from either side, and it has the coolest shape: like a Russian kokoshnik tiara for your finger.

I had to give you a closer look at those details.

Have you ever seen anything like this ring? I hadn’t.

I thought these A. Link and Co. diamond earrings were awesome. Such texture and sparkle. I tried to model them for you, but earring selfies are harder to take than you might think.

A lovely tanzanite ring by LeVian in rose gold. Such good colors.

No photo could truly do justice to this amazing Love Doves morganite ring by Loretta Castoro. The 92 carat morganite in the center is matched for fabulousness by the sculpted rose-gold setting of doves that appear to be cradling the rosy stone in their wings.

An epic Loretta Castoro pearl and morganite necklace, also from the Love Doves collection. This piece was seriously substantial; a multi-strand rope of pearls and morganite held together with a dove-shaped clasp.

I would also like to observe that my skin is the exact same color as the morganite beads. This is why I can’t wear rose gold; it blends in.

This panther ring by MK Diamonds/Natalie K didn’t stand out to me at first, but I fell in love with it through the zoom lens. Who could resist such sleek golden ears and diamond fur?ani

Back to Loretta Castoro for a kiss goodbye! This KissMe ring has a 5.3 carat pink tourmaline cradled in a sparkling tsavorite garnet pout.

I have more beauties from LUXURY Privé to show you, but this seemed like quite enough for one post. Stay tuned for more soon!

A huge thanks to JCK and Communique LA for this fantastic event. I had the most wonderful time.

Photo recap: JCK Privé NY.

August 22, 2013

Happy August 22nd, everyone! Today is my one year blogiversary (a word that I both detest and cannot resist using). Happy birthday, Diamonds in the Library!!

I’ve come a long way since last August, when I could look at my stats and trace each page view back to a member of my family. Thank you for reading, my lovelies. You make the ride worthwhile.

A few weeks ago, I had the honor of attending the JCK Privé NY Luxury Jewelry Trade Show. I was invited to the Editor’s Press preview, a beautifully curated selection of fabulous new designer jewelry, and given the run of the private convention for day.

Temple St. Clair gold cluster ring with blue moonstone, tanzanite, tsavorite, and diamond. Via Diamonds in the Library.

Room after room full of jewels, showcased against the backdrop of The Pierre, a glamorous NYC hotel. I was glad I had a four hour bus ride home to DC because I needed almost that long to be able to speak coherently again. Severe sparkleshock.

I was also tickled pink to see a press release about JCK Privé NY referring to me one of “jewelry and fashion’s most influential journalists and bloggers” in the same list as Vogue, Marie Claire, Robb Report, Martha Stewart Weddings, and iDazzle.

Cocktail rings by Omi Privé: a blue sapphire, platinum, and diamond ring and a pink sapphire, rose gold, platinum, and diamond ring. Via Diamonds in the Library.

I have lots of lovely professional photos to share with you, but I’d thought I’d start us out with the shots I took myself – give you a peek of what’s in store, and let you share the show with me as I experienced it.

Paraiba tourmaline and diamond earrings in platinum, by Rina Limor. Via Diamonds in the Library.

These babies were one of my favorite pieces of the entire show. They’re Paraiba tourmaline – an incredibly rare gemstone prized for its incredible color – and diamonds in platinum, by Rina Limor. It was really hard to take these off.

I gave you a peek at this gold and gemstone ring by Temple St. Claire up above. I was head over heels for its lovely colors and wearable shape.

Two incredible statement rings by Sethi Couture. Via Diamonds in the Library.

Two incredible statement rings by Sethi Couture. Doesn’t the one on the left look like a funky, diamond-encrusted pretzel? I mean that in the best way.

36 inch labradorite and gold necklace by Susan Wheeler Designs

This 36″ labradorite and gold necklace by Susan Wheeler Designs is such wearable luxury.

wedding, bridal, bride, princess, pink, gold, pink diamond, kunzite, cocktail ring, statement ring, engagement ring,

I still can’t believe I’m allowed to touch things like this Yael morganite and diamond ring in rose gold. A princess of a ring, if I’ve ever seen one. Here, I took a video.

Amethyst, gold, and diamond Tinkerbell pendant by Yael Designs. Via Diamonds in the Library.

This amethyst and diamond pendant is by Yael too – a glorious, shining to that sassy pixie of Disney fame, Tinkerbell. It is perfect. There’s a pendant loop behind her upraised wing.

Incredible diamond and emerald earrings by Omi Privé.

Here’s a closer view of the two amazing Omi Privé sapphire and pink sapphire and diamond cocktail rings I showed you near the top of the post. The best part here, though, you can’t even see from above.

Detail: A pink sapphire, rose gold, platinum, and diamond cocktail ring by Omi Privé.

Check out the detail on the pink sapphire ring – rose gold, diamond, and small pink sapphire accents hiding underneath!

Gold and diamond "Rue" leaf necklace by Naomi Blumenthal. Via Diamonds in the Library.

I think my favorite new designer discovery of the day was Naomi Blumenthal – this impossibly delicate, perfectly crafted gold necklace will be occupying a spot on the wishlist of my dreams forevermore.

Long gold and diamond flower necklace by Naomi Blumenthal.

Here’s a bolder look, also by Naomi Blumenthal – this necklace features the same detailed goldwork in a longer necklace with larger elements.

Fabulous gold and gemstone snake bracelet by Anthony Lent.

Have you ever seen a prettier snake than this one by Anthony Lent?

Gold and diamond bow and arrow pendant by India Hicks.

Finally – this swoonworthy bow and arrow pendant by India Hicks. So delicate and perfectly crafted; a tiny piece of art you could wear every day.

Which do you like best of these fabulous JCK Privé NY jewels? A hard choice, I know, but I want to know what you think!

A huge and heartfelt thank you to the folks at JCK, the marvelous ladies at Communique LA, and all of the wonderful brand representatives at JCK Privé NY for helping make my first luxury trade show experience a glorious one. There’s more to come – I haven’t even gotten to Mimi So and Oscar Heyman!

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