Friday night is alright - Fine jewellery auction at Sotheby's.

We're chilling out with some America sweets that I got from a new sweet shop on my way home from work and watching some new American horror series on Netflix. Of course I am also skipping through the pages of the Internet, looking at sparkly things. What is it tonight, you ask? Well, let me share... 

SOTHEBY'S! Yes! Auctions. They have a fine jewellery auction coming up and seriously, these jewels could not be more beautiful. There are lots and lots of lovely things to look at but I do, of course, have my favourites. So, here they are... 

Lot 23 :: Amethyst, peridot, and enamel necklace, early 20th century. 

Isn't this just beautiful? Look at the intricate baskets that the gems are sitting in, and the colours - oh, the colours! Estimated at £2,000 - £3,000. 

Lot 83 :: Emerald, Ruby, and Diamond ring. Look at those rubies, that cabochon emerald, those sparkly diamonds! This is a rare beauty, when do you see emeralds looking like THAT?! For crying out loud, it's amazing. Estimated at £3,800 - £4,800. 

Lot 144 :: Lady's diamond wristwatch, Jaeger LeCouture, 1960's. Estimated at £3,000 - £4,000 and worth every penny [in my opinion]. This, along with the emerald ring are utter perfection to me. I'd have them both if I could. I could look at this watch all day. It has also made me want to look into "Jaeger LeCouture", which I'll do when I'm finished here. Elegant, beautiful, feminine. 

Lot 196 :: Pair of coral and diamond pendant earrings. Estimated at £1,500 - £2,000. Seriously, I'm not sure I can cope with all this glamour. I have a thing for this style of earrings after seeing THESE [link] earrings from Les Nereides and these earrings really remind me of them. Of course the Les Nereides are much more within my price range, but a girl can dream - right? 

Lot 283 :: Pair of sapphire and diamond pendant earrings, 1920s. Estimated at £5,000 - £7,000. Talking of glamour... oh, my... Look at the cut of those sapphires, and those diamonds. These are from the 1920s and I can only daydream about the glamorous life of the first owner. *le sigh* 

Lot 1847 :: Jadeite bead, ruby, and diamond necklace, Cartier, circa 1933. Yes, you read that correctly. Jadeite, ruby, diamond and CARTIER. My word... look at that catch, and that ruby red against that jadeite green. Just stunning. Please go to the link and have a play around with the zoom feature, those jadeite beads are stunning. The estimate must be more than I'll earn in a lifetime because it is available upon request. Oooo... 

Anyway, I've blabbered enough for a Friday night. I just wanted to share these finds with you. I can pretty much guarantee that this is not the last time I'll be talking about Sotheby's - there are lots, and lots of lovely, beautiful things that need to be talked about. 

G'night. 

Thanks for reading, 

L. x 

My top ten stud earrings for under £100.

Good evening folks. It's Wednesday [I thought it was Thursday for a second - ouch!] and this evening's blog is My top ten stud earrings for under £100. For this mission I am going to use some of my favourite retailers [i.e. the links will not be to the e-shops of the designers]. Let's go...! 

1. Silver forget-me-not earrings by Alex Monroe, from Astley Clarke. £78 [£96 in 18 carat gold vermeil]. I love how dainty they are and I also really like nature-inspired jewellery. Pretty. 

2. Silver bunny stud earrings by Alexis Dove, from Silverado. £48. Cute as a button! What's not to love? Bunnies... silver... jewellery - check! 

3. Gold and ruby dot stud earrings by Embers, from Notonthehighstreet.com. £34.75. I really like the warmth of the ruby in the yellow gold, it's such a great combination. The natural texture of the gold is also a lovely selling point. 

4. Trillion cut stud earrings in labradorite by Amrapali for Dinny Hall, from John Lewis. £75. Trillion cut labradorite? THAT, my friends, is why these made the list. Such a fabulous cut and something from Dinny Hall had to make it. 

5. Astrid studs in black garnet by Katie Diamond, from Catbird NYC. $150 [£90]. Look how pointy they are! Oooo. 

6. Copper circle earrings by Lovely Pigeon, from Hannah Zakari. £18. These are made from brushed copper and formica with silver plated posts. On the cheaper side of the scale but I think they're just lovely. 

7. Turquoise sonatina earrings by Astley Clarke Colour, from Astley Clarke. £75. Turquoise is one of my favourite stones and here it is set in 18 carat yellow gold vermeil. A brilliant way to add colour to your day. 

8. Herkimer diamond solitaire studs from [and by] Erica Weiner. $110 [£65]. As with all Erica Weiner jewellery there is a story that goes with these, so please go to the website and check them out. I think these are wonderful; I have a thing for "rough" stones. 

9. This one is another one that comes straight from the designer's website because I can't find a retailer that stocks this particular brand - Alison Macleod. They were too cute to not include. Just like little pearl studs. £32. 

10. Lastly, I have Pink floral earrings by Les Nereides, from ASOS. £34 [currently on sale from £59]. Les Nereides is one of my favourite "not forever" designers. Their pieces are made from plated brass, and to me that means that they won't last [boooo] which is a shame because their stuff is just amazingly beautiful. Anyway, enough of my rambling, you want to see the studs! 

So there we have it, 10 beautiful pairs of stud earrings. Which ones are your favourites? Please comment below. 

Thanks for reading and enjoy the rest of the week, everyone! 

L. x

p.s. Today I wore my Alexis Dove belle hook earrings, my mushroom necklace from Alex Monroe, my engagement ring, cat ring, 3 x silver rings, and a classic gold Casio watch. That's all folks. 

Pink stones.

I am going to point out that I'm not a girly girl. Well, I like handbags, and nail polish, and blusher, and scarves… (this isn't helping my point, is it?) but I'm not a pink and fuzzy kind of girl. I do, however, like a pink stone. This is a recent development and I'll show you the ring that turned me… 

Alexis Dove's bespoke India ruby ring. 

Just look at its beauty. That's a ruby! It's cloudy, and gold, and beaded, and hammered, and…and… *breathe* bespoke… and locally made. Could it be more perfect? I think this is a rose cut, as that's the cut that Alexis seems to favour. And this is more than okay by me. It's an unusual but stunning cut and I would wear one proudly. She features some beautiful grey stones on her website, but this post is about pink stones, so I'll save those for another time… 

What to look at next? Well, I guess I should mention the pink diamond, which falls in the "fancy colour" category of diamonds. It's not my favourite of the pink stones, but it is certainly worth a mention. Coincidentally, this week, the most expensive diamond in the world sold for £52million at auction. This was a pink diamond and you can read all about it here. It is called Pink Star and is a huge 1.06 inches x 0.81 inches and a whopping 60 carats. It is mounted on a ring, and here is a photograph of that ring… look at those tiny claws holding in that massive stone! I'd quite like to see it on a finger. 

The next items all come from Astley Clarke, one of my favourite online jewellery retailers. I have spent far too many hours on their website, I'm surprised they've not noticed! 

A slightly more modest pink diamond, featured on a ring by Hilier. Yours for £295. 

A more subtle shade of pink can be found in the stone Chalcedony. This pink Chalcedony ring is a part of Astley Clarke's Colour collection and costs £135. You'll come to notice that I like milky stones, I think they are so very pretty. 

Marian Maurer's micro stud earrings show off these pink sapphires rather well, I think. £260. I'll feature Marian Maurer soon because she is one of my favourite designers. 

Next up is pink tourmaline, found in these lovely drop earrings by Pippa Small. A little on the high side at £625, but stunning all the same. Look at those crackles, and bursts of pink colour within the stone. These in particular are a lovely natural shape, and dangly earrings are a weakness of mine! 

There are of course other pink stones, but if I told you all about all of them now then we would have nothing to chat about in the future. 

Enjoy!