The French Crown Jewels Stolen From the Louvre

This image is all over the internet without a credit. I don’t claim ownership and will remove it if the owner requested it. The next 5 photos are from Getty Images.

Well I didn’t plan to write another jewelry blog so soon, but the theft of the French Crown Jewels in the Apollo Gallery from the Louvre Museum on Sunday morning around 9:30 am is horrific to history and jewelry buffs, too horrific to ignore! The 8 pieces taken are priceless and irreplaceable. If not found before the supreme greed of criminals melt the treasured historical pieces down to remove their precious gemstones to sell on the black market, it would be a forever loss to the public. To humanity. To history. Am I overstating their loss? I think not! Oh please providence, a divine miracle, save them!!!

Here is a closer look at the individual pieces missing: 

The Emerald necklace and earrings made for Marie Louise, the 2nd wife of Napoleon Bonaparte (1804 -1814)

The Pearl Tiara of Empress Eugénie, consort of Napoleon III, Emperor of the French (1852 - 1870)

Known as the Maria Amalia of Naples and Sicily Sapphire set, the tiara, necklace and an earring were stolen. They were also worn by Hortense of Beauharnais, who was the daughter of Josephine, the stepdaughter of Napoleon Bonaparte and the wife of Louis Bonaparte, making her the Queen of Holland.

Empress Eugénie’s Diamond Bow Brooch. Originally, it was the centerpiece of a belt composed of over 4,000 diamonds.

According to the PBS News Hour, the hoist occurred in 4 minutes while tourists were also in the Apollo Gallery. Since the robbers knew where to place their ladder to climp up to and break a window before entering the Apollo Gallery, it would surprise no one if the theft turns out to be planned by an insider. I have no doubt the criminals will be cought. Sadly the fate of the French Crown Jewels is less certain. French Senator Nathalie Goulet stated that recovering the stolen crown jewels is unlikely. Speaking to the BBC, Goulet cited organized crime's involvement and predicted the pieces will be dismantled and sold to launder money. 

👑👑👑👑👑👑👑👑👑👑

Photo: Wiki-Media Commons

A positive note: The criminals took but dropped the Crown of  Empress Eugénie outside the Louvre where it was found damaged and will be repaired.

Empress Eugénie’s Reliquary Brooch, made by Alfred Bapst in 1855, was also later recovered.

❤️‍🩹Dear France, we feel your pain.❤️‍🩹

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Jeweler Ann Angeletti Is 101 Years Old

All photos courtesy of WABC News unless noted otherwise

Ann Angeletti, age 101, still works 6 days a week. Mondays are spend in Manhattan’s diamond district bargaining with vendors to bring in new inventory. Five days a week she works alongside her daughter and granddaughter at Curiosity Jewelers, her family owned business which she opened in 1964, located at 24 Union Avenue, Cresskill, New Jersey.

Customers rave about the customer care and welcoming atmosphere inside the shop, calling Ann Angeletti fair in her pricing and the most knowledgeable jeweler in the Tri-State area. They also say there is a great selection of beautiful jewelry.

Photo: Curiosity Jewelers

There’s much to be admired about this 

 

centenarian. Starting and sustaining a successful independent jewelry store for 62 years with the aim of putting customers first, and loving what she does with no plans to retire.

Although Curiosity Jewelers is known for its fine jewelry, it also sells antique and costume jewelry. Usually it's wiser to save up for one good classic piece of fine jewelry than to buy lots of costume jewelry. A lovely gold ring, bracelet or necklace can be wore over the years and passed down to offspring.

Curiosity Jewelers seems to have found the winning formula as a trustworthiness business: Combine expert knowledge, honest prices and treat customers right after they walk in the door.

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Admiring Rubies In The Raw

Today I want to feature high quality rubies in their natural state. I’d be trilled to find such a precious red crystal before it was cut and turned into jewelry. I’m not sure I’d want to cut or polish it. Previously I’ve written about rubies detailing their properties and value, which I’ll link below.👇The main purpose of this blog is to fawn over uncut rubies!

In the jewelry world, rubies are one of the rarest and most coveted gemstones. The red corundum derives its color from traces of chromium. All other colors of gem-quality corundum are classified as sapphires, including pink corundum. Gemologists and jewelers expect a medium to medium-dark red color tone for a gemstone to be considered a genuine ruby. Corundums of lighter coloration are pink sapphires. A ruby's exclusive red color can reach high levels of saturation. Due to their rarity, premium quality rubies are among the world's most expensive gemstones, selling for over $1 million per carat.

Historically, Myanmar (formerly called Burma) was the most renowned source for high-saturation with fluorescence, or "pigeon's blood," rubies. But in 2009 major deposits of high quality rubies were discovered in Mozambique to rival Myanmar rubies. Vietnam and Madagascar also grow similar high quality rubies.

Since there are few gemstone quality high saturation rubies in nature, rubies undergo more treatments than nearly all other gemstones before being turned into jewelry, greatly affecting their market value. Most commercial rubies are at least heat-treated, an accepted practice as long as it’s disclosed and reflected in its retail price. Without treatment there would be few rubies to sell.

A lovely affordable raw ruby bracelet here from an unfamiliar retailer.

Aren’t these blocks of uncut vibrant red gemstones beautiful? Especially when knowing that not all natural ruby crystals are gemstone quality. If you want to know more about gemstone quality rubies, you can click the links below.

If you found a raw ruby would you treasure it or have it cut and polished into a piece of jewelry? 

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What Is A Shacket?

Photo: ShortStoryBox

It’s a new word I recently heard uttered by Willie Geist, the NBC News anchor, and it’s trending. The word is shacket for shirt-jacket.

A shacket combines the lightweight, relaxed style of a button-up shirt with the heavier fabric and functionality of a jacket. Often featuring larger pockets and made from sturdy materials like wool, denim, or cotton twill, shackets work as a versatile, casual-smart layering piece that can be worn in 3 ways (1) solo or (2) as an outer layer or (3) under a heavier coat, ideal for transitional weather.

Here is a peek into my closet. 

As it turns out I have 8 shackets in my closet: 4 are wool, 2 are denim, 1 is cotton and 1 is cotton/modal, all bought years ago (Shhh!, I’m not telling how many:) before the word came into existence. Without knowing, I was trending before the trend! I wear mine in the fall or spring when you need warmth but a coat is too warm. Because I wear leggings in the fall, winter and spring, I like the longer length of a shacket to balance the skinny fit of leggings (or skinny jeans). 

A shacket can also bump up a comfortable relaxed look to casual-smart by pulling together all the pieces of an outfit and covering up your butt. A longer length complements long legs also.

Although a shacket can be worn alone, I always wear a color coordinated t-shirt under mine. That way all I need to wash frequently is the t-shirt, and if I get too hot, I can remove the shacket and not have to leave it on for decency.

So a shacket is a smart layering piece, and proof that everything old is renamed and new again!

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Inflation Buster: Clock full o’ Nuts

If you are a coffee lover, you may think you have to buy gourmet coffee beans from an upscale coffee shop to drink great coffee. But you don’t!

In my 20s when I hosted friends for dinners in my Manhattan apartment, I’d buy coffee beans from Fairway or Zabar, and I enjoyed cups of coffee at Veniero’s or Ferrara’s Bakery down in Little Italy. Back in the day, there were also a handful of independent coffee shops on the Upper East Side before Starbucks became popular. 

However nowadays I only stock supermarket coffee, namely my fav, Clock full o’ Nuts at home, as well as, to serve to houseguests. IMHO it’s as delicious as the more expensive coffee beans I’ve tried and liked earlier around town. Frankly I think it’s tastier than the $21/pound a friend of mine now pays for her gourmet coffee. Moreover these smaller-ticker costs on food or every day consumer goods really add up over a year’s time. Personally I don’t think $21/pound is worth spending on coffee for daily consumption. 

 With Clock full o’ Nuts, you’re not settling for inferior tastes either. I buy the Original, which is a medium roast. It’s bold and flavorful, well-rounded without bitterness. But the brand's coffee is also available in a lighter or darker roast to satisfy a variety of palates.

Coffee isn’t a crop the USA grows or can manufacture in the near future, so unfortunately the Trump tariffs (taxes on goods imported into the country and passed onto consumers) have increased the price of all coffee, but at least supermarkets run sales to slightly lower costs. On sale, a 26 oz can of Clock full o’ Nuts ranges from $11.60 - $12.89 (up from $9).

If you seek an excellent cup of coffee without compromising or going broke, give Clock full o’ Nuts a try. Lets also hope the burden of tariffs come off of coffee sooner than later!

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Put The Laundry Book On Your Shelf

Do you know using too much laundry detergent gets your clothes less clean? Too much laundry detergent will also wear out your washing machine faster. So how much laundry detergent should you use to clean a normally soiled, medium load of laundry? According to 3rd and 4th generation, father and son laundry experts, Jerry and Zach Pozniak, the amount to add is only 2 tablespoons. It’s much less than most people use or what manufactures suggest. Moreover, if your clothes are not heavily soiled washing them in warm over hot water, not only gets them cleaner, but preserves the colors in your clothing.

Jerry and Zach Pozniak are the owners of a luxury dry cleaner located at 1318 Madison Avenue at 94th Street (the Carnegie Hill neighborhood) in New York City called Jeevers New York. It’s a small family run business which caters to celebrities and fashion types. 

Zach Pozniak has a YouTube channel where he doesn’t hold back on giving viewers free cleaning advise and reviewing best to worst laundry detergents and cleaning solvents. Kirkland and Purex liquid detergents top Zak’s list -- go to his channel for the complete details. Like a scientist he explains what ingredients make a detergent or solution most effective for different types of stains. Detergents containing OxiClean are recommended.

In addition to the above tips, I leaned to apply hydrogen peroxide to remove stains from a shirt after I wash but omit drying it. Let the hydrogen peroxide dry on the fabric. IMHO, The Laundry Book would make a great addition to a home. BTW: Know that my blogs are not sponsored. I give my honest opinions. The Laundry Book is a valuable reference book to help us keep our clothes in tip-top shape by squeaky cleaning them without damage. Jerry Pozniak recommends not buying clothes you can only spot clean since you can’t really clean them.

Father and son are committed to passing their 4 generations of cleaning hacks onto the public, and they run a prestige small family business customers can feel good about supporting.

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On Broadway Captures The Spirit Of New York

I stopped posting my list of guilty pleasure songs because the videos get removed from YouTube leaving my blog with broken links. But today I'll upload a single song I remember hearing on my parent’s stereo while still a child. As my mother, father, and I did our own seperate things in our home, sometimes we'd play the radio in the background, or my Dad might put on a few albums. We had one of those 3 combination entertainment units comprised of a big center television with a record player on one side and a radio on the other side. A blast from the past! I remember the evening it was delivered. My Mom had gone out to run errands. My Dad and I were engaged in our own interests in our living room, when our doorbell ring. Two deliverymen announced, “We're here to bring up your stereo unit.” We said, “Are you sure this is the right house? Who bought it?” The name on their papers was my Mom! Unbeknownst to us, she had gone to an estate sale!! Busy bee that she was at the sale, she also bought a lovely wooden china cabinet that day! So through our house came our new furniture that Dad and I only found out about at the moment of delivery! Mom arrived home about an hour later. I guess she had a few more errands left? :)

Photo: Insider

One of the songs I remember hearing on the stereo throughout the years I lived with my parents is the song I’m posting today. Although I first heard the original version, I’m posting my favorite version, the remake by George Benson of On Broadway.

It’s a song that never gets old about a city with good, positive, creative energy, a city that celebrates not only talent and hard work, but education, culture and diversity. Excellence thrives here because of it. Once visited, New York becomes the favorite city of many of its 62 - 66 million tourists per year. New Yorkers can be abrupt, but don’t let their abruptness fool you. Faint or get injured and in a New York minute, you'll be surrounded by 5+ people, all working to get you the help you need. They won’t leave you alone until help arrives.

Another thing to know about New York is its innate sense of right and wrong sprinkled with fairness and optimism. The Empire state is the home of our Founding Fathers, Alexander Hamilton and John Jay and 2 of our greatest Presidents, Theodore Rosevelt and Franklin D. Roosevelt. It’s where our Constitution was written. New Yorkers will pay a little more for the good of the community. I’ve never heard any resentment from New York taxpayers about being a donor state or helping people who have fallen on hard times. Finally, the city is as tough as nails. Strong like the bedrock (Fordham gneiss, Manhattan schist, and Tuckahoe marble) it’s built on. Nobody beats New York into submission.

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Anticipation + 6 Ways To Save For Big Ticket Items

In 2023 interviewer Bruce Bozzi on Table for Two asked actress Sarah Jessica Parker what she’d most like to give to her children. She responded she wants her children to have the ability to “pine for” or “want things,” believing it to be a positive trait. Sarah’s childhood of sometimes in want taught her the value of hard work and gave her the motivation to earn things through her own efforts.

Moreover, compared to instant gratification, sometimes the anticipation and sacrifice of saving up for a purchase, whether a necessity or a splurge gives us additional pleasure, endorphins, or satisfaction as we get closer and closer to reaching our goal. Often we appreciate a yearned for article all the more because we worked and saved to have enough moola to finally buy it.

6 Ways To Save Extra Cash may involve cutting back on other luxuries and impulse buys such as:

(1) [Never signing up or] cutting the cable. The average cost of cable tv bundles for an American family is $1,600 per year, and another increase is expected before 2025 ends.

(2) [Never signing up or] cancelling subscriptions. Watching the sum of not spending grow in a piggy or bank account gives you a buzz.

(3) Cooking at home and eating out less, plus looking at the supermarket flyers for sales.

(4) Walking to our destinations whenever possible to save transportation costs and the price of a gym membership!

(5) Washing, reusing and repurposing what we already own when an item is re-useable. 

(6) Researching and keeping an eye on the item we are pining for to catch it at a discount. Never buy anything without looking for deals!

In a similar vein, European parents with their young children along may shop in the morning at a pastry shop with the understanding that it won’t get eaten until after dinner. They are teaching their children to plan and wait for treats.

It’s been noted that instant gratification and over consumption don’t make people happier. When you never work or wait for anything, food and material things seem to lose their value -- their specialness.

In fact, waiting can double the pleasure: Often the anticipation brings us as much joy as the actual purchase. Then we can savor it all the more! Sarah Jessica Parker, you are one wise mama!

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Rita Fox Made Couscous Salad

Photo: Hand Recipe/Facebook

Everybody should have a friend like Rita Fox. She’s kind, smart, fun, creative, generous and inspires you to cook! Here’s a recipe she posted on Facebook that looks amazing! I’ve never attempted to make couscous until I saw what she took to a pot luck dinner. 

The next 2 photos: Rita Fox

Couscous is an ancient North African dish with its roots in the cuisine of the indigenous Berber people. It's a staple food in the countries of the Maghreb region including Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia. Through North African immigration in the 1990s, the dish made its way across the Atlantic Ocean becoming popular in the Western Hemisphere. But in 1973 cookbook author Paula Wolfert played a significant role in first introducing North African flavors and couscous to American readers. Today couscous is a familiar term to everyone’s ears if not their palates!

BTW: Couscous isn’t a grain but tiny pasta. If you don’t have it in your cupboard, the recipe works with other forms of pasta.

 I linked you to 2 recipes. I don’t like feta cheese so favor Rita’s  parmesan version. 

بالصحة (bessahha)

بالصحة والراحة (bessahha o-orraha)

صحة (sahha)

My talented friend, Rita, is also the author of romance novels here. 

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10 Superfoods Backed By Science

I’ve willing to try broccoli sprouts.

According to Harvard Health, John Hopkins, and other medical experts, the following are Superfoods based on science, i.e. backed by controlled studies proven to keep humans healthy:

1) Broccoli Spouts - are 3 to 4 day old broccoli plants that look like alfalfa sprouts, but taste like radishes. They are super rich in glucosinolate, an antioxidant that stops free radicals from hooking up to form cancer. The whole cruciferous family of vegetables including broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, and Brussels sprouts are super stars, but broccoli sprouts are like the espresso of coffee concentrated in glucosinolate.

2) Skim milk - Infants and toddlers need the fatty acids in whole milk to grow properly. For older children and adults the main benefit from drinking milk is its calcium. Skimming the milk leaves the milk with a greater percentage of calcium, 306 mg for skim vs 285 mg for whole milk per 8 oz cup.

3) Whole grains - Contain vitamins, minerals and fiber. They also have plant compounds similar to cholesterol that blocks your body from absorbing bad cholesterol.

4) Beans - The dietary fiber in beans flush cholesterol out of your body. You can count peas and peanut butter, which are also legumes, in a healthy diet.

5) Oranges - An orange a day provides an adult with a full dose of vitamin C + folate, heart-healthy B vitamins, fiber and hesperidia, a blood vessel booster found in the white spongy pith.

6) Salmon - Omega 3 polyunsaturated fatty acids contribute to heart health by reducing triglycerides (the main constituents of natural fats and oils; high concentrations of triglycerides in the blood indicate a high risk of stroke), lowering blood pressure, and preventing plaque buildup. Additionally, omega-3s may reduce inflammation, which is linked to chronic conditions like arthritis and heart disease, and support brain function to prevent age-related decline such as dementia. In cooked canned salmon, you can also eat the calcium rich bones.

7) Dark chocolate - Contains antioxidants called flavonoids to make blood less sticky reducing the risk of clogged arteries. Eat a serving of 1.6 oz repeatedly over the course of a week to benefit. Also present is the mood enhancer phenylethyl. Good to know!

8) Tomatoes are high in vitamin C and lycopene, which has been shown to reduce the risk of prostate cancer. You must cook the tomatoes, though, for your body to metabolize the lycopene.

9) Olive oil contains vitamin E, polyphenols, and monounsaturated fatty acids, all which help reduce the risk of heart disease. Olive oil is 71% oleic acid, a monounsaturated fat. Studies suggest that oleic acid reduces inflammation and oxidative stress, and may even have beneficial effects on genes linked to cancer.

10) Berries are high in antioxidants such as anthocyanins, which may slowdown the cell damage caused by free radicals responsible for aging and disease. It turns out inflammation is very bad for our bodies. Berries reduce inflammation due to their high content of antioxidants, such as flavonoids and anthocyanins, which help fight oxidative stress and chronic inflammation. Compounds like anthocyanins give berries their vibrant colors and have been shown in studies to lower blood pressure, improve blood flow, and protect against inflammation-related diseases such as heart disease and type 2 diabetes.

Many of us already know how healthy most of these 10 superfoods are, but once in a while we need a reminder least we forget. Bon Appetite!

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The Cambridge Sapphire Parure

In 1934 when Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark, granddaughter of George I of Greece and great granddaughter of Tsar Alexander II of Russia married Prince George of Kent, the 4th son of George V and Queen Mary of the United Kingdom, her mother-in-law gave her the beautiful Cambridge Sapphire Parure, a family heirloom that was made for Queen Mary's grandmother, Princess Augusta, Duchess of Cambridge, who left the jewels to her daughter, Grand Duchess Augusta of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Queen Mary’s aunt. In 1916, the aunt willed her sapphire parsue to her favorite niece, Queen Mary, who presented the set to her new daughter-in-law.

The tiara could also be worn as a necklace.

A parure is a set of jewelry that is meant to be worn together. Princess Marina received a tiara, a necklace, 2 bracelets, 2 brooches, earrings, and a corsage jewel. I’ve combed the internet for photos to show the jewelry, most of the images were taken in black and white or later in life as Princess Marina wore her Cambridge Sapphire Parure for decades to carnations and state dinners.

When Princess Marina died in 1968 she left the Cambridge Sapphire Parure to her daughter-in-law, Katharine, the new Duchess of Kent, who in 1961 had married Prince Edward, Marina’s eldest son.

Unfortunately as time passed, the Kents couldn’t afford to keep the parure in tact. Some of its stones were sold and eventually all of its pieces disappeared from public view, presumed auctioned and bought by private collectors. It’s sad to see these historic pieces broken up and not end up in a museum. 

₊˚💎𖥔 ݁ ˖ ✦  ‧₊˚ 💠 𖥔 ݁ ˖ ✦ ₊˚ 💎𖥔 ݁ ˖ ✦ ₊˚

Ordinary people could never afford such magnificent pieces of jewelry consisting of a set of so many heirloom quality sapphires. Also, we never attend royal galas, so where could we wear them? A Trip to Walmart, down in the subway, or a TIME magazine pour?

Savvy Shoppers on a budget settle for commercial grade smaller stones but honestly can easily enjoy them just as much. Inspired by the Cambridge Sapphire Parsure, I picked a few lovely pieces sold by Macy’s, Belk, Saks and other department stores to illustrate how much we can love lesser pieces of jewelry! Each department store offers a wider selection to match every taste, and they run frequent sales making a jewelry splurge more affordable to an average Debra, um Jane!😛

Tips: If you do splurge on jewelry never pick pieces so fancy they stay in a box most of the year. Don’t be afraid of lab-grown stones either. Lab-grown gemstones are physically, chemically, and optically the same as natural gemstones, but cheaper. People will pay more for natural gemstones, yet jewelry is never an investment. You will rarely make a profit by selling your jewelry. Find classic pieces within your budget that you can pair with a little black dress, as well as, blue jeans. When jewelry stays in a box, it's a complete waste of money -- a splurge gone wrong!👑

Be sure to visit Tiffany, as well as, the gemstone wings of the Natural History Museum in New York and the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C. to see the heirloom gemstones when you're in the towns, and Macy’s Herald Square for the commercial grade sparklers. Also, inexperienced buyers are more apt to get taken than to score a good deal in NYC's diamond district. The vibe is to sell and it's not much fun to browse there.

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