Ultra Stunnig High Jewelry

The Ocean Sapphire and Diamond Suite from the House of Mouawad has 241.54 carats of Sri Lanka sapphires and 156.61 carats of colorless diamonds total.

Today's blog is pure eye candy! One of my favorite luxury items to browse is fine jewelry, and I don't limit myself to only what I can afford. The to-die-for Mouawad jewelry suites are for sale, yet few of us could buy them. If you truly love precious gems, you want to see the top of the line. I love big rocks, especially the flawless, translucent, and spectacular color kind! Who doesn't? The benefit of living in Manhattan is I'm within walking distance of master jewelers and famous jewels ... and why deny myself the joy of seeing and sometimes trying on the pieces? After all, when I walk into the Met or Smithsonian for a look, I don't expect to walk out with a painting. It's the appreciation of beauty, as well as, quite an education! So come along and browse with me ...

The Carmen Lucia Ruby is 23.10 carats, and the Chalk Emerald is 37.8 carats.

The extremely rare Burmese ruby has a rich red color known as pigeon's blood, and the top-tier clarity and the bluish-green hue of the Columbian emerald make it one of the world's finest. Both are in the National Gem Collection at the Smithsonian in Washington, DC.

The Marie Antoinette earrings weigh 14.25 & 20.34 carats respectively, and the Bismarck Sapphire, designed by Cartier, is 98.57 carats.

Queen Marie Antoinette sent her jewelry for safekeeping to Belgium and onto her native Vienna one year before being guillotined in 1793 during France's Reign of Terror. Her nephew, the Austrian Emperor, gave the jewels to her only surviving daughter, Marie-Therese de France upon her release from captivity and arrival in Austria. The earrings may have been bought by Napoleon III for his wife Empress Eugenie and eventually ended up at the Smithsonian where they are today.

The magnificent blue sapphire on the right has perfect clarity and transparency and is the quality of sapphire we ordinary people wish we could buy! It is set with 312 brilliant and baguette-cut white (i.e., colorless) diamonds. Thankfully it is also on view at the Smithsonian for all to see.

The Divine Muzo and Pear Emerald Suite is from the House of Mouawad - The necklace emerald is 72.40 carats, the bracelet is 54.38 carats, the ring is 53.11 carats, and the earrings are 41.12 carats.

This glamourous emerald suite is not in a museum. More information about the pieces is here.

In its 300 years of history, the Hope Diamond (below) had 3 sizes and several owners including France's King Louis XIV. Later during the Reign of Terror, it was stolen and cut down to its present size of 45.52 carats. Finally, jeweler Harry Winston bought it in 1949 and in 1958 gave it to the Museum of Natural History in Washington DC, and yes siree, Bob, Louie, Harry, I've seen it!

On public display - The Hope Diamond - It had 3 names ...

Although it takes the artistry of wo/man to enhance the beauty of gemstones by expertly cutting and polishing them, as well as, a good eye for design setting, it all starts with Mother Nature, and isn't she a marvel? We also should think about the miners (and villagers) who search for, dig and extract the rough stones, and who throughout history were exploited and not paid fair market value for their finds. If we can't undo the past, certainly we can do better in the future to pay and treat people fairly. Let's take care of Mother Nature, her bounty, and one another.💎                                                   

Models of the Hope Diamond in its 3 sizes as the Tavenier at 115 carats, the French Blue at 69 carats, and as the Hope Diamond at 45.52 carats

And now, let's have even more fun. I'll select a few of my favorite pieces owned by someone and not just any random someone, but namely, Queen Elizabeth II, who has a huge, priceless jewelry collection, some of it personal and some of it falls under the Crown Jewels -- estimated value to be around $4 billion dollars. However, The Crown Jewels are not insured and therefore have never been appraised. 

The Coronation Necklace (passed down from Queen Victoria) -- and always worn by Queens and Queen Consorts to open Parlament; and the King George VI Victorian Suite -- given to his daughter as a wedding gift. Wow and wow!!

So what will you wear tonight, Debra 😁, um Your Majesty ... diamonds, sapphires, rubies, or emeralds? And oooh, which set of diamonds, sapphires, rubies or emeralds???

The Queen Mary Diamond Fringe Tiara worn with her Diamond Festoon Necklace😍; and Queen Victoria’s Crown Ruby necklace and Ruby Pendent with the Girls of Great Britain and Ireland Tiara.

Daughters, granddaughters, Debra 🤥 and the spouses of sons and grandsons get to borrow one of Queen Elizabeth's tiaras to wear on their wedding day, as well as, at special events. I'd be thrilled to simply try on my favorites if you stumble upon my blog, Your Majesty!

Burmese Ruby Tiara and the Baring Ruby necklace and Queen Mary’s Ruby Cluster Earrings; Greville Emerald Kokoshnik Tiara. P. Eugenie's emerald and diamond drop earrings were a wedding gift from the groom.

Below is Queen Victoria's Sapphire Coronet, a piece I hope gets permanently donated to a museum. Designed by Queen Victoria's husband, Prince Albert (about 1842), the coronet was passed on to great-granddaughter Princess Mary as a gift from her father, King George V. Her descendants sold the coronet but it was bought by a wealthy someone who allowed it to be exhibited in 2002 at the Victoria and Albert Museum. It would be sad if this piece of history forever disappeared into a private collection and became unavailable for public viewing. 

BTW, if I borrowed the gorgeous Mauawad Ocean Sapphire and Diamond Suite at the top I'd feel and look like a Queen, minus the state dinners to wear them to ... unless the Queen decided to invite me to attend one of hers. While Across the Pond perhaps my new royal girlfriend will let me take a look at those lovely Crown Jewels!😁💂

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Lawless Beauty

My friend, Angie Smith, says, " I have loved every single product I've tried and it's clean. The One and Done Mascara is the best I've ever used. The Conseal The Deal Concealer is fabulous, and so are the lipglosses." 

She's talking about Lawless Beauty, a makeup brand created by Annie Lawless Jacobs, whose mission is to produce "highly pigmented, full coverage, and long-lasting" cosmetics with only safe ingredients, therefore face and lip paints, stains, and some treatments that are 100% free of carcinogens and hormone or endocrine-disrupting toxins. Every product in the line is free of all potential toxins, including parabens, talc, lead, PEGS, sulfates, mineral oil, carbon black, and siloxanes, in addition to, animal cruelty and synthetic fragrance.

Moreover, the brand is serious about formulating high-end cosmetics to make customers not only healthy but look and feel beautiful. The foundation, lip color, concealer, and mascara will not wimp out by midday but last all day long.

Lawless Beauty is sold at Sephora, as well as, on its own website, where loyal customers can earn reward points to save on future purchases.

Another fabulous discovery of yet another stellar brand with good clean ingredients! Thank you once again, Angie!

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Let's Look At Blake Lively's Met Gala Dress 2022

Photo: Vogue

After 2 years of Covid, it's back! And ... Blake Lively's Met Gala 2022 gown, designed by Versace Atelier, was the talk of the night. It was my favorite too, so let's take a closer look. As Blake explained to the press, New York architecture especially The Statue of Liberty, was the inspiration for creating her dress, which is why the dress unfolded into two colors, going from copper to green.

Photo: Yahoo

I live within walking distance of the Metropolitan Museum of Art but have never been able to catch a glimpse of the celebrities making their entrances up the stairs because Vogue magazine, the organizer of the gala, puts up huge tents, preventing the public, as well as, the tenants who live above and across the street from the Met along 5th Avenue from seeing it, a course of action I find baffling. Why deprive us of the thrill, Anna Wintour? What is gained? 

Though I know I'll never receive an invitation to attend, it won't stop me from playing the game of picking out a dress. If I could own any dress from this year's gala it would be ... drum roll, please ...

Daisy Edgar-Jones

Also a Versace, it's understated with sparkles. For me, myself and I, I'd always want a dress that doesn't require people to follow me around arranging it ... because I don't have any people.😁 If I got more ambitious with yards of fabric, including a train, maybe friends who wanted to attend the gala would for one night, act as my people???

Of course, celebrities who attend the Met Gala are working ... there to be seen and photographed as opposed to just having fun. Perhaps they manage to do both. I don't know as I never get invited, plus from the outside, my Jane Q. Public's view gets blocked ... sheesh!

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Hermès Bolide - A Cheaper Hermès Bag

Let's get something straight: 1) Luxury buys are expensive material things we want but don't need; 2) Sometimes what we covet makes no sense to others; and 3) Different strokes for different folks: One category of pricey things can make us happy while others have little emotional pull on us. Why? Using myself as an example, why does jewelry give me joy over designer handbags or designer clothes? Oh, I could guess the reason: My father liked jewelry and on weekend errands downtown, we'd look in jewelry store windows and pick our favorites, and I sometimes got jewelry as birthday or graduation gifts, but I also hear that turkeys are attracted to and flock around shiny objects, so perhaps I'm more like a turkey than I care to admit.😀😁😂 

In honor of my father (and my) pastime, I'll show you a gorgeous diamond necklace I can only dream about buying. The stones are fancy-cut diamonds and depending on the quality of the stones likely cost over $1 million (all the diamonds must be carefully selected to match in color, clarity, and size) and it isn't its owner's favorite or most expensive necklace. It is my favorite of her necklaces, oh, yeah! I think the reason I'm posting it on the blog is so I can return here to look at it once in a while. A picture like diamonds is forever.😍 

If Hermes handbags are what attract you, but you don't want to mortgage your house, have I got a budget-friendly tip for you! There are plenty of Bolide Hermes handbags that are in excellent condition on the pre-loved market.

Whether vintage or reissues, all Hermès handbags are handmade unlike Chanel or Louis Vuitton, or a slew of other designer bags, which often are factory-made. The quality of Hermès bags is unmatched. 

As bag mavens know, Hermes Birkins tend to increase their value on the resale market due to demand and how impossible the brand makes it to walk into a retail store to buy one. 

The Hermes Bolide is a lesser-known style to the public. It has the same top quality, yet not the status of a Birkin or Kelly. If you are interested in the caliber of a bag over its status, a Hermes Bolide is an excellent, under-the-radar choice, and for this reason, costs far less.

Sometimes called the Bolide 23, the style is the earliest design of Emile-Maurice Hermes (first sold in 1923). Inspired by his visits to Henry Ford's automobile factories in North America, it was reported to be a gift for his wife who desired a handbag to carry on car rides. Moreover, Hermes saw how zippers were used for the removable rooftops of Ford automobiles, so he adopted this feature for the Bolide, patenting his innovation, which is now common. At the time, Hermes was known only as a leather goods, not a luxury bag merchant, and the Bolide 23 bags with their staller craftsmanship have endured through the years of its reissues.

The Bolide 23 is made of box leather, the original skin in Hermes's leather shop. Box leather is a rich, glossy cow's skin that holds its shape and color with proper care. If mishandled, it will scratch and isn't waterproof. Through the decades 6 sizes were produced: mini, 27 cm, 30 cm, 31 cm, 35 cm, and its original travel bag size 45 cm. The Bolide has 2 handles, a shoulder strap (and a key with clochette on the 4 largest sizes). This classic bag comes in neutrals and an array of colors.

Also, know that costing less than a Birkin or Kelly doesn't mean cheap. Nonetheless, the price is a sum many people with jobs can save up to buy unlike the $12,000 - infinity Birkins. Plus the 2nd hand market lets you avoid the Hermes retail store games of buying other merchandise before being offered a handbag. That alone is cheaper and priceless! Since the Bolide is under the radar, you'll find a reasonable price on the resale market. Customers also like carrying a bag that's understated and not as recognizable as the Kelly or Birkin.

Meanwhile, I love that stunning fancy-cut diamond necklace so much, I'd wear it anywhere and everywhere if I could afford and justify buying it. Definitely, it wouldn't stay in a box!🔹😎

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How Many Grams Of Protein Should You Eat?

Photo: iStock free images

Since childhood, we've been told proteins are the main building blocks of the body. Every body part you can think of from muscles and organs to skin, nails, enzymes, and hormones is made of protein. And, what makes up protein? Smaller molecules called amino acids that link up to form chains. These chains of proteins link into longer chains to fold into complex shapes forming organs, muscles, hair, etc. (Source: Healthline.)

According to Healthlne, the best sources of protein are meats, fish, eggs, dairy products, quinoa, legumes, and nuts.

Aminal sources of protein are complete proteins as they contain all 20 amino acids. Many plant sources like legumes have some, but not all 20 amino acids and need to be combined with whole grains (or a glass of milk) thereby also becoming excellent sources of complete proteins. Bean soup with cornbread, peanut butter on slices of whole grain bread, and hummus on pita bread are tasty combinations forming complete proteins. 

So how many grams of protein do people need to eat each day to stay healthy? Well sources differ on the amounts, but a general consensus seems to be to get at least .36 grams of protein per pound of body weight; therefore a 130 pound woman would need about 46 grams of protein, while a 160 pound man would need about 57 grams of protein per day. Another recommendation is to eat 3 meals a day with each meal consisting of 30% - 35% of your daily protein requirements.

Doctors also note: A high protein diet can help dieters by decreasing their hunger and thus food intake and calories per day. Older people may benefit by eating as much as 50% more than the recommended daily grams for an average man or woman. Pregnant women and people recovering from injuries also seem to need more protein than the average person.

Although it was once speculated that too much protein could damage one's kidneys, this notion was never supported by science, and the benefits of consuming more protein far outweigh any feared harm.

When it comes to selecting foods to eat to meet your daily protein needs, follow your tastes and preferences and mix it up. Variety is the spice of life, and by rotating food you'll likely consume all the nutrients your body needs.

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Old Navy's Summer Wear

Every year one clothing retailer seems to have the edge over others with their spring/summer clothing launch, and this year the distinction goes to Old Navy. The merchant's winning casual summer wear is a combination of style, quality and value. Everyday warm weather attire need not cost an arm and a leg. You need reasonably good, not the apex of quality in summer clothing.

Old Navy's offerings include active-wear fabric (a cozy polyester-spandex blend to wick away moisture) shorts and dresses or 100% cotton dresses priced from $10 - $20 that are soft, cute, cool, easy-to-machine wash and dry and won't fall apart like fast-fashion. For the buck you get a few seasons of wear out of garments (with pockets!😍) you can mindlessly wear and clean ... without emplying your wallet. Look for the steals and deals! The $20 SuperCash is a dream come true!

My elderly mother desires something sleeveless she can sleep in, so I'm ordering a few of these dresses for her as they are perfect as nightgowns. Using my supercash promotion brings them down to an unbeatable $9 each!

A loyal costumer, I love Old Navy's casual and sports wear despite the brand's inconsistant sizing. Without gaining a pound you may be a medium one year, a large the next. If a dress fits you perfectly in extra-large, it's Old Navy's use of various vendors, not you! 

Speaking for myself, the size can be called jumbo as long as I know what to order to fit me. Customer reviews are great about telling us to go up or down a size, and when several reviewers say a dress runs short, consider ordering it in tall especially if the dress is 100% cotton to anticipate a bit of shrinkage in the wash. Due to my mom's age, I order her t-shirt dresses in a tall and large to be roomy and long enough for her to feel comfortable sleeping in them.

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My 5 Key Organizing Tips

Photo courtesy of Walmart.

Since moving to Manhattan where space is at a premium, I've become super organized. Life is simpler when all your things have a home and you can easily fetch them. You spend less time searching for possessions and don't re-buy something you already own. I like to say I'm too lazy and cheap to be unorganized. Once a friend, Dru, on a visit to my apartment with her husband, A.J., asked if she could show him my closets. I was so flattered she had noticed my tidiness on her previous visits. She made my day!

While I'm always open to perfecting my system, here are 5 Organizing Tips I can share:

1) In my clothes closets - I group alike-garments together: First by seasons -- warm weather versus cold weather -- then within the seasons, coats; sweaters; vests; blouses and tops; trousers; and dresses, etc. 

Although for Manhattan I have 2 good-sized wardrobe closets I still must shift my spring/summer and winter/fall clothes to the front or back of the closets as the seasons change. I don't have the luxury of a 3rd wardrobe closet to avoid moving my clothes each season. Rats!!! I envy people with more than 2 closets. From time to time I also purge my clothes of what I no longer wear so I can always fit everything I own in my 2 closets, never overflowing them. In New York City, our lack of spacious apartments is just too unforgiving to keep things we never grab. I donate my still in good condition clothes to Housing Works or Goodwill. 

2) Outside my bathroom I have a personal care shelf - Here again I like to group similar items together - I gather the skincare products together; the shampoos and hair conditioners together; the toothpaste and mouthwash together, the pain relievers - aspirin, ibuprofen, naproxen, acetaminophen together; wound treatments together and hair tools, etc. Since these items are stationary on a shelf, I simply stack them up so I can easily grab them. At times baskets and such help organize, at other times they just hog more space so you can't stack items. When bars of soap or boxes of toothpaste stay put, you don't need containers that become just another takedown before you can reach your articles. What I do find helpful in organizing small personal care stuff like extra dental floss, hairpins, or cotton balls is storing them inside a repurposed plastic sheet set protector. It has structure, transparency, a zipper, and a slim body that sides in against the wall -- perfect for the job! And, you already own it. In fact, save a couple of sheet protectors to protect other goods too. Great for separating, or keeping categories of things together!

3) Shoes and odds and ends - The shoes I slip into most often are on the floor of my wardrobe closet. The shoes I wear occasionally, I stack up in clear plastic shoebox-shaped containers. 

Additionally, I use one of the plastic shoeboxes to keep receipts ... a 2nd to store extra makeup I have for when I run out of what I'm presently using ... and a 3rd plastic shoebox for extra lightbulbs along with extra vacuum cleaner bags. These clear plastic shoeboxes are terrific for organizing all kinds of things. I even have a collection of photos in a 4th plastic shoebox. They only cost $1 - $2 apiece (depending on the retailer), are compact, strong, see-through, and hold lots of stuff. You can't go wrong buying them for storage. (The above image shows belts inside one box, but I think belts are best grouped hanging on a clothes hanger.)

4) Other odds and ends only needed at certain times (for example wool clothing, or a pump for an air mattress) get kept inside clear plastic 13-gallon trash bags before going on a shelf. The 13-gallon size is ideal, not too big or small a size to keep similar things together, as well as, dust-free, and since you can see through the bags, you don't waste time labeling or opening them to remember what's inside.

5) Ziploc bags of various sizes fit the smaller items you need to keep together, Q-tips, nails, whatever. Easy to see what's inside and open.

Believe it or not, you don't want to spend hours of time organizing. Aim to reduce your steps to keep organizing simple and efficient. Moreover, try not to spend too much money on the supplies you use to keep your things together and in good condition ... just a few bucks for the containers you need. The right organizing system should save you time, money, and work. Starting with these 5 tips, join me in being too lazy and cheap to be unorganized!

Happy upcoming Earth Day on April 22nd! A perfect time to get organized.🌍🌎🌏

Do you have brilliant organizing tips of your own to share?

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Happy Easter People!

Supper at Emmaus by Caravaggio

Leave it to one of my favorite Baroque painters, Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1571 - 1610) to depict a resurrected, incognito, very human Jesus eating a meal in the town of Emmaus with his clueless disciples who fail to recognize him ... until they do. Then Christ vanishes. (Khan Academy analysis here of the painting).

Once again we celebrate hope, optimism, and human perseverance in a flawed, limited, and sometimes challenging world. But, spring is here -- days are getting longer and warmer, and life is good.✝️🐣

Happy Easter! 

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The Pillow Shoe Is A Fad

There's a new fad in town: The Pillow Shoes. They are the rage of TicTac, and I think for good reason. They are cheap, comfortable and casual smart. Although not enough support to walk miles and miles in, pillow shoes offer good enough support to loaf around the house, as well as, run quick errands in the neighborhood.

In warm weather I normally wear $2 Old Navy flip flops around my apartment, but these offer greater support and are arguably more stylish. There are a number of retailers making the shoe style, but I like the brand, Mesh Beach Shoes for their anti-slip soles and ergonomic design claim which is supposed to evenly distribute the pressure between you feet and hips to help avoid the pain of knots and cramps. They are lightweight, waterproof and have lots of happy customers based upon what reads like honest reviews. The website features 6 colors including blue and beige. 

More expensive than flip flops for sure, but you get durability, support and style ... a fair trade off ... and hey, you can add a few inches to your height by slipping into a pair.🦶🩴

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Should You Buy I Color or I3 Clarity Diamonds?

Let's say you'd love to own jewelry with big diamonds but can't afford the bigger sizes without mortgaging your home or selling your children. Diamond prices increase exponentially per carat as you move up in carat weight because big eye-clean diamonds are rare in nature.

So, of the 4 diamond "Cs" (cut, carat, color, and clarity): (1) On which do you compromise to buy the biggest stone for the money, and (2) How far do you compromise? 

The answers are: Be flexible on color and clarity to buy a bigger stone.

Let's consider color first: To get more value in carats, or size for the money, [technically carat refers to weight not the size of a stone] ideally you should buy a G or H color, but you could go all the way down the alphabet to a J color diamond in a white gold setting. White gold makes diamonds look whiter and yet going past a J diamond is when the naked eye will notice a yellow tint. For yellow gold settings, however, you might get away with a K color as yellow gold can hide a yellow tint better than white gold. If you compare an E color with a J, you will see a slight yellow tint, but without a side-by-side comparison of the two grades you really won't notice, and the difference in cost between E and J diamonds is huge, so you could compromise a bit on color to buy a bigger stone that still looks relatively white.

Next, let's discuss clarity: When it comes to flaws, diamonds have 2 types: blemishes (surface flaws) and inclusions (internal flaws). All-natural diamonds have inclusions or defects. Under a microscope, jewelers see "feathers, bruises, indented naturals and chips, etched channels, and cavities" that can't be seen with the naked eye. In fact, clarity is considered the least important characteristic in a diamond, and where you can compromise the most to get a bigger diamond as long as you examine the stone carefully to make sure the inclusions are hidden and not prominent. Experts usually recommend settling on a diamond with VS2 (Very Slight 2) in clarity to get "the most bang for the buck." A diamond with inclusions can still look eye-clean.

Now let's get specific by considering a pair of diamond stud earrings I've had on my Macy's wish list for a few years. I love the 4-carat total weight of the studs -- that's 2 carats on each ear. Lovely, oh yes! The price is what I also find attractive ... sometimes on sale for as low as $5,400. Nice and tempting! -- compared to the usual $28,000+ for 4-carat diamond stud earrings in 14K gold at James Allen. Nonetheless, it's still a load of cash to pay, so therefore I'm stalling. In the pro camp: The I grade is colorless and acceptable for diamond stud earrings. But the I3 clarity keeps me from pulling the trigger. Macy's at Herald Square never has the earrings in the store to pursue, and it's too risky for the still-a lot-of-moola price tag. 

The cons are: I3 diamonds usually have too many inclusions that affect a diamond's brilliance and beauty. According to Teach Jewelry, ''The difference between I3 and I1 and I2 clarity diamonds is the number, type, position, and size of inclusions." No matter the angle, the inclusions, or imperfections will likely diminish the stones' sparkle (the ability of a diamond to collect and reflect light). How disappointing to spend $5,400+ for diamonds "with large, dark, and easily seen inclusions" that limit their brilliance. Dull diamonds are not what one pays for -- I'd miss the glitter, the sparkle, the shine ... as well as the money leaving my bank account.😳

I3 diamonds are called salt and pepper diamonds due to the black spots they often have. These inclusions are too noticeably to be eye-clean.

A few sources cite if inclusions are on the edge of a diamond, your diamond could break off and an I3 diamond is harder to resale, but I dismiss these 2 reasons for avoiding it. Jewelry is always a luxury buy. All jewelry is a poor investment as you'll rarely get the price you paid if reselling it. If you do pay less for less quality, getting some of your money back by reselling it is a fair trade-off. And on Moh's Hardness Scale, diamonds are a 10, the hardest gems you can buy. Stones in earrings are unlikely to break with normal wear. Not to mention, you should remove rings to clean your house.

Frankly, diamonds are common in nature, and it's mostly demand that creates their high value. Readers, you are not alone in coveting big-sized diamonds! I, too, am tempted sometimes all the time. An I diamond is fine, but diamond experts tend to advise against buying I3 diamonds for jewelry. It looks like I'll never own a pair of 4-carat diamond studs.💎

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