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Tiara Tuesday: Princess Marina’s Fringe Tiara

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Princess Marina’s fringe tiara was a gift from the City of London when she married George, Duke of Kent, son of George V and Queen Mary, in 1934. It’s made of diamonds set in gold and silver. The City of London chose wisely. This design is inspired by traditional Russian kokoshniks, and Princess Marina was the daughter of Prince Nicholas of …

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Tiara Tuesday: Marie Louise of Bulgaria’s Tiara

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Marie Louise of Bulgaria’s tiara was, like so many others, a wedding present. In 1893, Prince Regnant Ferdinand of Bulgaria married Princess Marie Louise of Bourbon-Parma. As a present for the bride, the Bulgarian National Assembly commissioned this tiara from Austrian jeweler Kochert. The stones match the colors of the Bulgarian flag: red, green, and white. That central ruby is …

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Tiara Tuesday: The Devonshire Diamond Tiara

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The Devonshire diamond tiara was made by jeweler A.E. Skinner for Louise, the Duchess of Devonshire, in 1893. She’d been in love with the Duke for 30 years – too bad she only met him after marrying the Duke of Manchester. But we’ll get back to her in a sec. This tiara features palmette and lotus motifs and uses about …

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My Video Introduction to The Red Road

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As Britney spears said, “Oops, I did it again.” I made another promotional video for The Red Road. Sponsored by brandy. Starring brandy. Directed by brandy. Submitted for Oscar consideration and your viewing pleasure. Like what you see? Check out The Red Road here on my website or on Amazon. Still not convinced? Maybe you’ll like the book trailer better… …

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Tiara Tuesday: The Boucheron Ivy Tiara

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The Boucheron ivy tiara was designed by Solange Azagury-Partridge (the firm’s creative director at the time) and created in 2003. It’s made entirely of emeralds set in black gold. Even though this tiara is thoroughly modern, it’s based on a design pulled from the Boucheron archives (circa 1890). The house’s founder, Frédéric Boucheron, loved the wild ivy that grew at …

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East of Eden: The Final Frontier

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Eat my dust, Oprah. I finished East of Eden last night at 11:21 pm. This book was way more engaging and entertaining than I expected. That being said, I’d give it four stars, not five. It would have been five stars with a couple hundred fewer pages. Lop off 200-300 pages and it still would have been epic. But it …

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Tiara Tuesday: The Württemberg Diamond Diadem

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Created by court jeweler August Heinrich Kuhn, the Württemberg diamond diadem was presented to Queen Pauline in 1820, the year of her marriage to first cousin King William I of Württemberg. William was a pretty frugal guy. He transferred some of the diamonds from the Württemberg state crown to help fill this diadem. Generous or cheap? You make the call. …

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The Red Road Is Now Available!

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The day has finally come! Well, actually it came two days ago – The Red Road went live on Monday. Honestly, I got so sick of myself that I didn’t want to send this post on release day. I feel weird, you guys. I spent SO LONG working on this book, and now it’s out there in the world for …

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Tiara Tuesday: Queen Margherita’s Musy Tiara

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This tiara belonged to the first Queen of Italy—except it didn’t belong to her until after she was already Queen Mother. In 1904, she commissioned this tiara from the jeweler Musy, based in her hometown of Turin. The occasion? The birth of her grandson, the new Crown Prince of Italy. Because, you know, why should that little shit get a …

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Tiara Tuesday: The Stuart Tiara

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I chose the Stuart tiara to wish the lovely Karen Conlin a happy birthday. Why? I mean, look at it. You have to be impressed, which is how I feel about Karen’s work. If you haven’t already, check out Grammargeddon.com. Let’s all wish her a happy birthday…and then dig into the awesomeness that is the Stuart tiara. This tiara belongs …