Ancient Treasures and Treasure Boxes!

The idea of jewelry created and designed centuries ago sounds fairly base and boring. Add a shipwreck to it, however, and you suddenly have a subject of intrigue. In fact, add a tomb or a cave and it’s still a heck of a lot more interesting than it was before. Haven’t you ever wondered why you’d rather see pictures of a decaying treasure box than a pristine glass window in a museum?

What is it about the ocean and trapped rooms that take seemingly plain works of metal and gems and make them seem timeless? Perhaps it’s the knowledge that while all other memories including the ships, passengers, kings, civilizations and even life have all faded away, the treasure is the only remnant. Open a rusted treasure box or dig beneath structural foundations and you’ll find a solid memory of a people both unknown and forgotten.

It would be interesting to read through a complete list of all sunken treasures ever found; but I have a feeling the number of them is slightly deceptive. The number of discoveries involving treasure is most likely far more numerous than we’ve ever considered.

But here are some interesting articles to get us started:

·         Top 10 Incredible Treasure Troves

·         6 Awesome Treasure Hunt Finds By Amateurs

You might just find this interesting: A pretty off-beat and cool discovery would be that of 220 year-old champagne from Eastern Europe. Talk about celebration!

For those who wish to delve deeper into the subject of discovered treasures, here is a website that tries to store as much information regarding world-wide ancient treasure discoveries as possible: HuntTreasure.net. Another useful site is the International Registry of Sunken Ships, ShipWreckRegistry.com and lastly, Ancient Lost Treasures is a forum to discuss all and any great historical find, making it an excellent information hub and resource site. 

Best Celebrity Engagement Rings

Personally, I think a world whereby we blindly follow the style of an “expert-by-association” celebrity is pretty boring. In fact, I recently read somewhere that certain celebrities don’t even need to purchase an engagement ring when they intend to propose, due to the overwhelming number of freebies they are so generously sponsored with. So often, what they’re wearing isn’t necessarily a sign of their distinct taste, but just another sign that every Brand name out there happens to know their name, too.

But that’s not to say that amidst all the “What shall I wear?” talk there aren’t some items that hit their mark. Whether these engagement rings were personally sought out or not, these are some awesome pieces:

• Kate Beckinsale
• Mariah Carey
• Kristen Bell
• Jennifer Love Hewitt
• Jennifer Aniston
• Salma Hayek
• Katie Holmes

Disney Character's Jewelry Gems

This post is intended for the “inner child”; if you’re in a daring mood, that is. Disney has this knack for creating beautiful pieces of fiction. -Their male characters with their big blue eyes; their grand ballrooms with their impeccable attention to detail and of course, their fashion - with their unique, grand, fictional style.

Some of their best pieces are listed below; you decide whether they should have made the list or not:

• Princess Jasmine’s Earrings (Aladdin): Do you know how disappointing it is to type “jasmine’s earrings” into a Google search and only find chandelier options? The most frustrating thing is typing in words and getting “similar” matches instead of “exact” ones. Although it must be said that it would take one giant leap of confidence to try and pull off the earrings’ “large” impact. Perhaps it’s just the forgiving lines of the animated drawing that make these earrings so appealing, but man – wouldn’t you want to find out if reality were just as accommodating?
• Belle’s Hair Clip (Beauty & The Beast): Oh, how this hair clip has been overlooked and ignored. It simply isn’t fair. While I have to admit that Belle’s gown is very eye-catching with the glossy hems and all, am I the only person on the planet to have noticed her hair clip? Unfortunately, you’d have to browse through a decent collection of Google Images to find a decent angle of the golden clip, but if you watch the movie, you will see it has a slight heart-shaped inward curve. How glamorous is that? A golden, almost heart-shaped band holding your bun into place while you dance around a palace in a matching gold dress? Sigh…
• Anastacia’s Jewelry Box & Matching Necklace:  I know you all know what I’m talking about. Don’t the majority of jewelry and music boxes available seem boring and common in comparison, now? Granted, the animated version of this incredibly detailed jewelry box does have a tremendously larger amount of shine and shimmer, but you can’t help but just not care. Although, to be honest, I’ve found myself having the rare experience of enjoying the “similar replicas” that are on offer out there. The thing about this music box is that it’s just such a great base design to start off with and most deviancies from this design can only be good and interesting.

3 Valentine’s Day Propositions – Breaking the Rules of Generic Jewelry

Valentine’s Day is around the corner. Obviously. This is a day that brings incredible hope to females all around the world, while that very same sparkle scares most of their men into a corner.

This is what goes through most men’s minds:

“Should I buy her jewelry?”

“Should I get her chocolates?”

“Should I make the card or buy the card?”

“Should I get a card?”

Most of these thoughts are followed by a scary flashback of a woman crying, frowning or letting the whole world know via a social network that her boyfriend is lousy and clueless. This is probably due to the common knowledge that to a woman: jewelry is never expensive enough; chocolate is her favourite, but it’s not special enough and the card was hand-made but not sentimental enough.

In fact, I’m getting tired just thinking about it. I wouldn’t be surprised if most men were driven to Jolie and Thornton measures… After all, carrying a blood vial around your neck is probably as personal, creative, unique and sentimental as it gets. But then again, that wouldn’t be “normal” enough.

The truth is that I feel sorry for men – as it often seems that most women forget that Valentine’s Day is a two-way street any way. It’s because of this that I have listed 3 Valentine’s Day ideas that are related to jewelry; are definitely creative and even a little personal.

1.       Diamond Candles “A Ring In Every Candle”

What’s so great about these? They’re soy; they’re scented and they contain jewelry. The value of the rings ranges from $10 - $5,000.

Pros:

·         The surprise can take the edge off of the outcome of the actual value – and they can’t blame you for it!

·         She could hit the jackpot

Cons:

·         The room could smell like “Cozy Cabin” all day long – we all know women aren’t patient

·          

2.       NanoStyle Jewelry “The Unique Gift of Jewelry”

What’s so great about this? First of all, they offer Cubic Zirconia, which is not only practically identical to diamond, but costs an arm and a leg less. Secondly, if she wants “personal”, what better way to get “personal” than to have a pendant that says “I Love You” imprinted in 24kt gold onto a single stone in 120 different languages?

Pros:

·         This is probably the only time a girl is going to use a magnifying glass on a piece of jewelry and be happy about it

·         They offer free international shipping

·         She’ll get distracted by the “shiny object”

Cons:

·         Even the best cubic zirconia jewelry can’t fool the average woman

3.       Edible Jewelry, from these places:

a.       Greetjie Van Helmond

b.      Artesanal Sweets

c.       Glamjewelance

What’s so great about these? They’re creative; she can’t complain about them not being diamonds and you’ve got the “chocolates” question covered.

Pros:

·         They’re customizable, so you’ve got “personal” covered

·         Who needs dessert?

Cons:

·         Uhm… “Babe, does my butt look big in these pants?”

Cons aside, these suggestions should at least avoid the following:

Which is, of course, the primary aim here - no one wants Halloween early.