Among the things you can expect to find in Austin, Texas, are hipsters (sigh…), live music, bats, and excellent queso. More surprising? Museum-quality, priceless jewelry—but then again, Austin is full of surprises!
Bell and Bird, founded by couple Cyrus and Rihanna Shennum, occupies a small storefront beneath a workshop where they make custom jewelry and must-be-seen-to-be-believed-level gorgeous jewelry boxes. Housed in the shop? Said priceless jewels, which, at the time we visited, included a matching pair of pear-shaped Type IIa flawless diamond drop earrings (in non-diamond nerd speak, that means really, really, really, ridiculously rare), a collection of custom diamond rings incorporating antique stones into custom settings, and an enormous emerald ring that this writer had a very, very hard time leaving behind. (Ahem, Santa…)
In one of the greatest days of our professional life, Cyrus and Rihanna let us fondle all the goods inside the vault, play a serious game of jewelry dress-up, and told us the stories behind some of the rarest, most special pieces they have.
It was truly a dream. Click through for a collection of antique diamonds that temporarily broke our brains.
