Variations on a Turquoise Theme

Vivid green turquoise is a great variation on the turquoise theme. The vibrant spring-like color takes it out of the realm of Native American craft, especially when combined with something utterly unexpected like red/blue/green/gold cloisonne beads and elaborately filigreed vermeil spacers. I had one tiny green turquoise nugget left and used it as the centerpiece here in an uninterrupted strand of color and texture. I finished the piece with a vermeil toggle and ended up with a lovely, affordable necklace.
Price: $200.

HunkaHunka Glamour -- Nuggets of Fluorite with Aquamarine

Sometimes I end up with an odd number of beads that sit around until inspiration strikes. These fluorite beauties, just five of them, languished on the worktable until I made some pieces using opaque aquamarine and some brocade-like cloisonne beads left over. I played with different combinations for a while and came up with this semi-collar. Nothing is really matchy-matchy (something I personally have problems with) but it sort of all goes together anyway. The textures are in high contrast which makes the piece more than interesting. A glamour girl of a necklace. And affordable, too. Price: $225.00.

Celebrating the Southwest -- Turquoise and Tiger Eye

Occasionally, I will find a terrific component -- a fabulously odd bead, unusually-colored crystals or, in this case, an outrageously huge piece of turquoise made into a clasp. It took me quite a while to summon up the courage to string stuff to go on this clasp, but I did it. In a celebration of the American Southwest that looks like it was born in Texas or New Mexico, but is actually a variation of classic Native American jewelry, I combined two different shades of turquoise -- classic Western sky turquoise with earthy green, and contrasted it with the even earthier Tiger Eye with its desert tones. This is a pretty weighty piece -- major showcase stuff that can be worn where you'd imagine wearing a more traditional turquoise piece. Only this one has a high-fashion edge to it -- multiple strands, mixed textures, the subtle glint of decorative silver beads, designed to set off the fabulousness of the Chinese turquoise clasp. Price: $900.00.

Brocade Chinoise -- Aquamarine with Cloisonne

I love how inexpensive this gorgeous reinactment of a Chinese brocaded kimono is. I also love the contrast between the brightly enameled cloisonne beads traced with gold and the almost opaque aquamarine. I picked up the gold in the colored beads with some filigree vermeil spacers and finished it off with a leafy floral vermeil clasp. This is a classic single-strand necklace to wear with silk blouses or jewel neck sweaters. It is decidedly spring-summer in hue, a celebration of sun-drenched days. There are earrings with this piece also. Price: $275.00.

She's Blushing Lavender-Pink Facted Chalcedony Pears

Pink is such a delicious color, especially when it can masquerade as lavender with a glint of iridescence. These chalcedony faceted pears have a color variance that extend from a dainty virginal blush pink or the more intense and worldly lavender-rose. The piece definitely gives off a double-entendre vibe. I combined my gorgeous little pears in this sexy, but lady-like choker, with teensy "Charlotte" beads, 22k gold over sterling silver, and finished it with a round 14k gold bead clasp. Price: $800.00.

Les Graphiques, Multi-Pearl Torsade in Black, White and Gray

I love the whole idea of graphic black and white in jewelry. Black Tahitian pearls are so scarce, they're almost priceless and creamy white Japanese cultured pearls have been popular ever since Marie Antoinette wore a fabled strand, the one that Calvin Klein bought for his once-wife Kelly. That's a million dollar necklace. Well, Les Graphiques, is not all that expensive but it shares the same virtues of its more expensive sisters. This is a unique torsade. I've used five or six different kinds of black, gray and white pearls in all sorts of shapes, highlighted with crystal and silver roundels, but not in the colors you'd expect. There is some gray glitter (almost an oxymoron. Who ever thought gray glittered?) and some crystals the color of tanzanite, a furious blue-purple that seems to pick up the iridescent glint of the peacock pearls -- the deep gray-black ones. I made this necklace longer than the traditional 15-1/2 inch choker length to accommodate women who like longer pieces and larger women on whom 17-inches is choker length. The wearer can twist it to shorten it (hence the name "torsade" which means "twist") or let the individual strands fall where they may. Either way, when the light hits this beauty, it's all sparkle and class. Price: $600.00.

Peru Chalcedony Faceted Nuggets with Pearls

Variations of this little necklace is a very popular one. I've made it with pearls separating the slabs of faceted Peru chalcedony, a lovely, slightly milky aqua stone, with everything from pearls and crystals to contrasting stones of another color. This one has has luminour potato pearls, completed with a silver and blue topaz clasp. Whenever I see chalcedony in this form, I usually get it and make another version. Sorry, this one is SOLD.

Moonstone "Splendor" Pendant with Freshwater Pearls

I love this piece. The simplicity of the freshwater pearls, very large 10 mm baroques, sets off the elegant and slightly exotic moonstone pendant, called a "splendor." I finished this one off with a round twist of marcasite and some simple silver beads. Price: $300.

Five-Strand Coral with Carved Bone Clasp

When I was in San Francisco for a trunk show, an old friend named Sally Debenham, a majesetically tall woman who was once a fitting model for the late designer Bill Blass came by to see my things. she loved the coral tear necklace I was showing but it wasn't spectacular enough for her. So I made her this five-strand beauty. I found the perfect clasp -- a carved bone cameo -- and strung the beads with electric orange-red Swarovski bicone crystals. Needless to say, Ms. Debenham loved it and wears it with a luxurious turquoise duchess satin embroidered foor-length kimono by Oscar de la Renta. Stunning!

Creamy White Tailed Biwa Coins with Turquoise Tears

To a simple choker of creamy white tailed coin pearls, I added colorful turquoise tears and some crystalline Swarovskis for sparkle and finished it with a blue topaz clasp. Price: $150.00

Creating a New Piece

Colorful Stones and Findings

Stones Neatly Sorted and Ready to Use

Raw Materials on the Workspace

Rough Stones and Keepsakes

The Lemon Sky Necklace -- Turquoise and Lemon Quartz

Made for my friend Roberta, this is a major piece contrasting the sunny summer lightness of lemon quartz with classic nubby turquoise nuggets. These were strung serially so the necklace is a major presentation on the neck, filling in the deep-V of a suit or complimenting a scoopnecked dress. The stones speak for themselves so there are no glittery accents, just linear silver beads and a gorgeous four-strand oval silver clasp.

Blush Lavender-Pink Faceted Quartz Pears

The delicate pink of this collar of glittery of faceted pears is a compliment to any skintone. It is as dramatic as an Elizabethan ruff, gorgeous with black velvet, although I imagined it in the middle of summer, with a great tan, over a white strapless dress. I combined the pears with bi-cone Swarovski crsytals in the same tone of pink, but in a matte finish so that it's the uninterrupted pale pink that makes the impression. Price: $550.