New March Designs - A Lover’s Eye Necklace, Forget-Me-Not Bracelet & Victorian Style Marcasite Necklace

Isabella Lover's Eye Necklace

On the Back - Two sweet little Toumaline hearts and a butterfly float in a sea of white topaz

A hauntingly beautiful hand-painted watercolor of a Lover’s Eye was recently commissioned to marry the charming folklore of it’s antique counterparts with a gorgeous antique Victorian 9k rose gold Repoussé double glazed locket.  This stunning locket, with deeply chased foliate design, is the perfect frame to showcase the very talented beauty of the eye art.  However, there is a very unique surprise on the other side - a diminutive butterfly in 24k gold vermeil, floating in a sea of 2.5 carats of white topaz and two sweet little pink tourmaline hearts.  From the back side, you can also see the artist’s signature and date.

The necklace is composed of sky blue topaz rondelles interspersed with delicate watermelon tourmaline slices stationed along the chain.  This one of a kind design - perfect for the Spring 2012 pastel revolution - is certain to be a conversation piece.

Leah Necklace

Hand-linked faceted pyrite rondelles are joined together with hand-coiled gold pyrite and laser cut Mother-of-Pearl buttons to compliment an antique style marcasite and Mother-of-Pearl pendant.  The combination of mixed metals in silver tones, blackened silver and gold allows the owner to wear this with any combination of other jewelry.  This layering necklace would also be gorgeous mixed with pearls to draw out the MOP buttons.

Dottie Bracelet

Four strands of hand-linked blue flash moonstone rondelles dotted with  every the popular Sleeping Beauty turquoise faceted oval nuggets are the perfect compliment for this antique Georgian Pinchbeck clasp.  The agate clasp features a lovely little turquoise floral design of a Forget-Me-Not flower.  Please note the exquisite Cannetille design that forms the outer ring of the clasp.

Tweet

A Turquoise Lesson from History

Purdy Wallcoverings

Veranda - Jan.-Feb. 2007

When I was five years old my mother suddenly passed away at the young age of 29. There are very few of her possessions that I have and now that I am an adult, I realize why. At such a young age, she simply had not enough time to acquire meaningful treasures to pass on to me. Be that as it may, of the few possessions I have from her, one of them is a simple little ring of oval turquoise stones set in sterling. Although I have always cherished the ring and have never altered the design, I can honestly say that I have never been a fan of turquoise set in silver. I believe it lacks warmth and elegance.

On the other hand, as an interior designer, I have always been enamored with the turquoise/aqua family and it is scattered all over my home. One of my collecting passions is Sevres Blue. Additionally, I have had entire rooms in my home that were designed around this aqua blue family. It is a very calming and restful color to me. I still hold onto the theory that everyone looks tan when surrounded by aqua (even though it may be February when we are at our most pasty white)!

As I studied my little Sevres Blue collection, I came to realize that historically, it was always trimmed and banded in gold. Apparently, I am not the only person that thinks that gold brings out the richness of the color and counterbalances the coolness of aqua and turquoise.

While researching some images for this post, I stumbled across two unusual blog sites called “House of Turquoise” and “Everything Turquoise” with some of the most divine images of all ranges of turquoise – what an inspiration! Who knew! Erin, thank you for allowing me to “borrow” a bit of inspiration for this post.

At the Tucson Gem Show recently, I came across some wonderful Sleeping Beauty Turquoise, purchased it and promptly set it aside for later. Later came sooner than I suspected. I received a call from the agency that is handling some of my PR, that a local magazine was looking for some turquoise jewelry set in gold for a photo shoot. Needless to say, it jogged my memory and an entire weekend was devoted to creating an earthy but elegant - lovely turquoise necklace and earrings set in 24K gold vermeil.

Since I had design carte blanche with this set, I indulged my senses by mixing the elegant Sleeping Beauty Turquoise with little frills of gorgeous Capri blue Kyanite, soft Sky Blue Topaz and a heavy dose of mesmerizing blue flash Labradorite. Of course, the piece de resistance of the necklace is the free form turquoise slice pendant encased in 24k gold.

Just as the Sevres Blue collection lives happily in my home with a more relaxed atmosphere – the chic turquoise and gold of this jewelry design can live contentedly with either a ball gown or a blue jean skirt.

Tweet