Fine Jewelry Gets Colorful - Forbes

Posted: 17 Jul 2019 12:00 AM PDT

From classic regal gems to an exuberant kaleidoscope of vivid hues, color continues to charm fine jewelry designers. While visiting the AGTA Gem Fair during jewelry week in Las Vegas, I got lost in a small world of vibrant and magical gems and uncovered a few new rock stars. The palette of gems at the show made a 64 pack of Crayolas seem dull by comparison. These enchanting hues are predominant in the multi-shades founds in the sapphire, garnet and tourmaline families of stones. The palette continues in vivid spinel, rubellite and the more traditional yet always welcome emeralds and rubies. Adding to the allure, new cuts have been developed for these stones which have become popular over the past couple of seasons. Many of these gems I then saw at the independent and established designer shows and later in the jewelry studios, transformed into styles that ranged from pared down to opulent.

Here are some of the hot rocks for the upcoming season and how they took shape into fine jewelry:

Kimberly Collins mixed sapphires
Beth Bernstein

Note: all loose gems shots except where noted were taken by me.

Fancy Colored Sapphires Continue To Fascinate.

They still reign supreme when it comes to multicolored gemstones which are available in just about every permutation–from pop colors to pastels. And we saw them in a wide range of jewelry styles from geometric to organic to embellished and rare.

multi-sapphire — From Left to right: Polly Wales 18K Gold multi-colored sapphire bracelet, Vinod Kotahwala loose multi-colored natural sapphires and Noor Fares rock crystal and multi-color sapphire convertible earrings.
Jewelry Shots: Polly Wales and Noor Fares

Purples are Plentiful

Purple reigned in 2018 when Ultra Violet was deemed Pantone's color of the year, but with purple spinel, purple and lavender sapphire, plum and violet garnet, designers are still creating a purple haze when it comes to both streamlined and more ornate pieces.

From Left to Right: Purple Sapphire and 18K gold earrings by Vram, purple sapphire gemstone by James Algers, and purple sapphire ring center stone gypsy set ring by Brent Neale.
Jewelry shots: Vram and Brent Neale. Loose gem shot James Algers

Garnets Are Garnering Attention.

The variations in colors and depth of hues in the garnet family has created competition for colored sapphires. The new purple garnets we showed above are deep and luscious, the green of tsavorites have an inner glow to them and any antique aficionado will be happy to see new cuts of demantoids, even in small sizes out in the market (particularly as they have been scarce and are a huge hit in Victorian jewelry). The deep orange spessartite and the exotic mandarin garnets are up and comers in this family and are equally intriguing when combined with other rich hues or gemstones or when show in one statement ring or pendant. And for a more affordable option to rubellite, red spinel and ruby there is no gem that beats rhodalite garnet and its long history in jewelry.

Kimberly Collins loose mixed garnets
Kimberly Collins

orange garnets — From Left to Right: Debra Navarro's 18K gold and spessartine garnet ring, Kimberly Collins loose spessartite garnet, Linda Hoj's high karat mandarin garnet ring
Jewelry shots: Debra Navarro and Linda Hoj, loose gems shot: Kimberly Collins

Tsavorite garnets — From Left to right: Onirikka's tsavorite garnet earrings, SPB Gems loose tsavorite garnets, Imperfect Grace textured domed ring with tsavorite garnets.
Jewelry Shots: Onirikka and Imperfect Grace, loose gem shot SPB Gems

rhodalite garnets — From Left to Right: Sarah Hendler's rhodalite garnet and 18K gold enamel double linear earrings and Kimberly Collins rhodalite garnet loose gems.
Jewelry shot: Sarah Hendler

Tourmalines Are Tantalizing and still popular in watermelon and mixed and contrasting shades which lend themselves to fanciful designs.

Emeralds In Fine Jewels Evokes Enchantment in classic or embellished shapes for a new generation of customers. Emeralds from lighter to deeper hued are the stuff dreams and some of the finest jewelry in all countries and continents are made of. They have been captivating women with their magnetic appeal and can be shown as small melee set stones or large juicy cabochons, or in larger emerald cuts which are always entrancing.

Sea to Sky Blue: A Staple of Style

There is never a moment where some permutation of blue in gemstones is out of style. We have seen it for multiple seasons and it includes opaque and transparent gems. This season it's easy to break down marine blues with the blues that are associated with the evening sky. Aquamarine and turquoise remind us of the calm serenity of the ocean and can be designed in large dramatic pieces or those that are easy and breezy to wear.

Lapis and blue sapphires in the deepest to lighter shades create a celestial feeling in which all the mystery of the stars, planets and phases of the moon are associated. They are seasonless and timeless and can be found in high jewelry and high karat gold.

Sea Blues — From left to right: K8 Jewelry 18K yellow gold and aquamarine center ring with pink sapphire accents. Jones loose aquamarines and Amali Jewelry aquamarine and 18K gold pendant.
Jewelry shots: K8 Jewelry and Amali Jewelry

Sea Blues 2 — From left to right: Suzy Landa 18K gold and sleeping beauty turquoise floral pendant with a diamond center, Mittal Gems loose turquoise and Robinson Pelham 8K gold and turquoise ring
Jewelry shots: Suzy Landa and Robin Pelham

Blue Sapphire — From left to right: Nouvel Heritage 18K gold and blue sapphire earrings. Manak blue sapphires
Jewelry shot: Nouvel Heritage

Celestial Blues — From left to right: Loren Nicole high karat Lapis Lazuli ring, Village Silversmith loose Lapis Lazuli and Bleeker & Prince gemstone studded Lapis Lazuli hoops.
Jewelry shots: Loren Nicole and Bleeker & Prince

Magical Moonstones Move Forward

From rainbow to blue incarnations, moonstones continues to hypnotize, particularly when cut into surprising new shapes. These continue to be perennial favorite among antique and modern collectors of jewelry. Sheen moonstone, a milkier take off of rainbow moonstones, also mesmerizes in different configurations when set into fine jewelry.

Red Gems are Imbued with Royalty and Romance: Who doesn't have an affinity for intense fire-y hued pinkish red gemstones which bespeak romance and love. There is nothing like a ruby to illicit passion and inspire regal designs in jewelry. There is also a sensuality that belies the ruby and other red gems such as rubellite and red spinel. In earlier times, spinels were mistaken for rubies but now we have got that straight and these three gems