b'THE STATE OF RETAIL COLOREDDIAMONDSJEWELRY STONES DESIGNColor Stories Feng Js titanium and 18-karat gold Pink Anthurium brooch features greenish and Hong Kong-based jewelry artist Feng J knowsbluish tourmalines, morganites, double her art history.rose-cut tsavorites, chrysoberyl, yellow quartz, pink and grayish-green sapphires, The Impressionists, with their attention toand white diamondslight, have sparked in her a desire to layer gem-stones like a watercolorist, she says. Feng J has created what she calls floating set compositions in which the stones look as if they are suspended in midair and the colors are subtle and translucent. What looks effortless is actually a technical feat. Double rose-cut stones are set into a lightweight skeletal gold structure allowing light to pass through the stones, similar to what Art Nouveau designer Ren Lalique achieved with his use of pliquejour enamel. These incredible stones are part of Feng Js Colored Gem Bank of richly hued stones that are, as the designer described it, cut for beauty and not for yield, resulting in a rainbow array of double rose-cuts, very thin but with many beautiful facets. A colored stone that will be featured prominently in design for years to come is peridot, the green-hued gemstone perhaps best known as an August birthstone. Thanks to Fuli Gemstones, which mines in Chinas Changbai Mountains, home to the worlds largest known peridot deposit, thereSphene is a stone that comes in green, yellow, or orange and, has been an influx in the market.according to the designer, brings mental clarity and mindfulness, According to Fuli, the mine produces stones with a grassy greenamong many other metaphysical benefits. color so vibrant, there is no need for color treatment.Villegas says it was the perfect stone for her to use in the design of A versatile stone, peridot is used equally in high jewelry and morea fish, which symbolizes rebirth. fashion-forward pieces.New Jersey-based jewelry Designer Hu Wenyuanartist Alexia Connel-used it for a pop of col- lan, who specializes in or, combining it withone-of-a-kind jewels diamonds and 18-karatusing rare gemstones, white gold in her incred- created her masterpiece, ible Growing necklace, athe Phoenix brooch, using collaboration with Fuli a 28.64-carat Muzo Colombi-Gemstones. an emerald, 38.5 carats of ombr Indian jewelry brand Estaa madesapphires and rubies, and 7.5 carats of peridot a big part of Kismet the Parrotreverse-set ombr diamonds, and more of Good Fortune, a pendant in the shape of athan 2,200 pav-set sapphires and rubies, both green parrot with a nano-green ceramic coating andheated and unheated.two pear-shaped peridots on its wings.However, for something a bit more casual The stone is perfect for the emotion this pieceConnellan has also used sphene, one of the first is meant to conveycalm.gems she collected, because it, has rainbow For many designers, choosing colored stonesflashes of dispersion, she says. for their talismanic quality is a high priority.In her Royal Earrings, she paired a Los Angeles-based Mexican jewelry artistyellow sphene with an Ethiopian Welo opal Daniela Villegas selects stones that are pro- and amethyst cabochon. The yellow sphene tective and purifying and will have a positivewas set in green gold to bring out more of impact on the lives of her clients.its color. Inspired by the natural world, her bejeweled crea- As is evident in the market, colored tures carry multiple meanings and are madegemstones are increasingly popular right with stones that are just as storied.Alexia Connellansnow because they allow designers to be even The Ocean Transformation ring isPhoenix broochmore creative. Sometimes, stones are chosen 18-karat yellow gold with sphene, yellowfeaturing a 28.64-caratbecause they complement other materials in the diamonds, emeralds, and rubies.Colombian emerald designers repertoire. 70 STATE OF THE MAJORS 2024'