Pearl Guide

Sarah Canizzaro, of Kojima Pearl, has been offering these breathtaking brooches for the last few years and it's a lucky group of pearl-lovers that own them.



Sarah and her husband, Mounir, have been busy creating a wealth of artistic pearl jewelry, custom pieces and special requests. Sarah has been in the pearl world all of her adult life and you couldn't hope to meet a more interesting or knowledgeable person.

www.KojimaPearl.com is a destination website for rare and beautiful pearls...

As part of Orange County, California?s Fashion Week, I attended FIDM's annual Fashion Museum Soiree on Saturday. Themed "Fabulous!", it was a private, ticketed event with a VIP reception area, refreshments and seating for the runway shows. The event benefitted the FIDM Museum Fashion Council, which hopes to acquire the Helen Larson Historic Fashion Collection. (Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising) http://fidmmuseum.org



It was still in the nineties when the event started, but...

Etienne Perret first came to my attention a few years ago when I fell in love with a pair of earrings that were decorating a beautiful woman. They were a swoop of white metal and diamonds, twining around Tahitian pearls. Now I know I was looking at his "Tendril" earrings.





And the clean-lined Madonna ring is another design that rises to the beauty of the orb, which makes sense, because Etienne has always had a special affinity for pearls.

Etienne: "I think it must be that I have an...

A jewelry collector client brought an unusual 26mm baroque pearl to designer Cynthia Renee. That pearl inspired a very cheerful creation - "The Smile".



Rose gold surrounds the pearl, flowing organically, and enhancing the lovely iridescence.



Cynthia Renee is one of my favorite designers and she has a way with pearls, as seen in this stalker-shot from the AGTA GemFair in Las Vegas. Cynthia is wearing her "Calligraphy" earrings with pink tourmaline, spessartine* garnet and removable...

Back in 2007, members of the GIA Alumni Pearl Tour happily invaded the private grading rooms of Paspaley, in Darwin, Australia, where we were shown the special pearls.



This pearl was amazing, not only for it's size, but for the orient shimmering on the surface. I have long imagined how I would set it as a pendant with a very long chain so it could be touched and admired. In wilder fantasies, I imagined how magnificent it would look atop a scepter!

You can see their South Sea pearl...

Five years ago, I had the pleasure to see and photograph several pieces of finely crafted jewelry that featured natural pearls. This was at a time when precious metal prices were rising to unforeseen heights and the recession was sending luxury spending to new lows.

So, admire the jewelry maker that did what was right ? honored the natural pearl by giving it its proper setting ? 18K gold, platinum, and fine diamonds, executed by the finest craftspeople in the jewelry industry.

I hope you...