gemstones

Experience the beauty of a Thai sunrise through the warm, inviting colors on this wirework necklace from jewelry designer Nareerat. The Thai artisan uses stainless steel wire to create clusters of gemstone "flowers": quartz, agate, and jasper mingle, accented by glass beads and a sterling silver-plated clasp.

Wear a garden of flowers around your neck with this exquisite statement necklace from Thailand's Nareerat. The artisan uses steel wire to hand thread the sprawling flower design, using warm-hued gemstones to create the impression of a sunny flower bed. Quartz, agate, carnelian, and glass beads form the flowers, while a sterling silver-plated brass clasp finishes the strand.

Defined by its soft, soothing color and subtle striping, the blue lace agate on Rakesh Rana's pendant necklace is known for its healing properties. The Indian artisan centers the necklace with a large agate in a bezel setting, suspending the pendant from a sleek sterling silver rolo chain.

Mexico's Eva Souto presents this striking pendant necklace of her own design. Suspended from a rolo chain, an abstract interpretation of a nautilus is hand wrought using traditional filigree techniques. The pendant is anchored by a single polished agate bead, which provides weight and balance.

Designer Eva Souto says, "The challenge is to create new filigree designs without leaving behind our cultural significance and tradition. My work includes a dose of nostalgia." This sterling silver necklace with a agate globe indeed blends old and new - traditional filigree work with a modern design.

Exalting the contrast of shape and color, Liliam Vivan pairs the clarity of crystal quartz with sleek black agate. She sets the Brazilian gemstones in sterling silver and presents the pendant on a slender, textured chain.

An ancient Maya legend tells how the gods gave a specific mission to each being they created. But they realized none had been chosen to carry thoughts and desires from one place to another," says Rosa Padillas of Rosa Roja. "So they carved a small piece of jade into a a slender arrowhead, and it became a beautiful hummingbird with iridescent feathers — the x ts'unu'um. Its mission was to carry good thoughts to all human beings, even those who had died.

"Today, if a hummingbird appears in front of you, it is delivering a message of love from someone who is thinking of you. And if we wear the image of a hummingbird, we carry good thoughts and desires to others.

"The hummingbird legend says that we can fly to the six cardinal points of the universe, therefore the hummingbird is the ideal link to transmit thoughts of love, of respect, tolerance and peace to all creatures on the planet."

The talented Mexican artisan reinterprets the legend as a necklace of dramatic beauty. She creates a hummingbird pendant in the pre-Hispanic style, and adds an agate geode representing the hummingbird's nest. It poses on a strand of gray cultured pearls.