39 Carat Carved Amethyst Pendant in 18K Gold on Convertible Amethyst Bead Chain

This is a custom design made in 1998 by San Diego jeweler Lawrence Poon. When he hopped into our lives, this frog was a pin, but The Boss felt he would make a cool pendant...

This one-of-a-kind pendant by Eytan Brandes features a freeform slice of gold, set with a diamond, over a freeform slice of goshenite. Goshenite is a variety of beryl -- basically aquamarine without color. We acquired a little pile of this stuff -- the palest of pale blue and oddly cut -- and were at a loss as to what to do with it until Eytan hit on the idea of setting one of them in a bezel with an oxidized (blackened) inside pan. We love the end result. The swirly pattern of the oxidization plus the faceting plus the minute coloration of the stone combine to give this humble gem a truly unique, shimmery look -- worthy, even, of a hearty "Gosh!" (if anyone actually said "gosh" anymore...) By contrast, the diamond, bezel-set to float in the opening of Eytan's 18 karat gold shard, involves absolutely no hanky-panky. It's an earth-mined, natural and untreated stone weighing 0.04 carats -- a small but high quality sparkler (Eytan rates it G-H color and VS2 clarity). The hand-wrought pulled wire bale is roughly oval-shaped and oversized, since Eytan envisioned his pendant would be paired with beads (which generally require a bigger bale than a chain), but removable. We think our choker-length strand of faceted but rough sapphire...

Eytan Brandes assembled this graceful, sexy little pendant from three different pieces: The 18 karat yellow gold "rose" came off of a frankly hideous 1940s brooch. (The sum of its parts has proved greater than the whole; we're still using bits torn off this monster, and the pieces -- little petals and flowers and leaves and stems -- always look great when they're separated from the mother ship, but when combined in one brooch: a garish mess!) The "stem" was actually a link from a very old (pre-1900), very fabulous but very fussy (and very prongy) diamond bracelet which Eytan resized for a customer, keeping a link as payment. The bottom diamond was badly damaged so rather than trying to match the top diamonds, Eytan replaced it with a nice sapphire. The little 14 karat white gold tri-tipped top piece was the bale from a 1960s birthstone pendant, which Eytan scored and trimmed to match the stem. Finally, Eytan added the perfect delivery system: a choker-length Boston link...

Eytan Brandes modeled this pendant from an old sterling silver bracelet link. It looks oodles better as a pendant and in 18 karat yellow gold. It's perfect for an Aries, or for som...