"Dishabille" Ribbon Pendant with Diamond Accents on Wire Chain in Yellow Gold

Two fat little mice in 14 karat yellow gold with silver-blue Tahitian pearl bodies hang happily by their tails from a string of sparkling aquamarine beads. These mice are based on an antique silver charm that we've had in the store for a while. The silver version had a rock crystal bead for a body and no tail, but we thought he would be a great delivery system for pearls. The pearls are smallish Tahitians and in an unusual silver-blue shade you'd more likely associate with Akoya pearls. They're from our trusted pearl dealer, George Hajjar of Seven Seas Pearls with offices in Tokyo and Los Angeles. Mr. Hajjar deals only with saltwater pearls (Akoya, South Sea and Tahitian), and he only deals directly with the pearl farms, so we always know we're getting the real deal. The pearls are baroque in shape and measure 9mm and 11.3mm in diameter. They both show great color and luster, plus some natural flaws -- a few dents, lumps and bumps and a circle (on the larger pearl) but no off-color pits or dull spots. Their long wire tails form loops for hanging from a chain or cord. We think they look great with the aquamarine bead chain...

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...

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...

We love rough sapphires and use them frequently; their deep color, inclusions, streaks and other irregularities create beautiful and distinctive natura...