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| Diamond and white gold necklace from Qayten (description below). |
Whether it’s through craftsmanship, materials, artistry or innovation, the Italians always make their mark when it comes to jewelry design and this year was no different as brands large and small showcased sparkling and shimmering pieces at Baselworld 2013.
But they were not alone. The French brought its own brand of elegant and delicate designs. German creations were accessible and colorful. The U.S. and Israeli brands brought their glittering best to the party as well. New brands presented products that were competitive with established companies proving there is room for growth in the jewelry trade. And where does one place Fabergé these days? The iconic brand with the royal Russian heritage is now an international contemporary jeweler with one foot in its rich history and the other in its promising future.
There was a crazy, colorful quilt of jewelry to be seen and if only I could be cloned I could have experienced most of it. What follows is a selection of the some of the standout products in a variety of price points and materials that I had the chance to view.
Casato
Based in Rome and led by Federico Gauttieri, the Italian jewelry brand creates jewelry made primarily with 18k gold and a variety of colored gemstones. The ruby and diamond-centric Dragon Eye is one of the lines introduced by the brand at Baselworld 2013, which includes this 18k rose gold pendant.
Charriol
Steel cable with accents of yellow or rose gold PVD are used to create modern and affordable jewelry for the Forever Young jewelry line. The standout pieces are the 69mm wide cuff bracelets in a crisscross design for a look that mixes elegance with attitude.
Fabergé
The new Fabergé begins with its purchase by mining company Gemfields, which specializes in emeralds and amethysts from Zambia. Now the company has a direct pipeline for these colored gems. At baselworld 2013, it introduced the high jewelry collection, Les Danses Fantasques, that takes its inspiration from the Great Russian ballets. The collection features several suites, each focusing on a necklace with matching earrings and rings. An example of this is the La Esmeralda necklace pictured. Its part of suite that includes earrings and a ring covered in emeralds and diamonds, inspired by the romantic ballet of the same name. The necklace features white diamonds, suspended on a double chain of cabochon emerald beads and pear-shaped emerald drops.
Fope
The Vicenza, Italy-based company introduced new models to its “Flex’it” collection of crafted 18k gold jewelry. It is fully flexible due to tiny gold springs in the construction. The geometrical design is ehanced by squared white or black diamond paves and a range of interchangeable rondels.
Judith Ripka
The popular U.S. jewelry designer was at Baselworld 2013 showing her gold and silver jewelry collections, including these teardrop-shaped African Ruby Earrings, made of 18k gold with rose cut and full cut diamonds, and a 1.04-ct. African Ruby as a center stone.
Meissen
The 300-plus-year-old manufacturer of porcelain products has produced jewelry for a number of years. The company introduced “my little Mystery” collection, which uses a mix of diamonds and white or rose gold with pastel-colored gemstones. It includes this pendant-necklace made of hand-painted “ice green” porcelain with a diamond in the center and rose gold and diamond on its edge.
Neelia
This is a new jewelry brand is from a Parisian jewelry manufacturer Gay Frères. Baselworld was the brand’s coming out party for its four lines of delicate, feminine jewelry based on simple motifs. As the name suggests, Twirl (pictured) is based on spiral shapes that are made with 18k pink and white gold occasionally covered in diamond pave.
Nouvelle Bague
Florence-based jewelry designer released the Giardini Di Boboli line of hand-crafted enamel jewelry, including this earrings and ring set in black and “Bordeaux” enamel, rose gold, diamonds and carnelian.
Porrati
Among its introductions at Baselworld, this Italian brand released a series of rings with white pearls and rose gold; pink sapphires set on rose gold; rose gold; and sapphires on rose gold. These same combinations are also available on bangles.
Qayten (top photo)
This new Italian jewelry company specializes in contemporary high-end jewelry made out of a variety of materials. The necklace pictured is named Bologna, the firm’s hometown. It is made of white gold covered in diamonds that takes the shape of a wave.
Stefan Hafner
The Bologna-based jewelry design firm introduced the nature-inspired Angelica collection of ruby and marquise diamonds jewelry, including these earrings with the rubies set in rows topped by diamonds in the form of small flowers.
Yvel
The Israeli company came to Baselworld with a flurry of new product that combines 18k yellow gold with baroque pearls in textured, organic shapes. The bracelet pictured is good example of the jewelry introduced by the firm, which in this case used three white fresh water pearls to provide a color contrast to the irregular gold shapes.
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