Yet another notable Jewelry designer, Ananda Khalsa draws inspiration heavily from Asian art and cultural symbolism to create her designs. Each of her pieces is hand painted on paper, which is then set behind hand-ground glass into fine and sterling silver. Paintings are no longer to be displayed solely on walls, use your body as an exhibit!

Looking through her work you will find a pattern in imagery used. There are bluebirds, willows, cranes and maples galore! As if the organic and serene images aren’t lovely enough, the settings she uses to display them are not too shabby either. I am particularly fond of the Hinged Bluebird Bracelet pictured above. It is available in both a wide and a narrow style at $1025 and $710, respectively at Guild.

Check out more of her jewelery at Guild as well as The Clay Pot.

With everything else being pixelated these days, it’s only natural that your jewelry should follow suit.

This necklace was designed and made by South Korean jeweler and metalsmith, Hongsock Lee as a graduate student at the Rhode Island School of Design. His work is described as “contemporary, modernistic jewelry that he conceives as small sculptures.” In fact, Mr. Lee’s true passion lies in sculpting and that is the designers’ ultimate dream. However, he makes jewelry for a living because he can actually earn money from it, a perk that isn’t as readily available with sculpting.

This 18K and 14K gold wire necklace sprinkled with 10 diamonds is available at Guild for $3150. Don’t just admire sculpture from afar, become one with the art form as you use the smooth lines and curves of your own body to juxtapose the straight, geometric shapes. Don’t you just feel like juxtaposing sometimes? Me neither.

While on my recent travels to Aruba, I discovered a jewelry artist that impressed me unlike any other I have previously seen. I thought I had uncovered something new, but while doing some more research on this Canadian jeweler based in Bali, I realized his work is actually quite well known with retailers all over the world. Perhaps I’m just the last to find out. For those of you out there who, like me, have not yet been introduced to this creator, I present to you: John Hardy.

Not a single catalog picture I’ve seen does this jewelry any justice. The tiny details, various intricacies and heft of his pieces make each one look and feel like an art form rather than a mere decorative trinket. I lingered over his display at the jewelry store for a pretty long time. Even my hubby was impressed with the craftsmanship, which was great since it made it all the easier to walk away with the stunning 36″ Ayu Dot Gold and Silver Pearl Necklace pictured above.

While there is plenty of John Hardy jewelry readily available online, it has been surprisingly difficult to locate this particular necklace or even a professional picture of it. The aforementioned link is the only one I could find to this piece and it isn’t available for purchase online or even mention a price tag, though it does list a telephone number you can call for inquiries. And since I was unable to locate a good product shot, I model the necklace for you (above), worn as a double strand.

Almost all of his jewelry is unique and brilliant. But here are a few more pieces that particularly struck my fancy.

Being from Latvia, I am naturally drawn to amber in any shape or form. Being a woman, I am even more drawn to amber in jewelry. I have seen A LOT of amber jewelry and own a decent amount of it so it is difficult to impress me. However, on my last visit to Costco Warehouse (of all places), there was an exhibit of various jewelry involving amber and other gemstones by a company called Jewelry To Your Doorstep. I see them come around every year during the holiday season and every year I walk away with a new piece of something-or-other that I can’t resist.

The necklace pictured above is truly stunning. It’s a very big, heavy piece with a big heavy price tag of $1800 to match. If only I had the big heavy bosom necessary to accommodate such a specimen. There is also a matching bracelet and for a mere $2700, you can have the set!

I must admit, even for a piece this grand, the price tag is a bit too hefty for semi-precious stone encrusted in silver. In fact, most of their jewelry is priced a good 30% more than similar jewelry sold by the “local” folks on Brighton Beach in Brooklyn. But you can consider the extra charge a convenience fee for sparing yourself the trip.