This necklace is quite spectacular due to the artful combining of semi-precious and precious gemstones.
Eva Mendes Turquoise Necklace
Part of the allure of this necklace is the pairing of a luminous sparkling gemstone like diamond with turquoise. Turquoise, while beautiful, is a non-translucent gemstone. In other words, turquoise has no flash.
The beauty of turquoise comes not from faceting but from color. Turquoise is a light blue or blue green stone. The finest and most expensive stones are flawless and sky blue. Turquoise mined in areas heavy with copper will be blue. If there is aluminum in the area the turquoise will be greener in hue. However, turquoise showing black spider webbing or matrix can be more interesting in appearance although this matrix is considered a flaw.
The turquoises in the necklace worn by Eva Mendes were so uniformly blue, they may have been stabilized. Stabilization involves the use of a colorless bonding agent (commonly plastic) with a porous gemstone like turquoise to ensure uniform color in a piece of jewelry. It is fine to treat gemstones in this manner as long as the fact is disclosed.
Turquoise Looks For Less
To duplicate the look of this designer necklace, check out Banana Republic’s four strand turquoise-hued nugget necklace available online and in stores for $69. This necklace is not made from the actual gemstone turquoise.
Net-A-Porter.com retails a turquoise acrylic bead multi-strand necklace with an adjustable leather strap by Malene Birger. The Bobly Bead Necklace retails for $230. This necklace is also not made from actual turquoise - just turquoise colored beads.
This necklace is fairly easy to recreate using stablized turquoise gemstone beads, drops and crystal rondells. More information will be posted in a future article on how to recreate a similar necklace .
See Van Cleef and Arpel Jewelry in Person
Live near or traveling to the Palm Beach Florida area in the beginning of February? Van Cleef and Arpels is sponsoring the American International Fine Art Fair 2009. It takes place at the Palm Beach County Convention Center February 4 through 8 from noon to 7:00PM.
The center is located at 650 Okeechobee Boulevard, West Palm Beach, FL. A one day pass costs $25; students gain admission for $10. Both contemporaneous and antique jewelry will be shown at this show.
Contemporary Jewelry Designers:
- Van Cleef and Arpels – luxury gemstone designs set in precious metal
- Harry Winston – famous USA diamond jeweler and a true American luxury brand
- David Morris - classic jewelry making techniques that are both modern and timeless
- GIOIA - one-of-a-kind and limited edition jewelry handmade in Paris and New York.
Antique Jewelry Designs:
- Veronique Bamps will be showing Art Nouveau style pieces dating from 1920 to 1950 designed by artists as Fouquet, Gautrait, Lalique and Gaillard.
- Valerio Antiques will be showing fine French, American, German and Austrian antique jewelry designs.
The show is an excellent opportunity to get a chance to see extremely expensive designer jewelry up close without the rigor of having to run the salesperson gauntlet at an upscale shop.
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