JESSICA DE LOTZ JEWELLERY

18K Yellow Gold Vermeil Shooting Love
Crest Pendant Necklace

Providing a stunning backdrop to the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana, St. Paul’s Cathedral, located in London, England, is a top tourist attraction.  

Constructed of Portland stone the structure holds the third largest pipe organ, and a crypt with “over 200 memorials.” England is also home to featured jewelry designer Jessica de Lotz.

JESSICA RICCI

14K Rose Quartz Ring

A hugely popular site in Rhode Island is the Newport Mansions. 

Consisting of nine homes built largely during the late 19^th century, the mansions showcase French and Italian architecture as well as sublime landscaping. 

Rhode Island is also home to featured jewelry designer Jessica Ricci.

SHELLY DAHARI

24K Gold Plated Brass Wooden Bead
Two Zebra Necklace

Located near the Sea of Galilee, the Israeli city of Tiberias is a hub that offers interesting places to see. 

Mount Tabor and Megiddo National Park highlight historic, biblical sites including the ruins of King Solomon’s gates and the Valley of Jezreel. 

Israel is also home to featured jewelry designer Shelly Dahari.

DEBRA MITCHELL | TWISTED SILVER

Brass 60's Style Monogram Bracelet

Named for attorney Charles Lee Tilden, California’s Tilden Regional Park, located in San Francisco, is a popular attraction.  

Its 2,079 acres contains hiking, horseback and bicycle trails as well as a botanical garden and antique carousel.  California is also home to featured jewelry designer Debra Mitchell.

CORRINE ANESTOPOULOS | BIKO

Brass Third Eye Necklace with Labradorite

Characterized by layers of sedimentary rocks and glaciers the Canadian Rockies is an awe-inspiring sight. 

Scattered throughout the rugged terrain are five national parks that include Kootenay, Jasper, and Banff.  Canada is also home to featured jewelry designer Corrine Anestopoulos.

JANE CORMACK

Natural Lime Green Sea Glass Earrings
with Swarovski Crystals and Silver

Populated by only 22,000 residents Scotland’s Shetland Islands is a vision of untouched, natural beauty.  The lush coastline is ripe with ancient cultures.  

The islands’ museums harbor remnants of the Neolithic, Bronze and Iron ages as well as that of Vikings.  

Scotland is also the birthplace of featured jewelry designer Jane Cormack.

RETURN TO SPLENDOR 2014!

LEETAL KALMANSON | LK DESIGNS

Gold and Black Sondra Cuff Bracelet

The Israeli city of Netanya is largely populated by English-speaking immigrants collectively from the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States. 

However, the places to explore here are expressly Israeli.  The Beit Aharon Reservation highlights Byzantine era burial caves, and the Museum of Jewish Legions.

Israel is also home to featured jewelry designer Leetal Kalmanson.

LISA SALZER | LULU FROST

One-of-a-kind Earrings II with Red Resin
and Rhinestones

Formerly known as the RCA Building, the GE Building is an Art Deco skyscraper that serves as the “centerpiece” of Rockefeller Center in Manhattan, New York.

Its observation deck, known as the “Top the Rock,” provides a stunning panoramic view of the city.

New York is also home to featured jewelry designer Lisa Salzer.

ALISON RUTHERFURD | RED HAUTE JEWELRY

Large Peacock Feather Earrings
with Chrysoprase

Constructed ninety-eight years ago as part of the 1915 Panama-Pacific Exposition,.  California’s Palace of Fine Arts, located in San Francisco, is the only remaining exhibit from the Exposition. 

Initially built to last for a short time, the Roman and Grecian-inspired structure was rebuilt in 1965 with sturdier materials where it remains a top tourist attraction.  California is also home to featured jewelry designer Alison Rutherfurd.

LEGENDS OF THE FALL | JEWELRY TRENDS FOR FALL 2012

Twenty eleven has come and gone and 2012 has settled in so that means the ushering in of new (or not so new) jewelry trends!  With the Fall season upon us, this edition of Splendor Sidebar lets you in on some of the top jewelry trends for the Fall season along with great designer jewelry pieces from Etsy and Amazon.  

LEEORA CATALAN | nOir JEWELRY

Gold-Plated Brass Wonder Woman Ring with
Cubic Zirconia

A fixture in Columbia County, New York for nearly three hundred years, the Clermont State Historic Site is where the former estate of the influential Livingston family is located.  New York is also home to featured jewelry designer Leeora Catalan.

STEFFI CIPUTRA

The Batak people of Samosir Island, located north of Sumatra, Indonesia, are widely known for their woodcarving expertise and greeting visitors with songs.

The island sits in the dead center of the world’s fifth largest lake, Lake Toba. Indonesia is also the ancestral home of featured jewelry designer Steffi Ciputra.

CAMILLA DIETZ BERGERON, LTD

Though marred by recent accidents, New York City’s Staten Island Ferry remains a longstanding fixture as the city’s “most reliable source of mass transit” since 1905.

New York is also the home base for featured estate jewelry brand Camilla Dietz Bergeron, Ltd. (CDB).

RACHAEL MANN and MACKENZIE BURDICK | LITTER

Founded by Oliver and Isabel Stine in the early 1900s, the Hakone Japanese Tea Garden, located in San Francisco, California, has become a sanctuary from the hustle of urban life. California is also the home base for featured jewelry brand LITTER.

SUZANNE DONEGAN | MANNIN JEWELRY

Situated on Ireland’s Southwestern coast, the Dingle Peninsula is a picturesque location boasting rolling hills and green pastures. Ireland is also the birthplace of featured jewelry designer Suzanne Donegan.

BOCHIC JEWELRY

The Thousand Islands, a splattering of islands located along the borders of Ontario, Canada and New York State, is a picturesque yet rather treacherous area boasting crystal clear waters offset by shoals and rocks. New York is also the home base to jewelry brand Bochic Jewelry.

DEBBIE KUO

Established 81 years ago under a different name, the South China Botanical Garden is among China's most significant public gardens. The institution has won several awards relating to its extensive research on plant resources, biotechnology, and ecology. China is also the ancestral home of featured jewelry designer Debbie Kuo.

Careful consideration to arrangement of materials is central to Kuo's designs. Her attention to detail renders jewelry that is classic, and sophisticated with sweeping, exotic elegance.

An alumna of New York's Fashion Institute of Technology, as well as former employee of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Kuo brings the grandeur of East Indian sculptures, Italian and Byzantine gemstones, and Chinese paintings to her line Kuo Ting Jewelry.

Fashioned from various combinations of sterling silver and 14-karat gold-filled chains, freshwater pearls, sapphire roundels, pink chalcedony, gray agate, multi-colored resin, and "distinctive vintage pieces", items like her India Gold Necklace and Chinese Pagoda Earrings possess a feminine delicacy with striking color and sensual textures. Overall, it is minimalistic jewelry with balanced proportions; visually striking without being elaborate.

Kuo's stunning jewelry has been featured in the editorial layouts of Lucky, and Martha Stewart Weddings magazines. Actor Finola Hughes has draped her wrists, earlobes, and décolleté with various pieces from Kuo's line while hosting the Style Network show How Do I Look?

Kuo's stylish--and affordable--trinkets of exotica are distributed through boutiques in L.A., Chicago, and New York, as well as online at CoutureCandy.com.
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Photo 1 (top right): Openwork Gold Vermeil Bead Chinese Pagoda Earrings with Pink and Green Tourmaline Drops
Photo 2 (bottom left): Gold Vermeil India Gold Pendant with Garnet Cluster on 14-Karat Gold-Filled Chain

HOUSE OF LAVANDE

Once the cold spell finally lifts, the Florida Botanical Gardens is a great place to visit.

I hope the icy weather hasn't damaged its varied gardens and natural habitats too much.

Florida is also the home base of vintage couture jewelry brand House of Lavande.

NATE WAXMAN JEWELRY

With over 200,000 species of plant, it is amazing to learn that four decades ago the South Coast Botanic Garden, in California, was once a sanitary landfill. California is also the home of featured jewelry designer Nathan "Nate" Waxman.