Mother Nature has long inspired artists throughout the Southwest. Her natural, ever changing beauty is a constant source of design inspiration for Susan and I. And when we discover a new, colorful treasure from the earth, we can’t wait to feature it in a new design for our collectors!

Each year, we are treated to the most incredible assortment of nature’s gems when we visit the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show. But the design process begins long before we hit the road; Susan and I research and compile fashion and trend information from several international and national sources. We then create our own trend boards, including fabric patterns, textures, pantone color chips, sketches, and stone samples. We cover the walls of our offices in these boards, and just allow it all to sort of “soak in” as we develop our own vision for the next season’s collections.

When we reach Tucson, we find ourselves naturally drawn to gemstones that work into the color stories and trends we have been immersing ourselves in. It is an exciting process. Amid the endless piles of rough material and cut cabochons and beads, certain gems seem to resonate with us. While we have a great time shopping for a few days, the real fun begins when we get back to our studio to create the actual design that will bring everything into your life. This year’s finds inspired some of our most exciting new collections ever, each of them featuring many beaded necklace lengths and textural chains for dramatic layering.

TAOS (click here to view the collection)

One of our most exciting discoveries in Tucson was pieterscite. Its color is right on trend, easy to wear, and very denim friendly. We have always been intrigued by this stone, but its limited availability made it a challenge. We are thrilled to say that a new mine has just been discovered, and we now have the most amazing pieterscite to offer. Our collection features bold cabochons that showcase its natural characteristics, rich, warm, toasty chocolate brown accented with striations of gold and periwinkle blue. Sterling silver settings are overlaid with bronze, further enhancing the brilliance of pieterscite. Necklaces, earrings, and bracelets feature the perfect accents to pieterscite; citrine, blue chalcedony, amber, lapis, and blue lace agate. This color combination is ideal with blues, lavenders, neutrals, golds, and black.

SANTA FE SAGE (click here to view the collection)

One of the most prominent color trends is green, and we were definitely seeing it in Tucson. Serpentine was everywhere, but Susan and I both felt it was a difficult color to wear, on its own. What we wanted was a more natural shade, with a mossy tone. We found the perfect interpretation in snakeskin jasper. Its depth of color and texture captures the vibrant shades of a Santa Fe hillside. The Santa Fe Sage collection is a refreshing combination of snakeskin jasper, green turquoise, serpentine, grossular garnet and peridot. Deeply oxidized beads accent the charcoal matrix in the jasper, and an airy fern leaf pays tribute the fertile nature of the collection. This combination of greens accents not only green clothing, but also pinks, purples, earth tones, denim, gray, black, and crisp white.

BLUE SKY INSPIRATIONS (click here to view the collection)

The magic of the earth is beautifully captured in chrysocolla malachite. Looking at the stone is like viewing planet earth from space. The stone itself includes shades of lapis blue, teal chrysocolla, green malachite and turquoise in a magical representation of the earth and the sea. Our new collection is a lush, elegant display of teal, blues and greens, including chrysocolla malachite, turquoise, lapis, peridot, teal pearls, malachite and aventurine. Casually elegant, the perfect accessory to any shade of blue or green, and stunning against black or white.

RODEO ROMANCE (click here to view the collection)

One of our most popular collections is Rodeo Romance. A warm, wearable combination of earth tones and pinks, reminiscent of a ride off into a blush rose sunset. Needless to say, Susan and I were thrilled to discover pink jasper at the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show! Mother Nature worked her magic in combining pinks and browns within this single jasper. Our new Rodeo Romance chapter includes bold pink jasper, leopard jasper, smokey quartz, rose quartz, rhodocrosite and rhodonite beads, in great layering pieces. The warm shade of pink found in rhodonite opens up many wardrobe possibilities, from pastels, to burgundy, browns, and neutrals.

SUNSET INSPIRATIONS (click here to view the collection)

Elegance in the southwest takes its own twist. Fine jewelry becomes fun jewelry. In Sunset Inspirations, pearls are accented with chunks of colorful citrine, green garnet, amethyst, rose quartz, and turquoise. Sterling twist beads create dramatic length. The beauty of a southwestern sunset is captured in a rainbow of color among the soft cloud white of pearls. This is the perfect collection to add a feminine twist to your denims, and ideal for a wedding or holiday event.