Always on the lookout for unusual jewelry items, I recently came across a company called Gemvara. They're not a discount gemstone outlet that retails the same things available at every other online shop, but a fine gem and jewelry dealer that specializes in unique creations by designers with distinction, some well known, others new to the designing world. One featured designer at Gemvara is Ji Hwang, a talented jewelry artists, trained in New York at the prestigious Parsons School of Design, who creates delicate silver ruby earrings that are anything but ordinary. Her influences are immediately evident, the graceful fluidity of the silver lines, inspired by nature's curves, teardrops, flowers and vine-like trellises, imaginatively translated into clean crisp shapes that somewhat evoke the simplicity of a stroke of calligraphy with a subtle hint of rich red splendor - a ruby gemstone.

Ji Hwang Ruby Jewelry Price

Another remarkable aspect of the Ji Hwang jewelry creations is the price. While many rather unoriginal creations that are mass-produced, and contain a genuine gemstone, may cost $250 to over $500, the uniquely crafted pieces offered by Huang are retailing at just over $200, with the most intricate designs for $300 and $400. Why buy something unoriginal when you can have a designer item for a similar price?

Jeet Palavwala Silver Ruby Earrings and Antique Style Rings

Also at Gemvara are other designer creations that utilize rubies as focal points or accents within silver settings. Nick Blum, Tony Rodrigues, as well as Studio 228 and Carl Ansley, to name a few of the artist/designers, are featured in the collections. There is also a series of Gemvara Essentials, with prices from very affordable to less affordable but surprisingly unique. Another jeweler who is featured is Jeet Palavwala. What's so unusual about the silver earrings with rubies that he designs? It's not easy to describe because Jeet's sophisticated jewelry is dimensional, more like a sculpture than a painting, but with rich Indian inspiration and yet boldly reflecting the technical elements of modern geometric proportions. Jeet Palavwala's love for jewelry and precious gems is not surprising since he is from Surat, India, one of the renowned places where diamonds are shaped and polished to perfection. And it's not surprising that technology influenced his designs as well, since Jeet began designing the machines that create the jewelry prior to crafting the precious items himself.

It was apparently a natural transition, evident in pieces like the ruby hoop earrings with almost two carats of rubies set in polished silver with a series of delicate prongs. Although $1,600 may sound like a high price to pay for a pair of silver hoops, consider that they are embellished with 1.89 carats of genuine ruby gems, and crafted by designer hands. By the way, if you're looking for antique ruby rings, I suggest having a look at the Jeet Palavwala ruby ring collection - not at all your average designs and not exactly new looking. While they may not be technically antiques, they do have an air of antique, perhaps from an ancient Indian influence, that make his ring creations even better than the earrings. He also designs in platinum for those who would prefer to buy investment quality jewelry that starts at around $2,500.

By: Nena Argent

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