THE VITALITY OF TODAY'S TOP DESIGNERS who work with gems and stones is evident in the stunning jewelry featured in this juried collection. Some of the pieces have been designed with highly technical settings and rare lapidary specimens while others, no less amazing, have employed basic techniques to achieve innovative, thought-provoking results. "Jewelry can be stimulating as well as beautiful, and this volume is filled with pieces that are bound to raise aesthetic questions," says curator Cindy Edelstein. "But take my advice: forget about the artistic issues, and allow yourself to be swept away, as I was, by the beauty of the gemstones."

The lure of gemstones is a strong one. The rarest material a jeweler can work with, gems are, to put it simply, both beautiful and captivating. It becomes apparent that there is also virtually no limit to the ideas that can be expressed through them as illustrated by the diverse pieces of jewelry presented in this juried collection.

500 Gemstone Jewels features contemporary work that shows how these exquisite natural materials can be reshaped and transformed by some of the finest artists in the world, all of whom bring different perspectives and sensibilities to bear on the creative process.

Introduction by Cindy Edelstein

The Jewelry

Contributing Artists

About the Juror

Acknowledgments