Pantone Fall 2014: Cypress

Cypress, selected as one of the top colors by Pantone for Fall 2014, is mystically described as a majestic and powerful green in the Fashion Color Report. I have to agree. Many years ago, I remember saying to a friend that I really didn’t have much green in my wardrobe. What I didn’t realize at the time is just how much green I had in the way of accessories and jewelry! I still have the eyeglasses from the 80s and 90s as proof of my love of all things green – several of which are very, very green (keep your eyes open for an upcoming post on those specs). How can one go wrong with green?

It makes me happy that Mother Nature favors the color green when it comes to gemstones and rocks. Tsavorite, aka green garnet, is at the top of my all time favorite gemstones. If you haven’t seen a good tsavorite, do yourself a favor and Google it right now. If you ever want to see one up close and personal The Smithsonian houses a fourteen carat beauty. I have an ongoing tease with a jewelry manufacturer friend who I have challenged with the task of finding me a fifteen carat tsavorite for ten dollars or less while he is on his quest for all the other gorgeous gemstones he deals with every day! Not going to happen, I’m afraid – but it is a great dream.

In the meantime, I design with other natural gemstones and rocks that are amazing in their own right. I love working with green aventurine – something about it just soothes my soul when I fiddle with it both on the bench and in a finished piece. Because I can find it in rather large sizes it works perfectly with my design style. Prehnite is another pal of mine. While many high-end designers use only the clearest of this gem, I prefer the bits that include small dendrites – makes the stone a bit magical.

Another favorite that I am always on the hunt for in Tucson every year is green mist jasper. While I think these stones are really a form of rhyolite – since I buy them as “jasper” that is how I label them in the finished pieces. Rhyolite or jasper – it doesn’t really matter in the grand scheme of things – what does matter is that when tossed with clear crystal quartz gemstones and freshwater pearls, the end result is sure to be a pleaser.

Jade in all colors has always been in my collection – both on the site/shop and in my personal collection. In the 80s, I walked into a vintage jewelry store in San Francisco and zeroed in on a gorgeous jade bracelet. I was so tickled; I had finally found the bracelet of my dreams – for $2,400.00. Luckily, when I showed it to my girlfriend who has much better vision than I do, she gasped when she saw the price. What? I took a second look and the piece was $24,000.00! Oops…back it went and after all these years I still envision that beauty of a bracelet around the wrist of some very lucky person. It just isn’t me. I do love working with it and I always mix jade with polished crystal quartz gemstones, pearls and interesting Czech glass beads in varying textures. It has a way of feeling solid and makes me feel grounded.

Yes, I do a lot of designing with green rocks and gemstones; but I also love designing with Kazuri beads, which are handmade in Kenya. A few years back, I discovered and immediately fell in love with a new Kazuri bead design. This particular collection includes gunmetal and gold along with the shades of green. I have so much fun working with the color combo – here is a gunmetal humdinger that is a staple in the site/shop as variations on it seem to be popular among my customers. If you don’t know the Kazuri bead story you can learn more about it here. It warms my heart to work with these beads – it’s a bit of the feeling good by doing good philosophy I try to abide by on a daily basis.

Curious. Do you think of green as a neutral of sorts? Will you don cypress as something new this fall or is it in your all-the-time color category? Will you wear it in clothing or just in accessories or both? As always, I love to hear and see your ideas so feel free to comment away.

P.S. In case you didn’t know, the Summer Sale is in full force over on the site…just until the 15^th of June. Tick-tock. Use SUMMER50 at check out and 50% will be zipped off your total purchase. Well, whoever said that green is a lucky color certainly knew what they were talking about! So jump on over there and take a little look see around – maybe you’ll find something cypress in nature that you just can’t do without!