Many jewelers are no more certain than the rest of us exactly why they resonate with the blue-green of chrysocolla or the deep indigo of azurite but have no interest in, say, a pale aquamarine.
“It’s more the value and tone of the blue that I’m drawn to,” says jewelry designer and goldsmith Lilly Fitzgerald.
“Some blues I don’t like. I don’t like aquamarines. I don’t like light blues,” Lilly told me years ago. “But I love lapis and deep blue opals.”
I suspect this pull toward deep blue might have something to do with where she lives: Massachusetts. Those are the deep hues of a New England seascape. Lilly continues to favor opal, whether boulder opal (like the pieces above) or fine black opal like this one combined with pearls and washed in waves of gold.
Brooch of pearl, gold and diamonds by Lilly FitzgeraldThese days she’s also embracing the green-blue of labradorite, a stone that evokes the ocean in a very Cape Cod way…
…and some of her opals are downright sun-drenched!
Wow, right? Sea spray, a rainbow reflected in water droplets, the sky at high noon on a mid-summer day. Lilly shows her work in Nantucket, among other places, which makes perfect sense.
As always, her jewelry has the classical look and craftsmanship of 19th-century Revival-style jewelry, with a contemporary edge – and the most amazing colored stones available today.
To see more jewelry by Lilly Fitzgerald, visit her website:
Related posts:
Why blue diamonds are blue: recent tests on the Hope Diamond