My month-long "working holiday" in Europe has stimulated my brain with hundreds of design ideas that will hopefully materialize into some exciting pieces created by my goldsmiths and myself in the months to come. I know you will all be looking forward to the upcoming season and winter holidays.
So, what's hot, you ask? There's so much happening in the European jewelry field! The selection was huge. The individual designers and manufacturing companies in Italy were more interesting than most European companies we deal with. Many of the fashion designs are really "out there" and a little too out there my taste or my clientele for that matter.

Here in the States, anyone who preferred the look of white gold to yellow would often be disappointed by the limited selection in many stores.
Most jewelry stores were afraid to invest too much money in white gold. The demand and availability just was not there. Many jewelers (myself included) considered white gold just a trend or fad that would pass. Then something unusual happened. The other white metal, platinum, exploded on the jewelry scene! Movie stars, recording artists and sports figures were suddenly dripping with platinum and diamonds. So, naturally, everybody wanted platinum, regardless of the fact it was three times more expensive than gold. White gold looks like platinum and is a more reasonable alternative, moneywise.

The newest trend in Europe this summer is rose or pink gold. I did buy some pieces because of customer requests - I just didn't go overboard.
In Southwest Florida, being "in the pink" could slowly catch on. Like most jewelry trends, it's a let's-wait-and-see kind of thing.

I am fond of the two-tone designs consisting of white and yellow gold. It's always in strong demand at my shop.

My new line of Euro-wedding bands incorporate all combinations of color in 18-karat or 14-karat yellow, white, rose and even green gold - any combination you can come up with!

It appears the princess cut diamond is here to stay. Most of my diamond requests are for not just the square cut but also the rectangular variety.
Antique reproductions are still the rage for engagement rings. So you see, all of you who I advised over the years not to change grandma's platinum diamond ring because "it looked too old" will now find it's very much in style and in huge demand.

Combinations of color are still very strong. For example, a princess cut bright yellow canary center diamond flanked by two white diamonds or fancy-colored sapphires such as peach or orange with white diamonds - if it's different I'm doing it!

Because of several requests lately, this coming season I'll have a selection of champagne-colored diamonds from pale yellow to coffee brown. They look great in men's jewelry too.

I predict that Threader-style earrings will be strong up through the holidays. Even now, I can barely keep them in stock. This style is hot, hot, hot! They're solid gold, lightweight, reasonably priced and fun to wear. I found that many stores don't have them. I suggest you check them out.

The young men's jewelry trends are leaning toward silver or stainless steel and even titanium with leather and rubber applications for necklaces and bracelets. I like the look. My tattoo-style thumb rings from Germany are the rage for men and women alike. The brushed finish on these metals gives the jewelry a very futuristic, masculine look.

The jewelry a person wears reflects the personality of that individual. Life is too short to settle for the boring or mundane. Wearing a fine piece of unusual jewelry makes all my customers shiny, happy people! Nothing feels like real gold!

Jewelry designer Richard Alan is owner of The Harbor Goldsmith and welcomes your questions and comments at 394-9275, fax 394-3680 or by e-mail at harborgoldsmith@comcast.net.