While tourmaline was undoubtedly the hot stone on the exhibit floor of JCK, the Las Vegas jewelry show wasn’t without its surprises.
One of the most exciting came with a visit to the Omi Privé booth at the Luxury by JCK show. The brand’s showcases were stocked, reliably, with marvelous gemmy creations, colorful and heavy on carat weight. Omi’s sapphire jewels are legendary—one purple star sapphire with purple spinel is especially memorable—and it also has exquisite jewels featuring moonstone, tourmaline, alexandrite, and more.
But something different called from the cases: a shocking blue gemstone in melee form, one that positively electrified the pieces it was featured in. What on earth was it, if not an intensely blue sapphire or the like?
It’s called hauyne, a rare mineral that’s even rarer faceted (Germany is the only source for fine faceted hauyne, according to Omi Privé’s Niveet Nagpal). A member of the sodalite group of minerals, hauyne forms in volcanic magma chambers and is only found in volcanic rock that erupted tens of thousands of years ago. Noted for its color, the mineral generally has perfect cleavage and brittleness—which means it’s a pain in the neck to facet, and therefore not often seen in jewelry.
So what’s it doing in Omi Privé’s jewelry, then? “When I discovered that fine-quality and well-cut hauyne was available, I started collecting it,” says Nagpal. “I wasn’t sure if we would be able to set it or how I would use it, but I knew it was a stunning and unique color. I designed an opal piece and a cobalt spinel piece using small round melee—they are still two of my favorite pieces. There are the only specific gemstones that hauyne can be used with since it’s such a saturated and almost overpowering blue color.”
Given its current niche status—and rarity—hauyne doesn’t seem likely to be making major appearances across the board. But perhaps we can look to Omi for more of its stellar creations using that out-of-this-world blue. “It takes specific designs and highly skilled jewelers to create pieces with it,” Nagpal says. “That’s why you hardly ever see it in jewelry. I like challenges!”
Top: Ring in platinum with 10.64 ct. oval cabochon moonstone, 0.07 ct. t.w. Paraiba tourmaline, 0.37 ct. t.w. hauyne, and 0.22 ct. t.w. diamonds, $25,000; Omi Privé
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