Medley: a varied mixture of people or things. My association with that word isn’t the best: I automatically think of a vegetable medley. And, though I love me some veggies, this medley never seems to involve any of the good ones. It’s always the frozen peas and carrots, or whatever leftover vegetables the kitchen has hanging around to throw on the side of your steak entrée (and, when you go to a restaurant for veggies and not meat, it’s often disappointing).

But, faced with a strong argument to the contrary, I’m eager to change my mind—and here’s Nina Nguyen with just that. The designer’s fab pair of earrings puts medley in a whole new light: where once my mind thought one could be composed only of soggy spinach and underseasoned broccoil, this medley is represented by a jovial combination of glowing opal, rich turquoise, and shimmering pyrite. And the shapes! The opals in a trio of marquise cuts align, giving this pair a geometric edge that’s softened ever so slightly by its textured metal setting, wrapped just so around the four stones of each earring. This is the pair to wear all summer long (turquoise really is the stone of summer, isn’t it?) and then keep on wearing right through winter, as the flexible look settles right into the season’s snow. So from now on, a medley is comprises only the most wonderful things: an assortment of chocolates, mélange of wine, potpourri of bubble baths—and a mix of achingly good gemstones.

Medley earrings in 14k white gold with white Australian opal and Mexican turquoise with pyrite, $2,798

Brittany Siminitz

JCK Contributing Editor