Most jewelry designers, like parents, refuse to play favorites. Not Sharon Khazzam: “This is probably one of my favorite pieces ever.” Though the 285.26 ct. Mosaic Cuff took about a year to make, the idea came six or seven years ago. “I drew it in my sketchbook, and every year I came back to it and thought, I’m going to do it,” says Khazzam. When she decided to start, she sent the concept to one of her collector clients. From there, “every stone I picked, every color I chose was with her in mind. It was made for her wrist.” The woman received not only the cuff but also a book detailing its creation. “The art of jewelry design is so, so important,” she says. “The drawing, all the work behind the scenes”—for Khazzam, that’s as precious as any gem. (To see Khazzam at work, check out this in-the-studio video.)
Rock City
The Mosaic Cuff uses 434 stones in 54 varieties: amethyst; anthill garnet; apatite;? aquamarine; black,? brown, grey, pink, white, and yellow diamond; blue beryl; ?blue sapphire;? blue topaz;? blue tourmaline; brown tourmaline; carnelian; chrome diopside; citrine; coral; emerald; fire opal; garnet; green beryl; green tourmaline; imperial topaz; iolite; kyanite; lemon quartz; moonstone; morganite; multicolored tourmaline; opal; orange sapphire; peridot; Peruvian opal; picture tourmaline; pink beryl; pink sapphire; pink tourmaline; prehnite; rhodolite; rhodonite; rose quartz; rubellite; ruby; scapolite; strawberry quartz; sugilite; sunstone; tanzanite; turquoise; watermelon tourmaline; yellow sapphire; and yellow tourmaline.
Between the Lines
“The entire bracelet is an illusion,” says Khazzam. “You have marquise next to oval cabs next to sugarloafs next to tiny little pavé diamonds, and the negative space that connects these things. The trick was to make it look like it all works together. But in actuality, every single section is different. Nothing about it is symmetrical.”
The Family Stone
“I needed thousands of stones to pick from to put this together,” says Khazzam, who’s been gathering gemstones since she left Asprey to start her own brand in 1993. “I’m always looking for new stones, trying to find one that no one has ever seen. It’s almost an obsession.”