Turkish brand Kurtulan is bringing the exotic lure of ancient Byzantium to life in their Mediterra Collection of jewelry this fall. Kurtulan won a 2008 World Gold Council Award and does designs in rich 24K gold with gemstones (the metal is labeled 985K gold representing that some pieces are welded together using a gold-solder alloy that is 985/1000 which is approximately 23,64K). The designs are available at the fashion boutique Martier in New York City. The Mediterra Collection begins at $700 and includes rings, earrings, pendants, bracelets, necklaces and jeweled cufflinks.

Louis Vuitton's latest jewelry line is connected to their ongoing travel initiative, Spirit of Travel. The campaign also includes the recent ad campaign featuring astronauts and the one-off bags by contemporary artists including Damien Hirst and Annie Leibovitz to be auctioned off for charity.

The Independent reports that the elite range will include six sets and that each will boast a unique necklace for $2.5 million, created by jeweler Lorenz Bäumer. The necklaces features Bäumer's unique, ebullient jewelry chaos rendered in exquisite gemstones. The collection will also include a 30-carat diamond ring bearing one of Vuitton's signature diamond cuts. The new jewelry line will be made available to the public on October 15 at the Louis Vuitton flagship store on the Champs-Elysées in Paris.

Luxury Launches says that the bib style necklace with the Vuitton emblem circles shown above is also a reference to the brightly colored collars worn by the Masai people.

Last year, jeweler Daniel Koren launched his Prêt?à?Porter Collection with black and white diamonds and colorful stackable bangles. Now he's continuing his quest for color with a line of brilliantly colored rings that can be worn singly or stacked. The rings and bangles feature pave diamonds and gemstones such as tsavorites, rubies and many colors of sapphires set in 18K white, rose and yellow gold depending on which colors of stones are used. The new pieces range in price from $2,850- $10,050 for the stacking bands and $7,200 - $23,600 for the bangles.

David Marshall jewelry designs are colorful and full of both soft curves and hard angular edges. Marshall works out of London and specializes in diamond and colored gem-set platinum pieces, gearing his jewels towards those that have contemporary taste but still appreciate classic and traditional influences.

I've always preferred colorful gemstones to diamonds, and platinum to gold, so much of this collection is right up my alley. Certainly a beautiful way to show someone special in your life how much you care this Christmas.

Via Lussorian

Another Brazilian company that makes beautiful use of Brazilian gemstones is Forum Romano. Forum Romano's jewelry is inspired by the lush landscape of Brazil and features many floral designs that incorporate carved stones in the shape of flowers and leaves. Forum Romano was founded in 1977 in the state of São Paulo and uses diamonds, gold, pearls, as well as more colorful gemstones in their earrings, bracelets, rings and necklaces. Some brilliant floral examples are in the gallery below.

Jeweler Boucheron has put snakes on phones, now they are putting frogs on watches. The Boucheron Bestiaire is a limited edition of just eight pieces. The 18K white gold watch measures 42mm and is water resistant to 50 meters. The dial is white mother-of-pearl and the movement is a manual-wind Tourbillon with 17 jewels, beating at 21,600 bph. It is available in two versions, one with 282 rubies, sapphires and multicolored tsavorites (total weight of 7.7 carats), and another version with 195 rubies, sapphires and multicolored tsavorites (total weight of 3.3 carats.).

Need more Boucheron animals? Check out their Extravagant Bestiary, a stunning collection of 26 jeweled pieces featuring snakes, frogs and other animals rendered in precious metals in gemstones.

While people in general seems to be fairly aware of fair trade as it relates to coffee, chocolate and other foodstuffs, fair trade gems have been slower to catch on. People are familiar with the issues facing the diamond industry thanks to documentaries, the movie "Blood Diamond" and the Kimberley Process but colored gemstones (except for the recent attention given to Burmese rubies) have stayed out of the spotlight. At the recent AGTA Gemfair in Tucson, Arizona I had the chance to hear Eric Braunwart of Columbia Gem House give a presentation on fair trade gemstones.

What makes fair trade stones covet-worthy is that they are closely tracked from mine to market to ensure that every gem has been handled according to strict protocols. The protocols include environmental protection of the mining sites as well as fair labor practices at the cutting and jewelry factories. On the mining level, the gem buyers work with the mine workers, who often live close to the gem deposits, to leave as much of the surrounding area untouched as possible and reduce the impact on wildlife habitat, streams, watersheds, and groundwater. After mining they pledge to restore and replant mine sites to as close to original condition as possible. Columbia Gem House has a cutting factory in China, where workers are paid three times the minimum wage and also receive room and board, a food allowance, paid vacation, overtime pay, medical, disability and unemployment insurance and an annual bonus.

The stone shown above is a 3.29 carat Nyala ruby which is listed at $27,965 learn more about this type of stone after the jump.

A few weeks ago I mentioned the concerns over rubies from Myanmar (Burma) but there is another stone exported from Burma to be aware of, jadeite. While the country is famed for its beautiful red rubies, Businessweek reports that the export of jadeite from Burma to Hong Kong and China is worth about $433.2 million a year, which is around 10% of the country's total exports. And that's just the official figure, it doesn't factor in the sales of smuggled goods which runs into the hundreds of millions of dollars.

Myammar currently runs six auctions a year to sell rough stones and polished pieces of the stone which is extremely popular in China. Myanmar Gems Enterprise (MGE), a unit of the Ministry of Mines, has thus far postponed the latest auction, which was set to take place in October, possibly because the regime is nervous about having foreigners enter the country at this time. Recently a fax sent by the Burmese Consulate to a Hong Kong jadeite trade association said that the auction would take place at the end of November but that has not been confirmed yet.

Cartier, Bulgari and other jewelers have pledged not to do business in Burma, but Chinese and Hong Kong traders have said that they plan to go right doing business in the area. The Businessweek article quotes Kim Wing Yau of Kam Wing Cheong Jewelry as saying that business and politics should be separate. For these businessmen seeking to keep customers happy they don't have much of a choice. While rubies have a worldwide appeal, the jadeite markets are mainly located in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. Burma has some of the best deposits of gem-quality jadeite in the world. With China's increased purchasing power, the demand for jadeite is steadily on the rise. The Burmese government is aware of the lure of the stones and has increased the amount of jadeite auctions.

Forbes has an interesting piece on the rise of Blue Nile, the popular internet diamond retailer. The diamond dealers, which made headlines when the sold a single diamond for $1.5 million earlier this year, has been a hit with male buyers seeking to avoid the hard sell and intimidation that can be found at some jewelry retail stores. One of the major appeals of the website is its user-friendly geek factor. You can read up on diamonds and what to look for and play around with the sliders, choosing cut, size, color and clarity watching the numbers rise and fall as you adjust the factors at different rates. It's a pretty engaging (pardon the pun) experience.

What the Forbes article doesn't mention is that that the folks at Blue Nile often don't actually see the stone. The rings are typically less expensive than traditional bricks-and-mortar stores which have a much higher overhead. Blue Nile has a network of dealers that work through a web-based diamond exchange. The stones are often shipped directly from these dealers without being inspected by Blue Nile. Most of the time this is not a problem but Judah Gutwein of Excel Diamonds writing for Diamond Vues profiled some of the potential risks of this situation describing a situation in which a customer did not receive the diamonds she had ordered. Buying through a middleman such as Blue Nile can lead to a more circuitous route of recovery when there are problems, although as far as I know, reports of such troubles are relatively small.

The future of the diamond industry does appear t o be a more open and honest one. I have been watching the moves of diamond man Martin Rapaport. He recently held his first of a monthly internet auction of stones. His goal is to bring open pricing to the diamond market and he has been working to create both a futures exchange and a fair trade system for diamonds. The future of diamond buying looks a lot more transparent and less shrouded in secrecy and mystery than it has been in the past.

The rubies that are mined in the Mogok Valley in Myanmar are some of the most beautiful and prized stones in the word. The rich red color and uncommon clarity of the "pigeon's blood" stones means that they command some of the highest prices in the world. They are also coming under increasing scrutiny. Much as diamonds from certain African countries such as Sierra Leone have been used to fuel wars and have been labeled blood diamonds, there are worries that stones from Myanmar are helping to fund the country's military regime. In light of the protest which occurred last month in which people were killed as soldiers opened fire on monks and civilians calling from democracy, the focus on these gemstones has increased.

The concern is not just over the money fueling wars but also the conditions in mines in Myanmar. A recent article in the Scotsman offers a chilling portrait of mining in the area. Allegations include the fact that mine owners may get workers addicted to drugs so that they can control them better.

Bans on Myanmar gems are nothing new. There has been a ban in place for several years, since the Congress banned the importation of products from the country. Tiffany & Co stopped buying rubies from Myanmar in 2003 and Cartier and Bulgari have joined them. Also the Jewelers of America has asked Congress to amend the ruling of the original ban to specifically mention gemstones mined in Myanmar. A Reuters article mentions that the reason for this is because some gem dealers are not taking the issue seriously. A quick scan of eBay revealed many listing for "Burmese rubies." Some of these are likely not from the region, unscrupulous dealers often tag rubies as "Burmese" because the rubies have such a reputation for beauty.

For a counterpoint, check out this post from Gary Roskin who writes for JCK and is a gemstone expert. He is in contact with dealers in the region who say that the gemstone money doesn't go to the government and that instead of hurting the government, a ban could hurt the Burmese people.

Despite the controversy, Myanmar has said that they are going forward with a planned auction of gems and jade next month. Unlike the regimented world of diamonds, the colored gemstone industry is far less centralized and regulated. There is also no Kimberley Process that addresses the human rights concerns for gemstones.

Magnificent and breathtaking doesn't even begin to capture the beauty that is this ring. The wow factor on the Blu Euphoria Ring is super high. The large blue topaz is strategically surrounded by diamonds without engulfing nor taking away the glistening and soothing aura of this ring. Because it is such a statement ring, some may be hesitant to pair it with other jewelry pieces that are just as expressive, but it seems that you could do no wrong with this one. Wear with other bold accessories or go the understated route, just be sure that you show off this ring as much as possible. Price: $9,225.

Jessica Kagan Cushman's wildly popular scrimshaw bangles are just some of the treats at Gem, a jewelry boutique in Chicago. The store features a wide variety of designers who work in materials ranging from leather to diamonds including plenty of gemstones that don't usually get the fine jewelry treatment. The ring here is a delicate slice of agate mounted on 14k green gold and sells for $380.

When I saw the rings of Nilufer Tarzi Kuran on the Vivre website I was curious to learn more about the designer. Her rings with evocative names like Turban of the Sultan, Mysteries of the Palace and Lovers of the Harem feature precious stones set in silver and decorated with 18K gold-plated silver details. The designer lives in Istanbul and is the daughter of an Afghani father and a Turkish mother. The Tarzi family has been one of the ruling families of Afghanistan and she was inspired by the jewels of her late great aunt Queen Sorayah of Afghanistan. The rings on sale at Vivre sell for $700.

The Spice Girls are celebrating their greatest hits album with a bit of bling on the cover. The Spice Girls album artwork was created by jeweler David Morris and is made of £1million-worth of precious jewels. It mimics their debut album Spice, which showed a letter for each girl on the cover. The S is made from amber and represents Victoria Beckham (Posh Spice), the P is pink rubies for Emma Bunton (Baby Spice), the I is diamonds and is for Mel C (Sporty Spice), the C is made with sapphires and represents Geri Halliwell (Ginger Spice) and the E is emeralds and is Mel B (Scary Spice).

Gorgeous Brazilian designer Simone Coste takes a unique approach with her designs. She uses stones mined in Brazil, quartz, onyx, chrysoprase, amethyst and others and instead of merely mounting the stones in gold she uses the stone as the sculptural concept for the ring, letting the sold serve as an inner support. The effect is striking, although perhaps a tad bulky on the finger. But in a world full of designs that look increasingly similar it's refreshing to see someone step out in a new direction. The ring shown here sells at Barney's for $4,275.