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Piece of the Week: Judi Powers Jewelry’s ‘Stella’ Earrings
Take a gaze at the sky with this pair of platinum diamond-set star earrings with blue lace agate drops.
Image credit: Cole Rodger
Before Judi Powers, the owner and creative director of her namesake brand, started making jewelry, she was a devoted white metal wearer.
She kept a steady rotation of platinum, white gold, and silver pieces, but, as a goldsmith, she eventually began wearing and working with green gold.
Although she has continued to make and acquire gold pieces, her new offering and our Piece of the Week, the “Stella” earrings, mark a return to platinum.
The earrings feature diamond-set star motifs in platinum with blue lace agate drops, a design that was inspired by Powers’ longtime obsession with stars and the night sky.
“Platinum has such a cool, icy color, and the blue lace agate shares those properties, too. Bands of periwinkle blue, white, and translucent stone in the blue lace agate share a lot in common with a slightly cloudy, blue-sky day,” said Powers.
“I don’t follow any rules about stone and metal pairings. I follow what excites me and this combination of materials made me giddy.”
Powers first worked in platinum 10 years ago when she was creating a custom wedding band.
She has created a handful of bespoke pieces in the metal but didn’t begin incorporating platinum into her offerings until she worked on a suite of Paraiba tourmaline pieces earlier this year.
“Working in platinum is a little different. It’s very dense, it requires much higher heat, and it’s actually quite pliable, and none of the schools I’d attended in those early days offered platinum classes, so I shifted to green gold, which I’ll always use,” said Powers.
The designer confirmed that her decision to work in platinum was not motivated by the rising price of gold.
As of press time, the price of gold exceeds $4,200 an ounce, while platinum is around $1,630 per ounce, according to APMEX.
“Even though platinum is less expensive than gold, you need more of it, because it’s so dense. So, when I introduced these platinum pieces, there really wasn’t a cost savings to be had,” said Powers.
“The shift to platinum is about wanting to have a gorgeous grey-white metal in my collection for my customers who don’t wear gold.”
Related stories will be right here …
She kept a steady rotation of platinum, white gold, and silver pieces, but, as a goldsmith, she eventually began wearing and working with green gold.
Although she has continued to make and acquire gold pieces, her new offering and our Piece of the Week, the “Stella” earrings, mark a return to platinum.
The earrings feature diamond-set star motifs in platinum with blue lace agate drops, a design that was inspired by Powers’ longtime obsession with stars and the night sky.
“Platinum has such a cool, icy color, and the blue lace agate shares those properties, too. Bands of periwinkle blue, white, and translucent stone in the blue lace agate share a lot in common with a slightly cloudy, blue-sky day,” said Powers.
“I don’t follow any rules about stone and metal pairings. I follow what excites me and this combination of materials made me giddy.”
Powers first worked in platinum 10 years ago when she was creating a custom wedding band.
She has created a handful of bespoke pieces in the metal but didn’t begin incorporating platinum into her offerings until she worked on a suite of Paraiba tourmaline pieces earlier this year.
“Working in platinum is a little different. It’s very dense, it requires much higher heat, and it’s actually quite pliable, and none of the schools I’d attended in those early days offered platinum classes, so I shifted to green gold, which I’ll always use,” said Powers.
The designer confirmed that her decision to work in platinum was not motivated by the rising price of gold.
As of press time, the price of gold exceeds $4,200 an ounce, while platinum is around $1,630 per ounce, according to APMEX.
“Even though platinum is less expensive than gold, you need more of it, because it’s so dense. So, when I introduced these platinum pieces, there really wasn’t a cost savings to be had,” said Powers.
“The shift to platinum is about wanting to have a gorgeous grey-white metal in my collection for my customers who don’t wear gold.”
The Stella earrings debuted in August at Melee The Show in New York.
Powers said she has been happily surprised by the reception of her platinum pieces and is sensing a keen consumer desire for platinum.
Powers is already planning new designs in platinum with stones she sourced at the Ethical Gem Fair, which took place earlier this month in the Brooklyn neighborhood of New York City.
The Stella earrings retail for $1,100 and are available on the Judi Powers Jewelry website.
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