Jewelry: Romancing the Stones

Alice Ollstein

12/01/2007

Ana-Cristina Godoy is truly an artist. In her latest jewelry collection, which she developed over the past three years, Godoy uses unusual colored gemstones from Munsteiner—the German family of master stonecutters—to create asymmetrical, unconventional, and quirkily beautiful jewelry.

Godoy drew inspiration from the stones themselves, which—unlike most—follow no facet pattern. "These are not stones you see sold commercially," she says, because the cuts appear random rather than geometric in shape. Godoy conceived each piece by first examining the individual gemstone, then weaving its setting in handmade gold-chain. "There are many ways you can set a jewel," she explains, "but this is something completely new. I think of it as weaving a web to capture the stone."

Although Godoy receives much praise for her work, with innovation comes criticism. "When I first started moving away from classical jewelry, people would say, ‘You’re not going to be able to sell that,’" she recalls. "Nobody understood it then." Godoy notes that her work sells better overseas, where customers are often more open to uncommon ideas. "The United States is still very conservative," she says. "But people are learning that something can be different and still be pretty."

Godoy enjoys pushing the boundaries of jewelry design. "Each piece is like a sculpture, or a painting. It doesn’t have parameters," she says of her new collection—the pieces of which range in price from $7,000 to $15,000.

Ana-Cristina Godoy, www.anacristinagodoy.com