Dweck gives accessories the Midas touch

From Elsa Klensch
CNN Style Correspondent

(CNN) -- Color comes first for New York designer Stephen Dweck. So when he decided to do a collection in 18-karat gold for spring/summer 2001, he chose all the hues of that noble metal: white, pink and yellow.

For each shade, he chose a different mood. For yellow gold, Dweck went with ethnic flavor, incorporating turquoise into many of those pieces.

GALLERY See the rest of the collection

"Turquoise is a stone that many cultures believe either wards evil or protects them," he says. "And it has to be a perfectly pure piece of turquoise -- American turquoise, Persian turquoise."

Dweck calls pink gold his "favorite metal." He pairs it with stones in deep, rich tones of red or purple.

"I made it work by being very tonal with it, finding the appropriate stones to work with one another, and again reinventing how the stones are used to make sure it comes across as something really new," he says.

"I almost like to say you're an inventor when you're a jeweler or a fashion designer."

Stephen Dweck

Working with white gold, Dweck combined the clean-appearing metal with glistening pearls and blue stones such as aquamarine and topaz.

Dweck also designed special gold chains to complement the stones and settings.

"They have to look very good alone," he says. "They have to be the right scale for the large size of the stones. They have to have a clasp that's related to the front of the piece.

"I think gold is something that if you hold it, rub it, you just feel good. It's a piece that feels good and looks good."

Dweck harnesses nature's colors to create bedazzling jewelry
August 25, 1999
Beach beauties -- Dweck's sea-inspired jewels for spring
December 31, 1998
Dweck's fall collection blends jewelry harmoniously
March 30, 1998

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