JET of the Day: Foret

It is always a pleasure to visit our friend Elizabeth at Foret! This artisan has been a JET member for many years, and her shop is just chock-full of goodies to explore!

Virtually all of the jewelry at Foret features gemstones, so color plays an important part in this collection. Elizabeth designs with top quality components sourced from worldwide suppliers so many of the silver beads and parts used to create these beautiful styles have a genuine ethnic, tribal appearance.

The fact that Elizabeth lives and creates in New Mexico, surrounded by southwestern influences adds to the exotic look of her jewelry. Just look at the earrings on the right. These gorgeous coral earrings are accented with beaded spacers from Rajasthan, India.

The Capitol city, Jaipur is well known for its gem cutters and silver jewelry makers. Looking through this shop, you'll see many pieces featuring silver beads and parts from Rajasthan. The Beaded Ruby Dangle Earrings shown on the left are just one more example of the tribal style designs you can find by browsing through this amazing shop.

Living in the Southwestern part of the United States surrounded by local art made by people of ethnic Mexican and Native American heritage influences Elizabeth's use of gemstones, and combining them with silver is only natural. Silver and many gemstones - especially turquoise - are commercially mined in this part of the US now, but for centuries local artisans have been using these materials to create. Some of the

best turquoise in the world comes from Arizona - the Kingman and Sleeping Beauty mines have been active producers of gem quality turquoise for many years. Elizabeth doesn't mention the origin of the beautiful turquoise in the necklace shown at left, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was Kingman.

While looking through this shop you'll also run across several vintage gemstone pendants from exotic locales. Most of these feature gorgeous silver work and really nice gemstones.

I love the Ethnic Vintage Tibetan Pendant you'll see below. This particular example is made with copal, which is a resin that over time will dry and harden into amber. The copal has silver repousse decorated bezels embedded in it, which hold turquoise and coral cabochons. The silver repousse cone at the

top is fabulous and a great example of hand crafted jewelry that is made traditionally.

You'll see there are over 90 pair of beautiful earrings offered here, all made by Elizabeth and all featuring fantastic gemstones and components. But there is more. A lot more.

If you like gemstone necklaces with an ethnic flair, take a look at this section - with over 50 gorgeous necklaces ready to ship.

There is a nice selection of bracelets. Elizabeth crafts gemstone amulets that are very popular, and her Vintage / Antique jewelry section holds many cool surprises!

Visit Foret today! Keep a link in your Favorites  - You'll want to return to this shop!