All the travel necessitated developing a clothing and jewelry wardrobe that was multi-purpose. I knew a woman who made St. John-type knits and had her make a lapis-blue and malachite-green coat to wear over a matching blue shell and skirt. I requested the green collar because I also had a dress in a matching green. Then, I’d wear different pieces for different looks.

I wore lapis beads with the beautiful blue enamel, diamond, and citrine cabochon ring my friends Frank & Gloria Lowe had made me. It looked like the Boucheron perfume bottle, my perfume at the time. The citrine in the blue enamel ring coordinated with the yellow gold in the lapis beads. Ring and beads went with the yellow gold and citrine earrings in the photo below.

Citrine earrings are a jewelry wardrobe cornerstone piece. I could wear the same citrine earrings with the pastel gem and pearl necklace and a group of cream and khaki clothing. I had pink tourmaline stud earrings that I’d sometimes wear with the pastel necklace or with several strands of baroque saltwater pearls.

I began teaching jewelry wardrobing to jewelry store salespeople and to the public. I loved designing a plan, an entire look and coursing through the chaos. I loved exploring all the choices among color, brilliance, texture and size, then showing people how to get the most from their jewelry. I was a girl with a plan.

When designing custom jewelry, I build in as many wearing options as practicable helping my clients maximize their enjoyment, wear and investment. The Pillow and Orchid necklaces show what creative vision and technical virtuosity can create in full-custom, bespoke pieces. The interchangeable Progressive Pearls give my client a workable earring wardrobe with a few easy pieces. They can also be adapted to work with many of a client’s existing pearls and gem studs

See Cynthia Renée's custom jewelry design portfolio here.