color me happy!

as promised, here's more from munich...and it's a direct reflection on what you're already seeing in fashion everywhere: color, color, color. pick up any magazine or newspaper, check out any fashion website or style blog and what do you see? big, bold, beautiful color. missed it? well, crawl out of your dark hole and see the light. shed the blacks and grays of winter (winter?) and embrace it all.

if you want to tiptoe into adding color, or tip-finger to be precise, go straight for these fun, funky rings from designer monika seitter. we've had some pieces from her in the past, compliments of gellner, but these new, delectable goodies are sassy personified – no wonder i love them. who can wear just one? put on a couple – it's like wearing a fistful of totally tasteful jelly beans!

nicole's big discovery at inhorgenta this year was german designer petra meiren. petra's work is as colorful and fun as anything we've seen in a long, long time. while her "low" materials may be unusual for high-fashion jewelry, the budget-friendly prices let you dabble with as many palettes as you can handle.

and what would a color report be without mentioning our dear friends at margoni? their grecian delights are brighter and dreamier than ever. with vivid turquoise added to their rainbow of gemstones, if you must hide behind a rock, you should definitely pick one of theirs!

the fashion police are already giving out tickets for dull and drab, day and night. don't get caught colorless – there are too many bright and beautiful baubles around to keep us all safely stylish!

nicole went to inhorgenta and all i got was...

a sneak peek at all the new pieces that will be coming! first, let me explain... as much as inhorgenta sounds like some fascinating country you've never heard of, it's really a humongous international jewelry trade show in munich. but it almost sounds like it could be its own country: vast acreage of all that is beautiful and brilliant (in the jewelry universe, at least.)

i digress. nicole is back but the poor girl is exhausted – she left mid-sale, and returned just in time for our ultimate ring event. i let her rest, but not for long, and then i was in her face, like a little kid, with a demanding "what'd you bring me?"

well, let me tell you...she brought me – ok, all of us – some fabulous finds. i can hardly wait for the first shipments to arrive!

nicole did not shop small. a visit with i. gorman favorite gellner found her (with gellner's randy pavlow) actually holding the biggest baroque white south sea cultured pearl in the world. seriously. could i make that up? she promises she ordered dozens of beautiful pieces (with slightly smaller pearls) for spring. one of her faves is an ombre-inspired strand of tahitian pearls that gradually goes from light to dark and back again.

peter schmid from atelier zobel didn't fail to surprise her with his latest one-of--a-kind pieces of innovative gold work sprinkled with diamonds and sporting incredible stones. try on a piece and you won't want to take it off. in fact, i still haven't determined if nicole gave that magnificent cuff she's wearing back to him or not...

what about majoral? niessing? michael weggenmann...? actually, nearly all of i. gorman's designers were there with all of their latest collections. there's plenty more to report, but we'll save it for another post...promise.

one final note: one of the few designers not represented at inhorgenta was antonio bernardo of brazil. but fear not...the globe-trotting nicole will have an exclusive one-on-one with the amazing jeweler on his home turf next month. don't think i won't be nagging her the second she returns!