My favorites from JCK Luxury Prive 2016.

Did you know that Luxury Prive was the very first jewelry trade show to invite me to attend as press? It was way back in 2013, and if you want a proof that my photography has improved with time, that’s a great link to click on (yikes). I’ll never forget the trip home from NYC after that day: I sat on the bus in shock, thinking about all the pieces I’d gotten to handle that day and thinking I need to do this all the time. How do I do this all the time?

Good news, past me: we’ve done it!

This was a really fun year for Luxury Prive, because I felt like the show really came outside its box a bit in terms of the talent that was on display. The usual gorgeous giants (Oscar Heyman, Simon G, Setare) were there, along with a double row at the end of the ballroom of smaller, newer brands like Ron Hami, Goldhenn, Aero Diamonds, and Judi Powers. A beautifully curated and interesting mix.

My first stop was Judi Powers because – if you haven’t gotten this impression already – I adore both Judi and her designs. Judi, her lovely assistant Kayla, and her booth neighbor Meaghan (of Goldhenn – more on her in a minute!) were my home base for Luxury Prive, stashing my purse, reassuring me that my lipstick was in place, and helping me find coffee whenever I was desperate for fuel. Thanks again, ladies!

This tourmaline magnificence is a just-finished creation of Judi’s and I freaked out totally when I saw it. I love the textures and the colors of this piece, and the natural feel of the tourmaline slabs. Bonus: they’re strung on pink!

Please note that the central silver element is actually even cooler than it looks above, because in the picture I took, the necklace is backwards. That said: can you believe how gorgeous this is from the back?? See the front here.

This is another brand new Judi Powers piece – and another personal fave of mine. How spectacular is that stone? It’s a dendritic agate, which means those lacey, tree-like lines you’re admiring in the stone are completely natural.

I love how Judi has set the agate in rich, recycled yellow gold, adorned on the bail with three colored diamonds. Such a simple, soulful design.

I associate Goldhenn with two main categories: gorgeously geometric diamond pieces, and her luscious, organic water buffalo horn bracelets.

The above is my very favorite of her horn bracelets: I love this cuff’s clean lines, dramatic color juxtaposition, and three perfect bezel set diamonds. The majority of the bracelets are smaller than this, more bangle than cuff, but this is the one you get to see because it is the one I’m obsessed with. (Please disregard how strangely enormous my palm looks in the photo above.)

And here are some of the diamonds!! I loved a lot of Goldhenn’s pieces, but I had the most fun stacking these fantastic kite-shaped rings.

Can you tell how many rings I’m wearing on my pointer finger in this picture? (Spoiler: it’s 5.)

Decked out in @andreolifinejewelry at #LuxuryPrive!

A video posted by Becky Stone ? (@diamondsinthelibrary) on Jul 26, 2016 at 9:07am PDT

I’ve encountered Andreoli jewelry a few times before, but this year’s Luxury Prive was the first time I actually got to spend some time with the brand’s varied and spectacular pieces. It was a delight, to say the least. Classic designs with the volume pumped up, made using only the finest of materials.

Here I am dripping in turquoise, tanzanite, and sapphires. It may have been a 95 degree day in NYC, but with this on I felt like I was enjoying a cool sunset breeze on a yacht in the Mediterranean.

Here’s a closer look at those Andreoli rings, because daaaaamn. The biggie is a glorious tanzanite and the other is exceptional turquoise with diamonds and sapphires.

I was also blow away by these two titanium pieces by Andreoli. The choice of material meant that they were both remarkably light, despite their size. The bangle is reinforced with gold, which made it a bit heavier, but the enormous flower brooch was light as a feather (a feather centered by a juicy emerald cabochon).

A. Link is always a Luxury Prive fave for me, and this year was no exception…especially because they had a TINY BRANDED RED CARPET for me to play with! This is marketing genius, folks. Give a blogger an adorable prop, put your company’s logo on it, and wait for the magic to happen.

The really cool thing about that glorious monster of a ring above – 5 rows of diamonds!! – is that it’s spectacularly comfortable. If you’ve tried on a ring that voluptuous before, you know that’s quite a feat. It’s because of the way the setting is constructed – there aren’t any rough edges. It’s almost like the diamonds are caught in a net, rather than held by traditional prongs.

My favorite piece at A. Link this year was this bypass necklace from their Flex Forte collection. The strong, easy-to-style gold necklace is exceptionally comfortable to wear and looks oh-so-cool. I want one.

You can always rely on A. Link for diamonds done well. Each of the above is a comfortable as it is glamorous: these dazzlers are ready to rock.

Oscar Heyman is another brand I always look forward to seeing at Luxury Prive. This year was no exception…and I went straight for one of the brand’s most exciting show pieces, this masterpiece of iconic Oscar Heyman pansies strung on a double strand of pearls.

Holy mackerel. THIS PIECE. It should be over the top, but it’s just perfect. The creamy pearls, the bright pansies…sigh.  I’ll be dreaming of this one for a while.

Speaking of perfection that will haunt my dreams…how about this little bauble? That’s a 17 ct diamond ensconced in a halo of perfect blue sapphires. Yes. The precious. I must have it.

And how about this fiery selection of warm-toned Oscar Heyman beauties? As if we needed to be heated up further after that killer diamond above. Goodness gracious.

What is this incredible coolness? It’s Aero Diamonds’ diamond alphabet…which is exactly what it sounds like. These specially cut diamonds are just waiting to be attached to Areo Diamonds wide variety of delicate, customization pieces.

The brand – whose slogan is “if you love diamonds, set them free” – specializes in dainty chains danging with pierced diamonds, from simple solitaire pieces to what are practically diamond fringes. The diamond alphabet takes the brand’s designs to a new level of personalization and is also very cool to hold in your hand.

These two gorgeous rings are by new-to-me brand Ron Hami. They had a lot of great earrings too – I’m really into their chic, geometric style.

I think that’s a pretty good overview of my JCK Luxury Prive 2016 favorites! I hope you’ve enjoyed this as much as I did. I also want to take a moment to thank all of the brands who let me handle and photograph their beautiful pieces, Rebecca Moskal for being a general PR goddess, and Luxury Prive for putting me up at the beautiful Waldorf Astoria so that I could attend the show.