It's Turquoise Time

According to Samantha Critchell in an Associated Press release a few days ago, in 2010 we can expect to see a world awash in tropical turquoise. Turquoise was selected as the color of the new year by Pantone, a company that supplies and tracks color for fashion and home decor, among other industries.

"Turquoise is universally appealing. It puts everyone in the same state of mind--on vacation," says Jane Schoenborn, design director at Lilly Pulitzer. "Turquoise for us is a really big color. A lot of times it is very transporting, whether you are actually going to a resort destination or not."

Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute, says there was no runner-up to turquoise in her mind, because people crave escapism and freshness after a tough year. The shade is on the cusp of blue and green, which makes it both inviting and serene--characteristics associated with blues--and invigorating and luminous, which comes from green, she says.

"Transporting" was a word many used for turquoise, a shade that takes designer Tommy Hilfiger to the beach, especially the Caribbean, St. Tropez, France, or Southern California, which serves as the inspiration for his newest collection. In jewelry he thinks of the American Southwest, or Central and South America.

Eiseman notes that in many cultures, turquoise is considered a protective color with people wearing the blue-stone jewelry almost as a talisman. "You often hear it attached to words like 'healing.'" In Pop Culture, Eiseman has spotted the hue in popular stripe combinations, athletic apparel, nail polish and eye shadow.

At Jewelry Crossings we offer "turquoise time" in Lori Bonn's Aruba Collection and in Sara Blaine's Hippie Chic Collection. The chunky turquoise ring set in artistically-etched sterling silver is one of my favorites.