Cheryl Marie Cordeiro

A natural ametrine (amethyst and citrine combined), weighing 42.75 carats, set in 18k white gold and diamonds.
Jewellery design: Cheryl Marie Cordeiro. Photo: Kevin D. Cordeiro.

In keeping with most Asian traditions, where gold is given to a newborn as a form of savings they could wear, I was introduced to yellow gold jewellery, mostly given as gifts, at a very young age of about five or six years old. Since I couldn’t wear jewellery to school, the tradition was that I bounced around in rounded gold ear studs and slim gold bangles during the festive seasons of Christmas and New Year’s. As a young girl, I loved the melodious tinkering of the bangles that went with my every movement.

What began as the traditional festive wear of jewellery when I was younger, has today blossomed into a love and passion for well-crafted fine jewellery. These days, I find myself unable to resist the glitter of fine jewellery with large coloured gemstones, and try to keep a small collection that can match the clothes in my wardrobe.

Duo-toned ametrine. Basket setting in white gold ring.
Jewellery design: Cheryl Marie Cordeiro. Photo: Kevin D. Cordeiro.

Sourcing my own stones is part of the delight in jewellery making and collecting, where I sometimes meet with the gemstone cutters in person to be able to pick out the most alluring stones. Coloured gemstones are not very expensive in themselves, so a lot of a stone’s quality comes from its cut, polish and finish. This duo-toned ametrine I fell in love with the instant I saw it and was happy to ask my favorite jewellers to set it in a fitting ring of my own design.

Side profile snapshot of the stone and the ring setting. The stone caught and reflected brilliantly, the morning sunlight streaming in through the windshield of our car.
Jewellery design: Cheryl Marie Cordeiro. Photo: Kevin D. Cordeiro.

The ametrine sits in a basket setting with four prongs, one prong to each corner of the stone. It has a single fleur-de-lis on either side of the ring, created with 3 marquise shaped diamonds to each flower. Brilliant cut diamonds run halfway down either side of the shank of the ring.

Depending on the light and the angle, the stone goes from a crisp golden yellow to a deep grape purple. Yummy.