14K Ruby Teardrop Necklace

Business travel isn't always easy. Especially when every other stop is a town without roads. Working my way down the western coast of India, I opted for a pit stop. I headed to a Kerala spa, tucked inside the forest. It was perfect. After a day of deep massage among the fields of coffee, cardamom and nutmeg, I was ready to talk gemstones. Luckily, so was my Sri Lankan friend. We met at his shop in Ratnapura, the "City of Gems" in the busy center of the small island. The look on his face said it all. He knew I had a weakness for rubies. And he wasn't above exploiting it. We haggled some, but I knew better than to pass on a cache this sweet. The stones were going home with me. Our designer transformed those stones—70 carats at a time—into our Ruby Teardrop Necklace, an impressive 18" strand of faceted ruby roundells. Each shimmering red gem is linked with hand-twisted, 14K gold wire and meets at a pendulous 10-carat, faceted teardrop ruby. The matching French hook earrings each feature four faceted ruby roundels and an 8-carat ruby teardrop. One of the most coveted gems on Earth? Linked with 14K gold? These won't last long. Not at this price. Sri Lanka, here I come.