K Gold Scarab Necklace

Colleen B. Rosenblat believes that “it is not we who select the jewelry, but the jewelry that selects us.” Based in ​​Hamburg, Germany, she is known for her contemporary pieces that feature unconventional color and form along with fine materials like pearls, precious gemstones and gold and silver. 

When she was a child, Rosenblat stumbled across some smoky quartz in the forest. It ignited a passion for gemology and jewelry that took her around the world. As a teenager, she used a handful of jewelry-making tools borrowed from a friend to craft her own pieces out of silver.

Trips to Australian and Indonesian gemstone mines solidified her focus, and Rosenblat applied to study at the Gemology Institute of America in Los Angeles. After graduation, she studied in Idar-Oberstein in Germany, finished a goldsmith apprenticeship in Frankfurt and earned a jewelry design diploma from Parsons School of Design in New York. She then split her time between the United States and Germany, working as a freelance goldsmith for several years before opening her own workshop and award-winning showroom in Hamburg.

Designed by American architect and interior designer Michael Gabellini, Rosenblat’s showroom luxuriously presents her jewelry. Handmade furniture by American woodworker George Nakashima complements the interior. In 2000, the American Institute of Architects in Philadelphia awarded it the Institute Honor Award for Interior Architecture.

Rosenblat continues to produce exquisite jewelry under her brand. Her work has been featured in high-end fashion magazines such as Vogue, Elle, Harper’s Bazaar, Vanity Fair, InStyle and GQ.

On 1stDibs, find a collection of Colleen B. Rosenblat rings, earrings, necklaces and more.

Whether you’re layering multiple jewelry pieces or opting for a single strand, vintage pendant necklaces are versatile accessories that can elevate your casual wear as easily as they can add a creative flourish to your formal attire.

The earliest jewelry was less about accessorizing than it was about wearers arming themselves with amulets. In Ancient Egypt, some amulets featured a loop so that they could be strung around one’s neck. While rubies have long been one of the few gemstones that can give diamonds a run for their money, members of some ancient civilizations valued the stones from the get-go, donning ruby pendants as well as other stones with the belief that these adornments would bring protection, healing powers or strength. Today, we still wear our charm bracelets and charm pendants around our necks for good luck.

Later, pendant necklaces, like most fine jewelry, were worn strictly by royalty or the upper class and conferred wealth and prestige. This changed over time, thankfully, as wearing jewelry became more widespread, a democratized means of personal expression.

During the 18th and 19th centuries, pendant necklaces evolved from their status as spiritual amulets, but the jewels still carried deep personal significance. Victorian pendants, in particular, were part of the “mourning jewelry” tradition. Wearers would embed their pendants with locks of hair from a deceased loved one as a way of grieving in the wake of a loss. In the case of cameo jewelry, some pendants were even decorated with miniature hand-carved portraits in a detailed raised relief. Today, portraiture is still a characteristic of many of the hand-carved pendant necklaces offered by Italian jewelry house Scala Gioielli.

Luxury fine jewelry brands such as Cartier, BVLGARI and David Yurman offer their own unique interpretations of the cherished accessory, embellishing platinum or gold pendant necklaces with diamonds, sapphires and other stones.

On 1stDibs, find an extraordinary range of vintage pendant necklaces and other necklaces today.