• Asprey

  725 Fifth Avenue, at 56th Street, 212-688-1811

  Rocks That I Got With its regal Anglo crests and purple logo, Asprey stands out from the other glittering emporiums lining Fifth Avenue in the Fifties. The rocks are big and blinding, yes, but Asprey deserves credit for hiring exciting young designers (most famously Jade Jagger) to keep things from getting too “God Save the Queen.”
  
  

  Tenthousandthings

  137 West 19th Street, 212-352-1333

  Refined Elegance This place understands that not everyone needs their bling to show up on satellite. Wildly unusual stones are set in organic, delicate, perfectly wrought shapes. Look for colored diamonds cut into small, glittering beads, and charm necklaces that combine unusual, milky pearls.
  
  

  Doyle & Doyle

  189 Orchard Street, 212-677-9991

  Archive Material Unlike many antique and vintage jewelry stores, this Lower East Side shop, owned by two young sisters, one of whom is a gemologist, has nothing cluttered about it. Eras range from Edwardian to Art Nouveau, and there’s a great selection of estate and antique diamond engagement rings and wedding bands.
  
  

  Borealis

  229 Elizabeth Street, 917-237-0152

  Offbeat Mix A beautifully curated boutique with jewelry by a number of up-and-coming designers. Everything is unusual, and there’s a nice range of price points. Where else could you find embroidered pewter and deer-hide bracelets made in the Laplands by Maria Rudman (under $200), and Susan Belle’s exquisitely detailed, gold and pearl filigree earrings under the same roof?
  
  

From the 2004 Best of New York issue of New York Magazine