To coincide with the start of the New Year, CIJ TRENDS & COLOURS has published its unique Trends Guide for 2012, which covers the main tendencies we can expect to see on the international jewellery scene over the coming year.

Colour will play a major role in jewellery design, with gemstones in all kinds of tones likely to be combined with nature-inspired designs featuring wildlife.

With precious metal prices at all-time highs, the trend towards openwork pieces is likely to continue. For the same reason, we can also expect to see greater use of alternative materials such as ceramic, enamel, brass, bronze and even wood in jewellery design.

In other articles in the special issue, we travel to Brazil for a tour of mines, to bring you a glimpse into the world of amethyst and citrine, two of the most popular gemstones in the new “affordable luxury”. Our usual designer profiles and reports on trends at the world’s trade fairs over the last few months round out this issue.

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