Treasure Trove

Remember when you were a kid and you'd fantasize about discovering a treasure chest? It was probably filled with rubies the size of your fist, amulets shaped like skulls and serpents, and as much glorious gold as you could fathom. It turns out these spoils aren't just found in the bottom of a fairy-tale sea—they can actually be found in real life, in a pair of equally lavish Parisian salons.

Gemologist, collector and jewelry designer Lydia Courteille is the one responsible for bringing our childhood daydreams to life. Her eponymous jewelry line is filled with the kind of statement pieces—whimsical and sinister at the same time—that you'd expect to have magical powers. These are not jewels for the timid—a skull-shaped diamond-and-rock crystal ring the size of a cherry; earrings composed of intertwining black diamond snakes cradling Chinese baroque pearls; an arm-engulfing cuff that mixes real coral with yellow sapphires and green garnets.

Courteille's background is just as intriguing as her work. A former biochemist, she started working alongside her antique dealer after taking a watch for repair, which then inspired her to study gemology. Since then, she's opened two lavish boutiques in Paris and launched her collection, all inspired by her encyclopedic knowledge of jewelry history and her travels around the world. It's an appropriately movie-script story for someone who creates such theatrical work—maybe even rivaling those of Long John Silver and Jack Sparrow.

Available at Brownsfashion.com, Couturelab.com and Laboutiquedesjoailliers.com.

—Erin Magner