Sometimes you just need basics. Big hoops, delicate necklaces, a little touch of gold to wear with a summer dress.

Zoë Chicco has the ticket. Take, for example, the circle necklace which has been popularized to the point of derision. Just about everyone has a chain with a circle on it - many of said circles are diamond encrusted. If you're unlucky like me, someone gave this object to you. Mine has two circles that refuse to lay flat and are constantly flipping over revealing the non-diamond side. Frustrating.

Zoë Chicco also has circles but hers are really cute. She's not really a gem dealer, so her circles are plain. Some are built into the chain, which is a look I really like. She has a lot of nice gold necklaces that add a certain something to an outfit.

She has a collection I particularly like called "tears" which features some lovely tear-shaped earrings. And did I mention that she has a solid collection of gold hoops?

Not everything she has is inexpensive. In fact, her collection isn't what I'd call cheap, but her designs are tasteful and, well… basic.

The photo above is from Zoë Chicco.

Now I've seen it all. Amazon.com, where I buy books and vitamins, is selling high-end jewelry. And I mean really high-end.

Amazon.com is selling a $420,000 ring. I kid you not - I found it on the site, and my jaw hit the floor. Who mail-orders a half million dollar piece of jewelry? And what's the return policy?

Almaz Jewelers appears to be the source of much of this high-end stuff. And they do, in fact, have a very fair return policy. Within 30 days, you can return or exchange any item (unless you've had it special ordered - engraved, for example). I'm not going to lie to you - they have some really beautiful things. This stunning pair of sapphire and diamond earrings takes my breath away.

I mentally add up my entire life savings, and click to another page.

I find myself looking at what appears to be the most expensive piece of jewelry on Amazon.com. Priced at $1,111,000.00, The Natural Sapphire Company is offering a 69.35 carat natural untreated blue sapphire ring. Do I need to tell you that there were no customer reviews for this product? I mean really. The stone is so huge it looks like costume jewelry.

It may cost a million dollars, but in one way, it's a bargain: shipping is free!

If you read this blog, you know my taste, but if you know me, I'm anything but predictable. I have very high-brow/low-brow taste in art, movies, books and jewelry. Case in point: the Tagua Nut ring. Definitely low-brow and 100% me.

I was shopping in La Jolla, and chanced into a Fair Trade boutique that had these crazy rings made from Tagua Nuts the size of an egg. Grown in the South American rainforest, the nuts fall from a tree and then are dried until they're rock hard. Some people call them "vegetable ivory", so hard is the final result. They can be carved into beads or rings that are often dyed striking colors.

Because each nut is unique, each ring is completely different. And they are really, really cool. They're big and chunky and fun - and buying them benefits the local people who carve the rings.

And did I mention they're cheap? Yes - there's that too! So keep an eye out at your local boutique, or just go online here or here or here to grab one!

It was Aliona Doletskaya who first introduced me to pearl earrings. My mother has pearls. My aunt has always coveted a Mikimoto necklace (she settled for a less expensive strand of "ordinary pearls" that looked anything but ordinary to me). But me, I've always felt that pearls were simply for older women.

Then I saw a photograph of Aliona - something about her look stopped me. She was in a simple, starched white oxford with a navy cashmere wrap casually thrown over her shoulders. Next to her was a black crocodile bag (to die for) and her only jewelry: an enormous set of big, white pearl studs. Aliona Doletskaya is the editor of Vogue Russia. Figures.

Pearls vary hugely in quality. They are graded (AAA, or sometimes just A, being the highest) on shape, luster, size and of course, surface quality. South Sea pearls can grow to be quite large, and let me tell you, they are really expensive. This pair is stunning at $2,600. They are flawless, and very large at 14.0 - 15.0 mm.

I bet that's what Aliona Doletskaya (don't you just love that name!?) was wearing.

But for us non-Vogue editors, Since 1910 also sells a 12.0 - 13.0 mm version for a mere $1,230.

I love gelato. When I was in Italy a million years ago, I fell in love with Gianduja - which is a sweet chocolate mixed with hazelnut paste. When I was married, I made sure Gianduja gelato was part of the dessert menu.

So it seems cruel, somehow, that this stunning necklace is called a "Gelato Necklace." I can only guess the designer, Ippolita Rostagno, looked at a case of gelato with its many colors of ice cream and chose the name that inspired her. If only I could look at a case of ice cream and think of clever ideas. My brain usually blanks out and all I can think is, "Should I get the large and be happy? Or get the small, and remain guilt-free?"

On Ippolita's website, she has many lovely colors of this necklace. This particular chain has mother of pearl, clear quartz, blue topaz, London blue topaz, turquoise, light amethyst and green amethyst.

Green was the color of my skin when I saw it: I am in love.