Faith Porter

When Faith Porter makes a necklace, she says, “I try to create a philosophy, not a piece of jewelry. Make somebody feel beautiful, and they start acting nicer to everybody around them.”

She always uses crystal beads when she designs, although some people accuse her of having highfalutin tastes.

“Think about the light instead of the crystal,” she says. “Light elevates the spirit.”

Many of her wearable works are done as grand-scale sculpture too. Porter sees herself as a sculptor first--with a taste for the esoteric. Her logo is a pyramid. She names her designs after Egypt, Tibet and other centers of the occult.

“All my life I’ve seen fantasy as an important part of life,” she explains. “In our modern society, most women aren’t allowed to fantasize. That’s not fair. Why should Princess Diana be the only one who gets to feel like royalty?” Her newest works, at Nordstrom, mix crystal with silver, rose quartz or turquoise. “They are stones the ancients believed in for their healing power, but stones that don’t encumber the crystal’s light.”

She says she encourages women to buy what looks best on them, not what they think is the style. She only gives them this general advice: “Older women who want to cover their throats ought to wear short, collar necklaces. Shorter women with 32-inch strands ought to double them because a shorter necklace better suits their body proportions. And every woman should be willing to wear something her friends aren’t wearing yet.”