With a boldly intimate style, this vibrant designer is streaking onto the scene like a glowing comet, lighting up the sky with the irresistible brilliance of her imperfect perfection.

At the age of 16, when most young girls worry about what to wear to the prom, Pamela Huizenga was worrying about passing her exam to become a certified lapidary. Under the tutelage of master cutter, Jerry Call, pass she did—with flying colours. And colour has been her passion ever since. Her boldly intimate use of precious and semi-precious stones—often mixing and matching unlikely textures and shapes—demands attention. There is an earthy complexity about her designs that is both sophisticated and primeval. You want to touch them—to feel the stones—as much as wear them. “As a child I would pick up rocks everywhere,” Huizenga says. “Coming home, my pockets were filled with the various ‘treasures’ that I found during the day. Plain and simple, I love rocks, all kinds—rocks from the garden, the beach, the forest, sparkly rocks, dull rocks, fossils. There is something remarkable about each of them.”

“Although high school and college got in the way of my stone cutting,” she continues, “the world of gems and minerals was never far away.” By 19, after working for a gem dealer at a local jeweller’s exchange, the gifted teenager started her own business selling pieces from various jewellers in the exchange.

Huizenga has been involved in all aspects of the jewellery industry ever since, as a buyer, retailer, seller, consultant, and designer. Today, she is refocusing her passion on what she loves most—stone-cutting and designing. “As a lapidary,” Huizenga explains, “I work directly with each of the stones I use, focusing on the colour and shape, allowing the gem to guide my hands and tell me how it wants to evolve. I work with its imperfections, instead of against them—which makes each design unique and gives it character.” Although she doesn’t cut every stone in her designs, she specializes in cutting all the opals and some of the more unique rough pieces.

Since Huizenga’s creations are one-of-a-kind, a great deal of time and energy is put into each design, ensuring that the shapes and colours work perfectly together. Her bracelets set in 22K, 18K gold, or sterling silver are just one example. “I like fitting all the stones together like little mosaics to create something completely unique,” she says. “I also love working on pendants because of the intricate patterns.” In an industry where perfection is often the goal, Pamela Huizenga has created her own, imperfectly perfect sensations—boldly intimate examples of what can happen when Mother Nature is given a loving hand. (pamelahuizenga.com)