The voting for Colored Stone's Reader's Choice Award competition has concluded. Click here to see the results .

Below are the 2005 Reader's Choice finalists.

Michael Zobel
Michael Zobel may be described as a cosmopolitan of a modern kind: born in 1942 in Tangier, Morocco; grew up in Barcelona, Spain; followed by an apprenticeship as a goldsmith and then a degree in art and design at the School for Design in Pforzheim. From 1965 on, he worked as a designer of jewelry in the studio of Henry Denys in France. In 1968, Zobel returned to Germany to open his shop in Constance. Annick Denys and Michael Zobel have been married for 35 years now, and their two daughters, Laetitia und Jolanda, have grown up long since.

Michael Zobel gained international acceptance because of his inventiveness and ideas. For many years he has been a member of “Aspects,“ an acclaimed group of jewelry designers. Even without deeply knowing Michael Zobel's work, his many international awards and prizes show that what he does can be called international art, maybe it is even more appropriate to say "world art." Without any doubt, his works are internationally recognized and of the highest standard. For more information on Michael Zobel, visit www.michaelzobel.com.

Carol Weidman
"I have always loved jewelry art," says Carol Weidman. "I have never liked seeing someone else wearing the exact same piece I have. Original designs should speak to one' s heart and tell others about us.

"A strong southwest influence started my love for turquoise and other dominant stones. From there, my predilection for designs eclectic and contemporary has led me to combine organic styling with dynamic stones. The stone dominates the flow and focus of my jewelry designs. Each stone is chosen for its radiance and distinctive color, and the jewelry is designed to complement and enhance the beauty of the stone," says Weidman.

"Obtaining my M.S. in Biology has inspired the quest for perfection and has helped me develop the patience and diligence required to design and develop each piece until they become something special."

Carol Weidman can be contacted through her Web site at www.iceopalsjewelry.com or by phone at (757) 244-0499.

Kathleen A. Smick
"Personal adornment reveals who we are to the outside world," says Kathleen A. Smick. "I strive to capture the magic of that personal expression by hand making unique jewelry."

Kathleen has been mesmerized by colored stones ever since she can remember. "I began wearing jewelry at a very young age. But making my own jewelry seemed mysterious and out of reach. After a serendipitous encounter with internationally known jewelry artist Heyoka Merrifield, I became his apprentice in 1999. When I hand fabricated my first piece, I knew I had found my life's passion. I now marry rare stones to precious metals, bringing to life ancient myths and legends."

Kathleen A. Smick lives and works in Santa Barbara, California, and sells through galleries, art shows, and her Web site, www.spiritmtnart.com.

Karen Olsen Ramsey
"I live amidst the beautiful wooded foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains in northern California," says Karen Olsen Ramsey. "Drawing inspiration from the natural environment around me, I design my jewelry with movement and flow.

"The graceful elegance of natural form lends itself perfectly to the evocative lines that I love. Dimension is important in my work, and I sculpt the metal directly through chasing and repoussé. I use shakudo and gold together for their wonderful contrasting qualities, and I choose vibrant and sensuous stones that reflect the feel of the piece and work together as a harmonious whole," she says.

"Details are important to me, so I strive for excellence in my craftsmanship and I design the back sides of my pieces to be as beautiful as the fronts. I set stones in hidden places, fabricate sculptural clasps, and make each chain individually."

Ramsey's work can be viewed on her Web site at www.artjeweler.com, and she can be contacted at (530) 477-9456.

Karla Brom Proud
"From the time I was seven years old and my Grandfather took me along on a rock hounding trip, I was destined for the gem and jewelry business," says Karla Brom Proud. "I' ve never wavered from my passion for gems and have made it my life' s work.

"I' ve learned the trade, literally, from the ground up. Beginning with owning tourmaline mines in the 70s to mining, cutting, and finally, designing jewelry around these miracles of nature," says Proud.

"My jewelry designs are generally inspired by nature. I' ve designed collections based on Hawaiian Maile leaf and naupaka flowers. I' m currently working with natural sunstone from the Dust Devil Mine in Oregon. The current collections feature stars and ocean motifs.

"I' m blessed. . . . I love my work." Karla Brom Proud can be reached at (808) 722-4934 or by visiting www.oregon-sunstone.com.

Penny Potter
"My art was originally channeled into classical music where I excelled, being a concert musician playing oboe in a number of professional orchestras by the age of fifteen, and an Interlochen scholarship recipient," says Penny Potter. "Despite my musical talents, at 18, I unexpectedly fell into jewelry making; I am self-taught.

"I consider myself a contemporary sculptor in gold and precious gems. The final jewelry piece is dictated from the onset by the character of the gemstone; the more unusual the better. Because I create exclusively one-of-a kind pieces, my designs are constantly evolving, fresh, and user friendly. My work can be seen at fine juried art and craft shows all over the country."

For more information on Penny Potter's company, Penoir Contemporary Jewelry, Inc., call (313) 565-7876 or visit www.penoir.com.

Corrine Perez-Garcia
"I am influenced by the scenic natural beauty of San Diego," says Corrine Perez-Garcia. "My contemporary designs are composed of graceful lines and bold forms inspired by the cliffs and reefs along the shoreline. I am passionate about colored gemstones; their rare beauty is the focus of my work. Each stone is carefully chosen for supreme color and each piece is hand crafted. I strive to integrate the mechanical elements so that the beauty of the gemstone is harmonious with the 18K gold. By engineering product lines, which combine stimulating visual elements and sensible technology, my jewelry is comfortable to wear and is timeless in both style and beauty."

Corrine specializes in one of a kind custom jewelry and limited edition collections in 18K gold. Corrine's reputation for quality is well established. She has been satisfying customers for two decades with her flawlessly executed craftsmanship and award-winning designs. For more information, visit Corrine's Web site at www.corrinejewelrydesign.com.

Darla Nordstrom
Darla Nordstrom has been designing and hand making fine sterling silver jewelry for over 15 years in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. Her interest in jewelry began 22 years earlier, when, working as a clothing designer, she could not find the jewelry pieces she envisioned to complement her fashion collections.

Darla traveled the world before settling in San Miguel, the artistic center of Mexico. Inspired by the beautiful mountains of the Mexican highlands, and the spectrum of color encountered there in nature, she found herself more and more involved with the creation of fine, handcrafted, wearable art.

In San Miguel she has gathered together a group of exceptionally talented artisans — stone cutters, silversmiths and beaders — that enable her to spin fine jewelry out of her fantasies. For more information on Darla Nordstrom, visit her Web site at www.definitelydarla.com.

Heather Mackenzie
"My backround prior to jewelry is in graphic design," says Heather Mackenzie. "I feel that it's given me a unique perspective in the design and fabrication of my work. I'm drawn to the simplistic use of form and color. Fluid line, bold color, and contemplative forms are significant elements in my work. I think jewelry should be fun; you celebrate your favorite pieces when you wear them.

"My current work is mostly production, I fluctuate between the use of vibrantly colored beads and pearls, to bold, constructed metal forms. My inspirations come from nature, architecture, and industrial design. Good design is good design, regardless of the context."

For more information on Heather Mackenzie, please visit www.heathermackenzie.com.

Sydney Lynch
"Using a wide variety of colored stones in my jewelry provides me with an always-changing color palette," says Sydney Lynch. "Traditional gem values aren' t important to me: I' ll use anything from diamonds to dinosaur bone as long as the color, texture, and shape of the stones are interesting to me.

"I work in a strictly intuitive manner, combining stones in varying ways until I' ve achieved the right balance and composition. My work is fabricated, combining sterling, 18K and 22K gold. The designs tend toward an 'organic geometry' in which I attempt to impart a softness and warmth to metal, inspired be the worn shapes found in ancient and tribal jewelry."

Sydney Lynch can be reached through her Web site at www.sydneylynch.com or in her studio at (402)435-2920.

Eddie Le Vian
“My dream is to design the world' s most beautiful jewels and make them available and affordable to jewelry lovers everywhere,” says Eddie Le Vian.

Eddie Le Vian is designer of Le Vian Couture®, the haute couture collection of hand-crafted designs in one-of-a-kind and limited editions. He is the CEO of Le Vian Corp., steering the consumer through its diverse stable of brands towards its trend-setting designs of today and tomorrow. He does all of this with an artist' s eye for gemstones, collecting the finest and searching out the newest and most exotic; with a reverence to the past, reviving age-old techniques of designing fine jewelry, including the lost art of invisible settings, and transforming them into designs of today; and with a pulse on the future, offering uptown classic looks and downtown hip, trend-driven styles to fit the lifestyles of today' s women.

Le Vian is a descendant of five centuries in the business. He is a graduate of Arizona State and the Gemological Institute of America. He is a member of the Board of Governors of the American Gem Trade Association and is involved in the Jewelers Charity for Children, Macy' s Passport Fundraiser for AIDS, Israel Bonds, NSHA, and is working with UMJCA to build a new community center. In the last year, he has raised $10 million for these charities. He resides in New York with his wife and two children.

Le Vian can be found online at www.levian.com.

Leonardo Kashi for Carlo Viani
Leonardo Kashi orchestrates passion, romance, and music in his jewelry. Born and raised in Milan, Italy, Leonardo began his love affair with gemstones after a fateful glimpse at a rare find of beautiful rubies. It's a love he imparts to his viewers through his impressive knowledge of exotic and rare stones.

Surrounded by music his entire life — from tender Italian ballads to the rhythmic beat of disco to American classics — Leonardo invites viewers of all ages and backgrounds to enjoy the shopping experience, sing along, and dream.

As spokesperson for Carlo Viani and a relative of the Viani family involved in the creative aspect of the designs, Leonardo keeps a pulse on the American fashion runway and the European couture collections, from urban chic to country charm. He is connected to what women want and helps translate that to the designs.

For more information on the Carlo Viani jewelry line, visit www.carloviani.com.

Christoph Krähenmann
The jewelry of Christoph Krähenmann is a fusion of Swiss craftsmanship and American ingenuity, old world elegance and contemporary design. He is one of few jewelry designers in the United States who not only designs his jewelry, but also crafts each piece by hand, using traditional European tools and techniques and the highest-quality materials. The majority of his jewelry is one-of-a-kind or customized.

Born and raised near Lake Zurich, Switzerland, Krähenmann became interested in art and design at an early age and began studying classical goldsmithing techniques in his teens. In 1981, he moved to southern California, where he worked for established jewelry houses for several years before opening his own design studio in Santa Barbara in 1993.

In 1986, at the age of 26, Krähenmann took first place in the American Gem Trade Association' s prestigious Spectrum Awards. Since then, he has won five Spectrum Awards and an Argyle Diamonds International Design Award.

For more information on Christoph Krähenmann, visit www.krahenmann.com

Judy Staby Hoch
"I am a second generation American with family roots in Denmark and Norway," says Judy Staby Hoch. "The spare sensibility of the Scandinavian lifestyle imbued our home and is still a major influence in my art.

"I work directly in metal and stone. Metal is shaped with a saw, hammer, file, and even a big hydraulic press. Grinding, fusing, soldering, raising, chasing, and engraving are all part of my vocabulary. Unusual techniques in metals are really fun. The wrinkled look of reticulated metal, the multiple colors of fused gold and silver, the wood grain of mokume gane inspire me. Often I mimic the shape and pattern of natural stone in a reflection done in one of these metal techniques."

For more creations by Judy Hoch, visit www.marstal.com.

Lynn Harrisberger
"I am a self-taught lapidary artist and metalsmith," says Lynn Harrisberger. "My lifelong passion and fascination with semi-precious stones, unusual minerals, and fossils influences and inspires unconscious symbolism with contemporary, geometric designs.

"The design process is initiated by the character and attitude of each stone. Hand-fabricated sterling silver and karat golds complement each unique stone in a bold, dramatic way, and at times, are purposely asymmetric to empower the wearer," adds Harrisberger.

"Personal adornment is an outward expression and of what lies within one's soul, their personality, and style. Each unique piece of 'art' is created with love, pride, and superb craftsmanship. I hope everyone will love, cherish, and enjoy wearing the piece they select as much as I enjoyed making it."

Lynn Harrisberger can be reached through her Web site at www.lynnharrisberger.com.

Daniel Gibbings
Daniel Gibbings came to the United States via Africa, Israel, and England. His vision is a unique blend of cultures.

Born in South Africa in 1958, he grew up surrounded by African art and developed a primitive sense of design. He left Africa when he was 20 to study at the Jaffa School of Art in Israel, where he explored the metal work of early civilizations. To further his skills, he moved to London to study at the Sir John Cass Faculty of Art and learn a more traditional approach to metalsmithing.

Over the years Daniel has developed his own distinctive style of work which is easily recognizable and still strongly influenced by antiquity. To learn more about Daniel Gibbings, visit his Web site at www.danielgibbingsjewelry.com.

Noel Cheney
Noel Cheney' s fascination with the jewelry industry began early on, collecting stones as a child in her native Switzerland, and deepened after spending several summers in her early 20s apprenticing at a jeweler and lapidary cutter in Idar-Oberstein, Germany. In 1994, Noel moved to the United States to pursue her studies at the Gemological Institute of America where she graduated and joined the staff. She continued her career in the jewelry industry, working as a designer, assisting with the launch of the bench jeweler certification program for Jewelers of America, and later, becoming the executive director of the California Jewelers Association. She finally branched out on her own in 2003 and launched NOEL Fine Jewelry.

Noel' s life is her inspiration: the love and passion she has for her husband, her family, and friends, the nature that surrounds her in her home by the San Francisco Bay, and the way in which she is able to artfully and gracefully combine past experiences with a wonderful present and a very exciting future. For more information on Noel Cheney, visit her Web site at www.NoelFineJewelry.com.

Charles P. Bahringer
Charles P. Bahringer is an award-winning jewelry designer with studios in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and Cali, Colombia, in South America. Charles' jewelry store, Out Of Solitude, has been featuring his work along with other artists for over 12 years. His work consists mainly of diamonds, colored sapphires, emeralds, and rubies set in platinum and 14K and 18K white and yellow gold.

Recently he has branched out and begun working in titanium and other reactive metals. To learn more about the work of Charles P. Bahringer, go to www.outofsolitude.com or call (414) 223-3101.

Michael Alexander
Michael Alexander ended his Wall Street career and started designing jewelry in 1995. He was living on the island of St. John in the U.S. Virgin Islands. The catalyst to becoming a jewelry designer was the influence of the jewelry culture and the many jewelry stores in the Virgin Islands. He immediately saw his niche: There were no unique contemporary jewelry designs available in the any of the stores. Shortly thereafter, hurricanes Lois and Marylyn hit the islands and destroyed Michael' s home. At this point he relocated back to New York City.

Michael attended school at Studio Jewelers, a jewelry bench school in New York City, and received a comprehensive jewelers degree after six months of intensive bench work. He also received private one-on-one education and training for rendering, wax modeling, and advanced stone setting. His design skills are self-taught.

He is committed to designing dramatic, innovative, original, contemporary designs. Michael' s techniques include casting, fabrication, metalsmithing, and wax modeling. The materials used are 18K gold, platinum, and many types of fine gemstones. His work is available for sale at fine juried art and craft shows, and through private appointment in the New York showroom. Michael Alexander's work can be found on his Web site at www.michaelalexander.com.

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