DALLAS, Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- American Gem Trade Association releases an exclusive interview with famed actress, Roselyn Sanchez who graces the cover of jewelry industry magazines wearing 2019 AGTA Spectrum Awards™ Winning Collection jewelry shot by world renowned photographer, Brian Bowen Smith.
For seasoned actress Roselyn Sanchez, jewelry has a deeply personal meaning in both her professional and private life.
As Gigi Mendoza, a spoiled hotelier's wife, on "The Grand Hotel" TV series, Sanchez wore Diamond-encrusted styles to play up the glam character's role, while sensible Gold hoops helped tell the story of driven chef Gabby Ferrar in the 2019 Hallmark movie "A Taste of Summer." On her new iHeartRadio program "He Said, She Said" with her husband of 14 years, actor Eric Winter, Sanchez's jewelry choices will be unseen but present. To the Puerto Rican-born former beauty queen, mother of two, and performer with a list of diverse credits as impressive as her devotion to aiding children's hospitals and dog shelters through her nonprofit RS Events for Life, jewelry is a constant connection to family.
Her earliest memory of jewels? Emerald earrings gifted to her mother by her dad on a family vacation to Costa Rica. "I still remember the moment he gave them to her," she recollects. "I was seven and they were Gold. And even though Emeralds aren't my favorite stone, they are dear to my heart because they are my mom's favorite gem."
On a vacation she took with her husband to Bora Bora, they went on a tour of a Tahitian pearl farm and were awed by gorgeous green Pearls. That day, Winter bought her a large Pearl necklace and bracelet. "It was a big deal to me because they were local, grown in Bora Bora," she says.
Travel for work has also paved the way for other jewelry acquisitions. On a trip to Colombia when her daughter Sebella was just six months old, she was gifted a pair of Emerald earrings. In Santorini, Greece, she purchased herself a Silver and Turquoise number with a decidedly Grecian look.
One of Sanchez's favorite jewels is definitely her engagement ring. "I was very specific about what I wanted," she says. "Designer Michael Barin made it—a radiant-cut Diamond and I wear it with two separate bands."
More favorites include Gold hoop earrings—one pair made by Barin, and a rich yellow Gold pair from her grandmother, who died during Sanchez's youth. "The earrings are at least 70 years gold, they're thick, and a little bigger than a quarter," she says.
A signature move for the "Devious Maids" and "Rush Hour" actress? Not mixing metals. Though her engagement ring and bands are Platinum, she has a yellow wedding ring that she'll swap in when she's wearing all Gold. "I don't like to mix colors!" she exclaims. "I keep looks uniform."
Meanwhile, on the red carpet, don't ever expect to see Sanchez without earrings. "My jewelry style has changed through the years, and I've used different stylists, but jewelry is super important to exuding a certain vibe, whether it's sophistication or sensuality," she notes. "I have never done the red carpet without earrings! You need something, even if it's just a little stud."
And while Diamonds have long been a beloved gem for Sanchez, the one-of-a-kind colored stones from the American Gem Trade Association (AGTA) Spectrum & Cutting Edge Awards photo shoot presented a lot of competition. "Those pieces were stunning!" she says.
In one shot, veteran celebrity stylist Tod Halman dressed Sanchez in a black Brooks Brothers' suit with a white button-down shirt and dramatic Titanium, Gold, Indicolite Tourmaline, Tsavorite Garnet, and Diamond drop earrings from Adam Neeley Fine Art Jewelry. The stiletto styles took the Fashion Forward award. "The look just exuded power," Sanchez says. "I want to walk into my next meeting like that!"
Kami Swinney, operations manager for AGTA, was also on set during Sanchez's shoot and wasn't shy about declaring her affinity for those Neeley earrings and the way they looked on the actress. "She is one of the most elegant people I've ever met—so graceful!" says Swinney. "Those earrings just popped on her. She had a long elegant neck that really let the workmanship shine."
Halman loves the shot just as much as Sanchez and Swinney. "She is just magical in front of the camera," he says, recalling a previous shoot he did with her for Latin "Esquire" eight years earlier, before she had kids. "It was stunning and powerful, and she had a ring on every finger," he adds.
And those rings? Myriad Platinum numbers, including a juicy hexagonal Emerald accented with kite-shaped Emeralds and Diamonds from Heena Shah of Valani that took the Best Use of Platinum Crown award, an unheated purple Sapphire with Diamonds and Sapphires by Lindsay Jane of Lindsay Jane Designs, and a custom-cut hexagonal blue Sapphire framed with Onyx and Diamonds by Caysie van Bebber of CvB Inspired Design, among others.
In another shot, Halman kept the fierce but feminine feeling going with a strapless black dress, the same Neeley earrings, and white shirt cuffs with oversize butterfly-motif cuff links in Gold with Sapphires, Tsavorite Garnets, and Diamonds from David White of Aucoin Hart Jewelers. "I knew I wanted her in something tailored and unexpected," continues Halman. "And she was willing to play!"
AGTA marketing coordinator Lauren Hewlett knows that point firsthand. "It didn't take her long to get into the movements," she says. "She offered input and was someone who liked jewelry. She was having fun."
To see all the jewelry Roselyn Sanchez was wearing along with the entire AGTA Spectrum Awards™ winning collection, visit the AGTA GemFair™ Tucson from February 4 – 9, 2020 at the Tucson Convention Center.
For further information regarding the AGTA Spectrum Awards™, contact Lauren Hewlett at (800) 972-1162 or visit the AGTA website at www.agta.org.
The American Gem Trade Association is a not-for-profit Association serving the natural colored gemstone and cultured pearl industry since 1981. Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, The AGTA serves the industry as "The Authority in Color."
SOURCE American Gem Trade Association
