Exotic Jeweled Bird Lands At Permanent GIA Nest

Award-winning jewelry designer Ziad Noshie of Houston, Texas, has created a specially designed piece for the Gemological Institute of America’s (GIA) Signature Collection.

 

Titled “Quetzal,” the piece honors the national bird of Guatemala with a life-size replica, made with more than 1,100 gemstones. It is on display at the Institute’s Robert Mouawad Campus as a permanent installment of the GIA Museum.

“Quetzal” is encrusted with rubies, sapphires, and tsavorite garnets in a pattern that resembles the bird’s colorful red, blue, and green feathers. It is also adorned with black and colorless diamonds set in 18K white, rose, and yellow gold with sterling silver accents. The bird measures about 12 inches in length and is perched on a polished branch of black coral.

“I was honored to make something for GIA,” said Noshie. “I see GIA as the Supreme Court of the industry. Just as the study of law belongs to Harvard, and horticulture and agriculture to UC [University of California] Davis, the study of gems and gemology belongs to GIA.”

The bird’s extremely minuscule details made Noshie question whether his design could become a finished piece. The hardest part, he said, was producing the detail on the bird’s head. Hundreds of sterling silver wires had to be soldered - one at a time - to resemble tufts of feathers. Not only did Noshie have to make sure every solder held, he also had to curve each one while it was still malleable. For every wire he successfully attached, two fell off, he said.