First in Palmero, then in Taomina, I remember seeing beautifully decorated baskets from Sicilian Carretti, overflowing with fresh fruit: oranges, lemons, and grapefruits. The market sellers had sliced open some of the fruit they call 'agrumi' on their stalls in Corso Umberto. And as I walked down the street, the idea of circular slices of fruit in a basket took shape as a possible design. I made a preliminary sketch sitting on a stone step, beneath a balcony overflowing with red geraniums. The circles were of differing sizes to reflect the different fruit, and inside a golden circular outline basket: I called it Agrumi. Later, I added stones set into the circles: perhaps a ruby for a July birthday, or a peridot for August.

Aquamarine with its hues of blue and green is known as the sailor's gem ensuring safe travels across the seas. It is the birthstone for March. The colour in aquamarine is due to the presence of iron in the beryl crystal lattice with the most important deposits being found throughout Brazil as well as in Africa where the colours of blue can almost be a pungent blue.