The Islamic love of geometry is echoed in the Mashrabiya screens created on their travels wherever they went. Geometry builds on simple shapes of circles, squares and rectangles turning them into puzzling patterns. And through the spaces in between, it is possible to create endlessly varying vistas for the eye to wonder at.

As I walked from palace to palace around Morocco, the trellis pattern was repeated in each one: different and yet the same. I made gold sections of the squares and created earrings and rings set with diamonds, turquoises and lapis lazuli.

Emeralds are the most precious gemstone in the beryl crystal group, famed for their spectacular green hues, unlocked by the traces of chromium within their six rayed radial structure. While many stones will feature inclusions, the finest emeralds are remarkably transparent. Honouring the Goddess Venus in Ancient Roman times, these protective gemstones are a prominent symbol for fertility, health, and wealth. Historically, the finest emeralds were found in Columbia and India, where one Maharaja was weighed in emeralds.

Today, they enrapture world-over and are the birthstone for the month of May, bringing to mind the essence of rebirth and growth, as leaves grow more plentiful, and the natural world is abundant with new life.