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.

Peridot was first found in 300BC on St. John's Island in the Red Sea, and crusaders brought it back to their cathedrals in the Middle Ages. When beautifully cut it has the colour of a freshly unfurled beech leaf in Spring, a gemstone greatly admired for its rich 'oily' green shades from the mineral olivine. Large stones are rare and when she finds them, Cassandra loves to use them for brooches and earrings. As the birthstone for August, a precious peridot can bring you prosperity and happiness, welcoming new beginnings and paving the way for courage, wealth and wisdom.