Once upon a time, far, far away, there lived a beautiful princess. Her wicked stepmother placed a curse on her, dooming her to a bleak future of mundane accessories.

One day, bemoaning her boring pearl studs for the thousandth time, the princess wished for someone to rescue her. Her fairy godmother appeared and whisked her away to a magical land known as Gem Kingdom.

Here, the princess found a choker necklace, both innocent and edgy with butterfly charms and silver chains. She marveled at a tiny urn-shaped pendant with ball-bearing accents and splashes of silver. And swooned over a bracelet fashioned from crosses and gladiator-head cameos.

Everywhere she looked, the princess saw unusual pieces that mixed dark and bright, Gothic and romantic elements.

As she slipped on a mother-of-pearl skull-and-crossbones cameo ring, the princess sighed with delight, knowing she would never return to the land of boring baubles again.

The end.

Available at Tabandeh, Mazza Gallerie, 5300 Wisconsin Avenue NW, at Western Avenue (202-966-5080). To see styles, go to gemkingdom.nl.