Stephany Hitchcock is native New Yorker, a jewelry designer who eschewed an Ivy League college in favor of the renowned Gemological Institute in New York City, where she studied the properties of colored stones and diamonds, and emerged as an expert identifier and quality appraiser of gemstones.

With her heart set on the precise task of selecting the very best gems in the world, for the purpose of creating magnificent jewels, Hitchcock was recommended by the Institute for a position with Harry Winston. After her interview, she was told that, while she certainly had the outstanding credentials for the job, she looked far too young to be taken seriously. The position was awarded to a male candidate with less experience.

Hitchcock confesses that, at 19, she was so demoralized by the experience that she abandoned the idea of working with gems and decided it would be less painful to pursue her first love, the theater. "Hard to believe that I thought acting was going to be a respite," says the designer, laughing. But it was.

Hitchcock spent the following two decades on the boards – acting, singing, and dancing in several successful productions and eventually running her own theater company in upstate New York, where she was also raising two sons.

Occasionally, she would apply her designing skills towards making jewelry for friends at Christmas and on each occasion, a business developed as soon as the jewelry appeared in public.

One year, Hitchcock created a set of funky, psychedelic earrings for her annual gifts and within weeks, was receiving orders to create them for Henry Bendel and several stores around the country.

"One minute I was making small pieces for my friends, the next minute, my actress friends were in my apartment, working to meet the deadlines for each order," Hitchcock recalls.

She was represented by Fragments. It was madness! Each earring, which was made up of small plexigem pieces, had to be drilled individually and put together by hand. "It was so time intensive that, to be honest, I couldn't meet the demand without setting up a factory," she says. "I went back to performing."

But fate had already determined that Hitchcock's passion would become a career, and 7 years ago, history repeated itself. Once again, unique pieces that Hitchcock had created exclusively for her friends, began to reap a following and the phone began to ring -- friends of friends had seen a piece and begged her to make them something in her signature style.

A slow but steady demand became almost urgent and orders for her exquisite necklaces began to consume more of her day. This time Hitchcock heeded the call, and back in New York City from upstate New York, she resumed designing jewelry full-time.

Reps continued to call and stores pleaded with her to create exclusive collections for them, beginning with Zoom, an upscale store in tony Southampton, where the designer's pieces were snapped up in the city showroom before they could make it out to the store.

Since Hitchcock loves to wear what she makes, the blonde-haired, blue-eyed designer is a walking billboard for her own creations so that strangers constantly ask about the origins of the gorgeous chokers and earrings.

One friend recently bought several pie"es, some of which she then passed onto Robin Williams and Susan Sarandon, who gave bracelets to their daughters. Sarandon was so taken with her daughter's gift that she requested one for herself -- a beautiful carnelian and mandarin orange garnet necklace.

Nowadays, the designer has no time for rehearsals or performances, between raising two sons, and working around the clock to meet the insatiable demand for her romantic necklaces of Sapphires, Moonstone, and Gold, or Prehnite, Peridot and Peruvian Opal.

"It's funny, I never pursued jewelry-making as a career. I took jewelry design and fabrication classes at Kulicke-Stark (now the Jewelry Arts Institute) and Parsons School of Design for relaxation, and as a creative outlet to make jewelry for myself.

"The business always came after me," she says in her workroom, surrounded by a rainbow of stones that are the basis of her current collection -- Tourmalines, South Sea pearls, Peruvian Opal, Sapphires, Apatitie, Kyanite and Peridot -- among many others -- glorious gems that hang like clustered teardrops on her elegant, pastel pieces.

Demand is growing - even at $3,000 a necklace and beyond - but Hitchcock is taking her time in an effort to maintain the integrity and quality of each masterpiece.

"Remember, these are semi-precious and precious stones that I have hand chosen, and each design carries a real value," she explains, adding that the collection includes her own 18-carat gold designed clasps, and a line of 18K rings and stackable bands, with luscious colored gemstones, some even sprinkled with small diamonds.

"I can truly say that each of my designs is very unique, and very special, she says," with a twinkle in her eye. "They're a real labor of love."