The Fashion Statement: Jewelry is Buggin' Out

What's with fine jewelry's never ending fascination with creepy crawlers?

The trend has been in full swing for years now, but the craze just won't, er, buzz off. Just look at Isabelle Adjani (pictured above) who had fish (courtesy of De Grisogono) wrapped around her wrists at the Cannes Film Festival in May.

Thousands of dollars worth of gems diamonds, sapphires, blue topaz, rubies and more have gotten turned into frogs, dragonflies, spiders, reptiles, snakes, butterflies, bugs, stingrays, sea urchins...and all manner of little creatures.

I get serpents, particularly for their Ancient Egyptian connotations and mystical meaning. I wouldn't turn down Roberto Cavalli's Swarovski serpent bracelet, tagged $675, or Virgin's Saints and Angels temptation bracelet, $635, adorned with Pacific opals.

But you should see the price tag for bird-like claws and insects! For $1,188, you can get stacked rings that look like talons on designer Pamela Love's site. You can also snap up a very large cuff by Aurélie Bidermann, an 18K rendition of a web for $1,795 at net-a-porter.com. Neiman Marcus has bug stud earrings by Ileana Makri, for $3,750.

Dragonflies do quite well, too. At Ylang 23, Cathy Waterman's dragonfly bracelet is going for $28,800 while Barneys New York is promoting Vernissage's pendant necklaces, $1,650.