The Good Life.(pearls)(Rio de Janeiro)(chinese eateries in New Delhi)

Byline: Karla Bruning, Mac Margolis, Ron Moreau, Sana Butler, Tara Weingarten

Style: Pearls Updated

These are not your grandmother's pearls. With fresh designs and combined with dazzling jewels, modern strings have come a long way from the classic single strand. "For a lifetime, if not for centuries, the look of pearls was a straight strand around the neck with nothing else," says SalvadorAssael, chairman ofAssael International, whose collections are sold around the world. "We realized that the new generation wanted something different--something youthful, versatile and suitable for every day." With eclectic designs by Prince Dimitri of Yugoslavia, the House of Assael utilizes pearls of every type and color, mixing them with precious and semiprecious stones and mundane objects like wood. The Rope Necklace features 54 semi-baroque iridescent gray Tahitian pearls strung with oval-shaped moonstones and ruby beads, set in 18-karat yellow gold ($60,000; assael.com ).

The trend is being driven in part by the bounty of Chinese freshwater pearls, which come from mussels rather than oysters and now rival saltwater varieties in color, shape and luster. Of Bulgari's two new pearl collections, one--the Sapphire Flower line--features Chinese freshwater cultured pearls and a rainbow of multicolored sapphires. The Flora 18-karat yellow-gold and diamond ring boasts five pear-shaped sapphires forming a multihued flower set next to a single white pearl ($8,200; bulgari.com ).

Pearls are a centerpiece of David Yurman's spring collection, which includes a pseudo-traditional single strand of oversize, chunky South Sea cultured pearls as well as a sterling-silver and 18-karat-gold mixed chain necklace with turquoise and freshwater cultured pearls (strand $13,000- $80,000, chain $3,650; davidyurman.com ).

Tiffany shakes up its classic simplicity with the Dragonfly collection. The bracelet boasts white cultured freshwater pearls and 1.7 karats' worth of round diamonds melded into three rows of shining dragonflies ($9,750; tiffany.com ).

Laura Gibson mixes colored pearls with other jewels in her feminine designs. One signature necklace combines Tahitian keshi pearls, London blue topaz, aqua-marine, labradorite and morganite into a sea-blue beauty ($10,800; lauragibson.com ).