Jewellery designer and gemstone expert Tayma Page Allies, owner of Tayma Fine Jewellery, couldn't be happier about the bigger-is-better direction jewellery is taking.

'I'm a passionate lover of coloured gems. You can have fabulous big gemstones that you just couldn't afford to buy in a similar size of diamond unless you were extremely wealthy.

'The classic example is aquamarine. I love big aquamarines,' she said, adding that 10 carats was a 'very wearable' size.

If some people have been wary about big jewellery in the past because they didn't want to be thought of as flashy, Page Allies is quick to dispel this myth.

'You can still look elegant and interesting with a single large cocktail ring that will draw admiring glances, rather than wearing lots of small rings on every finger or every diamond that you possess,' she said.

Big jewellery could be just as tasteful and understated as smaller pieces, she said.'It depends on the design, whether it is a cut or cabochon stone, and it's really a mixture of colour, shape and proportion,' she said, adding that the spare geometric forms of the art deco period had a strong influence on her design style.

Wearing big jewellery was a matter of confidence, she said. The physical stature of the person often had little to do with whether they could handle larger jewellery. 'You can have someone who is very petite, yet who has a larger-than-life personality. They're confident, outgoing and they know who they are.'

'Sometimes you have tall people who want tiny jewellery. They want something that blends in, or is the same as everyone else's jewellery. They don't want to draw attention to themselves.'

Big jewellery can also attract attention in a positive way.

'If you are wearing an unusual gemstone such as a rubellite tourmaline or a lovely morganite [the pink variety of beryl], it's a conversation piece. Someone will say, 'I love your pendant or ring', and it's not necessarily about how much it costs, but how attractive it is,' she said.

Page Allies encourages women to try on different kinds of jewellery in her shop to see for themselves what looks good. She recalled a woman who came in one day to look at pendants. 'She started small and she went bigger and bigger, and her confidence grew. By the end of it, the one she chose wasn't the biggest one, but it wasn't the smallest one, either.'

She has found that certain colours work wonders with Asian skin tones. Mandarin orange spessartite garnet, the pale blues and blue-greens of aquamarine and indicolite tourmaline (violetish to greenish-blue) along with lavender chalcedony are favourites.

Australian designer Jan Logan, who has a shop in Hong Kong, is also fond of big jewellery and likes her jewellery to be noticed.

'I like jewellery with some size to it. I like it to blend with an outfit ... and stand out,' Logan said.

In creating her crisp, clean contemporary jewellery, she frequently works with large South Sea pearls, diamonds and gold. Even her small jewellery such as her 18-carat white gold one-carat diamond stud earrings and her square four-diamond Quattro pendant have 'a certain substance' to them, as she puts it.

Most people who prefer small jewellery have been conditioned into thinking that smaller jewellery - the tiny ring, the little earring stud or pendant - is more tasteful. 'If they are used to wearing small jewellery, that's fine. It's sometimes hard to break that mindset,' she said.

One way to ease people into experimenting with different sizes is to suggest mixing big and small jewellery together.

'It's a great idea. You can mix delicate line [tennis] bracelets and have a large diamond ring on your hand,' she said. The diamond can be a solitaire or, more affordably, tiny diamonds in a pave setting, which gives a large sparkly surface.

Another idea is to take delicate neck chains with small diamonds and layer several of them together for a bigger look. But she advised against wearing too much jewellery.

'A necklace, earring and ring is fine, and sometimes even a bracelet, in a big and small mixture. Four big pieces could be overdoing it,' she said.

Helen Giss offers a personal shopper service for tourists from Europe, the US and Australia. She said buying jewellery in Hong Kong was high on her clients' to-do list. Some were in the market for dainty jewellery, while others wanted to make a statement.

'Jewellery should complement your skin and what you are wearing. If you have a very frilly dress on, I'm not sure you need a lot of jewellery,' she said. 'Jewellery also has to be appropriate to your personality.'

Most popular among her clients are long strands of pearls, loop earrings and three and four-tier necklaces made of beaded sapphires, rubies or spinels.

'Big rings are fashionable now with 5 to 10-carat coloured stones such as blue topaz, amethyst, citrine and peridot,' she said.

BIG: JAN LOGAN DAZZLING DIAMONDS

Ring: HK$36,000

Bracelet: HK$71,000

Baroque-style 18-carat white gold Rachel cocktail ring (named after actress Rachel Taylor, pictured) sparkles with diamonds (1.21 carats) and the openwork 18-carat white gold diamond hinged-cuff bracelet (4.53 carats) is equally entrancing. Both from Jan Logan.

SMALL: JAN LOGAN LOVE WISH

Price: HK$7,950

For anyone who plays ?he loves me, he loves me not?, Jan Logan?s delicately small seven-petal diamond pendant (about 0.5 inch) in 18-carat white gold always ends with ?he loves me?.

Small: Van Cleef & Arpels Pure and Simple

Price: HK$12,700

Old pendant (18-carat) featuring onyx as a centre stone from Van Cleef & Arpels' Alhambra Collection is simplicity itself in a black and yellow colour scheme.

Big: Van Cleef & Arpels Butterflies are Free

Price: HK$2.26 million

Van Cleef & Arpels' 18-carat white gold and diamond necklace has butterflies (bottom one is detachable) that float gently on the wearer and represent a carefree and lighthearted fluidity.

Big: Chopard Copacabana

Price: HK$545,000

These magnificent chandelier earrings from Chopard's Copacabana collection in 18-carat pink gold are composed of arabesques set with diamonds and decorated with coloured sapphires.

Small: Tayma Fine Jewellery Rainbow Colours

Ring: HK$390,000

Earrings: HK$68,000

Rare collector's gemstones are featured in this handmade, one-of-a-kind, 18-carat white gold ring set with diamonds and a 2.65-carat Paraiba tourmaline, and 18-carat white gold earrings with diamonds and tri-colour tourmaline (11.45 carats), Paraiba tourmaline and rubellite, both from Tayma Fine Jewellery.

Big: Tayma Fine Jewellery Cabochon Pendant

Pendant: HK$89,000

Necklace: HK$120,000

A breathtaking 18-carat white gold pendant from Tayma Fine Jewellery featuring two cabochon aquamarines (20.85 and 66.12 carats), a centre cabochon pink tourmaline (26.17 carats), South Sea pearls and diamonds. Worn on an 18-carat white gold diamond necklace.

Small: Dior Joaillerie Petals

Ring: HK$6,900

Dior Joaillerie's Diorette Marguerite ring in 18-carat gold and lacquer with a small diamond is as fresh as a daisy.

Big: Dior Joaillerie Springtime

Ring: HK$102,000

Diorette flower, butterfly and ladybug ring from Dior Joaillerie in 18-carat white gold features a 12-carat morganite centre stone with a diamond, sapphire, pink sapphire, Mandarin garnet, amethyst and lacquer.

Big: Jan Logan Dazzling Diamonds

Ring: HK$36,000

Bracelet: HK$71,000

Baroque-style 18-carat white gold Rachel cocktail ring (named after actress Rachel Taylor, pictured) sparkles with diamonds (1.21 carats) and the openwork 18-carat white gold diamond hinged-cuff bracelet (4.53 carats) is equally entrancing. Both from Jan Logan.