My own eye for this kind of jewelry comes from years sailing and diving around these islands — you notice fast whether a dolphin or a sea turtle on a pendant actually moves the way the animal moves, or whether someone drew it from a photograph. Denny Wong's sea life holds up under that kind of scrutiny, and it's a real part of why 434 of his pieces are live on this site right now — more than any other collection we carry, running $430 to $9,720, median $1,899.

Gold, diamonds, and the islands themselves

Most of what's here is 14k gold, some 18k, worked in yellow, white, and two-tone combinations — 166 pieces in yellow gold, 135 in white, 130 mixing both in a single setting. Diamonds appear on 393 of the 434 pieces, almost always as small accent stones rather than one center stone: a starfish with 16 diamonds worked into its arms, a crab pendant with 11 set along its claws, palm tree pendants that pair diamonds with tsavorite garnets for the green fronds. The two biggest motif families are plumeria (119 pieces) and sea life (111) — turtles, dolphins, starfish, crabs, sand dollars — and then a run of pendants shaped like the islands themselves: Kauai, Oahu, Maui, and the Big Island, each cast in gold with its outline picked out in turquoise, some finished with 24k gold leaf worked into the water around them. A lot of the flatwork gets a sandblasted surface instead of a high polish, which is what gives a plumeria petal its texture rather than a flat shine.

What to get right on a first order

Ring sizing and chain length are the two questions I get most on this collection. Earrings and pendants ship as pictured, but rings need a size, and a chain is usually sold separately from the pendant, so check the listing before you assume one's included. On the island pendants, people almost always want their own island, so read the variant carefully — Kauai, Oahu, Maui, and Big Island are each their own listing, not one dropdown you can skim past. This collection runs deep rather than scarce: 434 pieces across island, motif, and stone-count variants, and every one is available to order regardless of the quantity showing on the site — Wong's pieces aren't gated by a stock count the way a one-off piece might be. If a specific island, stone count, or gold combination matters to you, call us before you order and I'll confirm it's exactly the piece you're picturing.

— Steve Schlag, founder, Dolphin Galleries