The Russian jewelry box is a great place to search for just the right accessory -- or just the right gift for someone special back home.


Among the adornments distinctive to Russia, earrings offer perhaps the greatest possibilities. They come in a variety of forms and styles, ranging from the folkloric to the sophisticated, and despite the invasion in local shops of cheap Malaysian or Indonesian imports, ear bobs that radiate Russian style are still plentiful and reasonably priced. Earring options include:


Enamel


These picturesque earrings, popular among foreigners, are likelier to dangle from the ears of mature Russian women. With motifs of painted flowers against pale backgrounds, these often inexpensive creations arrive in plentiful supply to Moscow from Rostov, where they originate. Authentic Rostovsky finift can be found in most souvenir shops around Moscow, or in any shop specializing in Russian crafts.


An especially good selection is available at the handicraft shop at Ulitsa Delegatskaya 3, next to the Museum of Applied and Decorative Folk Art, where they cost from around 16,000 to 32,000 rubles.


Palekh


Capitalism has ushered in a whole new era for lacquer box painters with an enterprising brush. This wearable art, which, like the better-known boxes, often portrays a fairy-tale theme, comes in a variety of ear-flattering shapes -- from onion to oval to oblong. Made from either wood or papier m‰ch?, they can also be found at most places specializing in lacquer boxes, and cost around 50,000 rubles. A stunning pair of Palekh earrings can be had for 108,000 rubles at the Shakh jewelry shop on Ploshchad Revolutsii, on the south side of the Hotel Moskva. The Shakh store also, incidentally, carries Faberg?-like egg pendants at about half the $140 price often charged foreigners.


Gold-Plated Silver


From the village of Veliky Ustyuk, these gold-plated silver earrings with elaborate floral motifs are affordable, and widely available around the city. Also available is the Kubachy style, originating in the village of Kubach and featuring similar black floral designs etched on silver. They come in different shapes.


The best selection is to be found at Samotsvety, on Old Arbat across from the Vakhtangov Theater, or at The Jewelry Shop, 9 Ulitsa Nikolskaya. Prices start at 25,000 rubles for a small pair of diamond-shaped gold-plated earrings, and reach up to approximately 109,000 for the larger styles.


Amber


From studs to pendulums, amber jewelry is an adornment beloved by Russians. Unfortunately, the settings available are still in general rather clunky, to Western tastes -- the ubiquitous amber-back spider brooch being the most spectacular example.


Amber comes in a variety of colors and opacity -- from virtually white with strains of yellow, the rarest kind -- to dark brown, verging on black. In Moscow, all varieties abound.


Samotsvety has the most impressive selection of the simple, round amber studs, and also offers unusually airy white amber pieces mounted in arabesque nickel filigree. Studs cost as little as 7,000 rubles; the more florid styles start at 80,000.


Silver-Nickel Filigree


Samotsvety has an intriguing choice of unusual earrings designed and made by local artisans. Many are encrusted with malachite, lapis lazuli, onyx or turquoise. A set of malachite dangles can cost up to 250,000 rubles, depending on the elaborateness of the design.


Gem Stones


The classic Russian setting, with glittering single stone out front and a clasp that loops behind the ear, is available with diamonds, rubies, sapphires and emeralds at stores throughout the city, both state and private, that specialize in precious stones. These earrings have become rarer than in the past, however, and the prices for them have shot up. A pair of very small diamond studs can start at 1 million rubles, for example. Places to look:


?Yuvelirny Salon, 2 Okhotny Ryad.


?Printsessa Gryoz (Princess of Dreams), Bolshaya Sadovaya 2.


?Yuvelirny Magazin, Pervaya Tverskaya-Yamskaya 27.


?Malakhitovaya Shkatulka (The Malachite Box), Novy Arbat, just opposite Irish House. This store also has a generous array of plain gold earrings.


Other shops with interesting, unusual an d reasonably priced earrings:


?Kiosks in the Central House of Artists on Krymsky Val.


?Khudozhestvenny Salon at Ukrainsky Bulvar 6.


?Russkaya Lavra on Ulitsa Varvarka, in front of the Hotel Rossiya.


?Knizhny Mir at Ulitsa Myasnitskaya 6.