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With a laugh, she shares that she did indeed wear more than usual, layering several necklaces in anticipation of a photograph.

But here’s the clincher – it doesn’t look even slightly overdone.

That is the beauty of Older’s passion for making jewelry.

Fashioned out of an array of semi-precious stones and set in various metals, the creations of Pam Older Designs are distinctive yet delicate. They are classic and feminine, but still feel contemporary and fresh.

And since their launch in 2003, they have provided Older with a creative outlet that combines her passion for art, travel, design and yes, jewelry.

No one can fault Older for wearing her lovely creations. What woman could resist an unlimited selection of necklaces and earrings that boast garnets or amethysts, whiskey quartz or tanzanite, chalcedony or pearls, moonstones or turquoise?

For Older, it’s all about breaking out after many years in an environment that was more about nuts, bolts and blending in.

“I worked in a corporate setting. I was wearing pearls and gold.”

And she was becoming quite the success in magazine publishing. Her decades in the field included stints as the worldwide production manager for Time magazine and as a senior vice president in charge of production and technology for The New Yorker. Older left the field when a corporate takeover meant an assignment that took her out of her element – and took the fun out of her job.

Searching for something new, she returned to an old love.

It was back during college days at the University of Miami in Florida that Older, who grew up in the Hartford area, came to learn about making jewelry.

One day the art major was playing around with some of her decidedly amateur pieces and decided to take them to a local boutique to see if they might like to sell them.

“I was supposed to be studying for my finals,” she says. “I walked in and showed off these ‘masterpieces’ – and they said, ‘We do need a salesperson.’”

Despite the unintended slight, she did take the job and worked there during her last two years of college, learning professional jewelry skills such as lost-wax casting along the way.

After graduation, Older headed to New York City, got into publishing and didn’t look back.

“I didn’t think about jewelry for 25 years. Now I can’t believe it, because everything I do is creative.”