Marguerite Stix began her career in Paris designing fashion jewelry for the city’s couture houses. During World War II, the Nazis imprisoned her at Gurs internment camp. After her release in 1941, she left Europe and settled in New York City. A lifelong interest in collecting shells led Stix and her husband to open The Stix Rare Shell Gallery in the 1960s. Stix’s jewelry was designed around the shell and often featured shells set as “gems.” Stix combined her ocean finds with precious material to form unobtrusive mounts, emphasizing the shells’ colors and shapes as part of the wonders of nature. Her work is an example of mastering the juxtaposition of the man-made and natural realms.