If you want to take a professional looking photo from jewelry or other little items, you can get problems with reflections, shadows and the automatic flash.
I found several pages with tutorials on how to avoid those problems and take really good photos without spending a lot of money.
On the photo I tried it with an old lamp shade and natural light, but it didn’t work so well.
Links:
Taking good shots of jewelry
The original site doesn’t exist any more and is now available through webarchive: Digital Photography
This was the first tutorial I ever found on this subject – and it is very good. Take also a look at Connie Fox’s jewelry – and appreciate the soft reflections and shadows on the photos ;-)
At the following tutorial I found the idea brilliant to put the pendant onto glass to create a distance between the item and the background
How to take good photos of jewelry and other small objects
Articles about Jewelry Photography
At instructables.com (with explaining photos):
Budget photographic lighting “tent”
Do It Yourself Photography Light Box for Under $40
Super Simple Light Tent
Inexpensive Light Studio for Photographers