Modern Jewelry Trends

It wasn’t as strong as the tide of red dresses. But there was an undeniable trend of long necklaces at this year’s Academy Awards. After years dominated by important earrings and bold bracelets, the decision by style icons like Nicole Kidman and Cate Blanchett, Best Actress Marion Cotillard, nominees Ellen Page and Laura Linney, and presenters Jennifer Garner and Keri Russell to choose an important necklace instead was a major shift in direction from years past.

Kidman wore the most important and prominent necklace of the night: an extraordinary rough and polished multistrand diamond sautoir designed by L’Wren Scott set with 7645 diamonds totaling almost 1400 carats. Russel’s multistrand necklace by H. Stern was also a very strong look.

The Federal Trade Commission just published a consumer alert on what to look for when purchasing jewelry. And it’s actually titled Puttin’ on the Glitz: What to Know When Shopping for Jewelry. Despite good intentions, the impact of these kinds of warnings are always somewhat negative in that they give the impression that jewelers are generally less than trustworthy. But this alert is even worse than most in that it doesn’t get the facts quite right.

Fortunately, an early gaffe about diamond weight being measured in “karats” has been corrected. But the pearl section is also a bit odd. It says that pearls can be “imitation, cultured or real.” Why they decided to use the word “real” instead of natural is a mystery but it might lead some consumers to conclude that cultured pearls aren’t real. The section on gold karatage is confusing too. In avoiding the use of percentages, they end up not explaining how karatage works or the difference between 18k and 14k.

And is it me or does the gemstone paragraph seem to be promoting lab-grown stones? Judge for yourself: “There’s a difference between laboratory-created gemstones and natural stones. Stones created in the lab are practically identical (visually, physically, and chemically) to stones mined from the earth. The big difference is in the cost: laboratory-created stones are less expensive than mined stones. Because they look just like natural stones, they must be identified as lab-created.” (Uh, yeah, the big difference couldn’t be that one is manufactured in any quantity and the other is occasionally found in the ground.)

One might ask where is the section on fake discounting? Where is the section on getting a laboratory report if you are buying diamonds online? Where is the section that warns consumers about all the counterfeits on eBay?

All in all, I think ethical jewelers can say, thanks but no thanks.

At Modern Jeweler, we love the Spectrum Awards because this gemstone jewelry competition organized by the American Gem Trade Association often discovers new talent, including great designers at retail stores across the country. (Just take a look at the spectacular winning designs in our February Issue, Colorful Champions.)

But every year at the AGTA press event that showcases all the entries our editors find a few pieces that we think really should have won. We think you would too. Now AGTA is offering all would-be jewelry design judges like us a chance to discover all the great jewelry in the competition that didn’t win a Spectrum Award. Images of all the pieces entered are available for viewing in the online Spectrum Awards Collection.

Some of our picks, pieces designed by Suz Andreasen, R. Bruce Henderson, David Clark, Klaus Kutter, and Sylva Yepremian are featured below. And believe me, there are plenty of other great designs we could have picked. Feel free to post links to your favorite pieces as well!

Now that the threat of the writer’s strike is over, fashion is celebrating the resuscitation of Oscar’s red carpet. So this week’s Grammys are being studied for clues to the main event coming up soon on February 24. And if the Grammys are any indication of what we’ll see in a week, don’t look for important necklaces on the stars this year.

Once again at this year’s Grammy Awards, the focus was on the wrist. The look of the night was the important cuff: one large bracelet with dimension rather than a stack of bangles as we saw at the last few award ceremonies. Beyonce’s zig-zag cuff by Lorraine Schwartz epitomized the trend, as did Rihanna’s 27-carat cuff by Chopard.

Earrings, for the most part, remain long, although they are often more prominent at the hair-down Grammys than the hair-up Oscars. But the bare-neck bejeweled-wrist trend was so dominant once again that it is likely to reign at this year’s Oscars as well.

Yes, yes, chandeliers are “over” but you know few can resist those long dangly diamonds that make every woman feel really dressed up. Long earrings are here to stay. So, Oscar stylists, just resign yourself and avoid the big necklace/big earrings clash. You don’t want your clients to be mocked by the fashion police like Nelly Furtado at the Grammys, who tried but failed to carry off a thick gold choker and long silver earrings with a strapless dress. It was the jewelry faux pas of the night.