Modern Jewelry Trends

For a couple of weeks now, the editors at Modern Jeweler have previewed some of the beautiful and unique jewelry collections that have launched at Couture and JCK Las Vegas 2009. Now we are back from Vegas, and we admit to still being a little jet lagged, a little cocktail partied-out—and it’s quite curious how our wallets always seem a lot lighter back here in New York. But we are also energized by the new twists, new designs, and new jewelry directions we saw at the shows. So are you ready for more great new designs?

Italian designer Marco Bicego has expanded into the men’s market with the “L’Uomo” collection. The line debuted in the U.S. at Couture with 55 styles (150-plus pieces) including rings, cuff links, bracelets, and chains in 18k yellow, white, and rose gold. Other styles include black and white diamonds, colored enamel, and leather. Retail prices range from $520 to $8,000. Through the use of hand-woven coils and hand-etched gold satin finishes, Bicego’s architectural collection takes inspiration from the New York skyline and its metropolitan landscape.

“With this collection, every man will be able to express his individuality and fine tune his personal style for a unique, effortless look,” says Bicego. For more information, call (415) 249-3800 or visit www.marcobicego.com.    — Matthew Kramer

The coolest thing that debuted at the JCK show this year wasn’t a jewelry design or a rare gemstone, although it was tucked away in a pocket.  Stuller has a new iPhone application, Live Diamond Try-On, that makes shopping for an engagement ring fun enough (and portable enough) to do in a bar with your friends.

Live Diamond Try-On works like the “Build a Ring” tools you see on jewelry websites, allowing you to choose a Red Box Diamond and then a Stuller setting in white or yellow gold and then showing you how the ring you chose looks with that size and shape diamond.

But then it goes beyond the expected into the 21st century. You can use the camera on the iPhone to take a picture of your hand and try the engagement ring on, pinching the screen to resize the image to fit your finger. Then you can capture the picture of the ring on your hand and email it or post it on Facebook to see what your friends and family think. (Or show it to your friends in the bar. Then try the ring on their hands or put it on their heads like a tiara.) In the future Stuller will be adding men’s bands too (so you can see how that cute guy at the bar would look while wearing one.)

And there’s more: after you create your ring and try it on, you can use the phone and its GPS to find the nearest retailer who carries it.  You can even see the store’s location on a map (and get directions and a phone number too.)

Talk to Stuller about how you can make sure your store is listed when the application launches this fall.