Modern Jewelry Trends

After 108 years of serving the jewelry industry, Modern Jeweler is suspending publication. We’d like to thank all the people who worked hard over the years to make every issue worth reading. We’d also like to thank the retailers and manufacturers who shared their time and expertise with our readers each month. We hope to find a buyer who believes in the future of the jewelry industry as much as we do. But even if we don’t and the August issue of Modern Jeweler is truly the last, we are sure that the jewelry industry’s strong community and generosity of spirit will ensure its recovery is swift and its future is bright. We’ll certainly miss being there to cover it.

- Tim Murphy, Publisher, and Cheryl Kremkow, Editor-in-Chief

We are pretty sure actress and sex symbol Megan Fox is not a Transformer, Autobot, Decepticon, or any other kind of robot or clone. But during her whirlwind international tour to promote “Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen,” she seemed to be everywhere, from magazines to the talk shows to the red carpet. Fox certainly ramped up the frequent flyer miles—and brought plenty of Hollywood glamour, fashion, and jewelry looks overseas, too.

On June 9, for example, Megan Fox was at the premiere of “Transformers” in South Korea, and wore an Amrapali 22k gold mesh cuff. On June 15, Fox wore Siera diamond hoop earrings at the London premiere. Passport at the ready no doubt, she then jetted to Moscow June 16, and switched back to Amrapali gold and rose cut diamond earrings. On June 22, Fox was back in Los Angeles at the Mann Village Theatre and wore Siera’s black onyx and diamond cocktail ring.

“Transformers” has received pretty good reviews, but a few stars should be awarded to Siera Jewelry, which has become a favorite of celebs like Halle Berry, Debra Messing, and Mariah Carey. Amrapali, too, has received a lot of publicity with its modern Indian fine jewelry. It helps to have D’Orazio & Associates, Beverly Hills, in your corner. The private showroom caters to stylists, stars, and entertainment industry pros, and has a pretty impressive list of media placements. Special thanks, by the way, to D’Orazio for the original news items and photos.     — Matthew Kramer

First the Philadelphia Phillies won the World Series. Then the Pittsburgh Steelers won their sixth NFL Super Bowl. The Pittsburgh Penguins just won the NHL Stanley Cup. It’s a great time to be a sports fan in Pennsylvania (we’ll just overlook those always woeful Pittsburgh Pirates). Sports championship rings get a lot of publicity for their over-the-top designs. There are always private and public ring ceremonies, and what athlete doesn’t like to flaunt their victory with a big diamond ring?

The Steelers and Jostens collaborated on perhaps, as a football TV commentator would enthuse, the “greatest ring in NFL history.” To symbolize the team’s six Super Bowl victories, six round diamonds surround the Steelers logo, which sits atop a football-shaped diamond design. Other highlights include six Lombardi trophies carved on one side of the ring, while the other side is personalized with the player’s name and number. The 14k yellow gold ring weighs 104 grams (approximately 3.7 ounces) with 63 round diamonds totaling 3.61 carats.

Speaking of big sports rings, we have to mention that the Philadelphia Phillies celebrated their 2008 World Series championship, too, with rings created by Masters of Design. The 14k white gold ring features 103 diamonds, totaling 3.84 carats. The top is crowned with a ruby inlay and the Phillies’ signature “P.”

We wonder what the next championship ring will look like. What about the one for Kobe Bryant and the Lakers? That could top the Steelers’ ring. As for the rest of the country’s sports fans, there’s always next year. Just my vote, but hopefully the next championship ring will have a diamond studded interlocking “N” and “Y” and feature carats and carats of “pinstripe” white and black diamonds.     — Matthew Kramer

Angels & Demons, the long-awaited follow-up to The Da Vinci Code, premiered on Monday in Rome. The premiere was just a stone’s throw from the Vatican, creating a bit of controversy since Ron Howard, the director, has been widely quoted saying the Vatican had made it difficult to get permits to film in some locations. The jewelry in the film has religious overtones as well, including rosaries and crosses that were created specifically for the film by Italian jewelry brand Damiani. Silvia Damiani says she drew inspiration from the mystery and emotions that surround the story, and worked with costume designer Daniel Orlandi to research traditional symbols in historical documents. Although the pieces were made specifically for the film, Damiani has also drawn inspiration from the movie to create the new “Angeli & Demoni” collection of crosses, necklaces, and rosary beads in yellow and rose gold with onyx or enamel. Also seen on screen in the movie are a Damiani pendant from Damianissima, which combines the D of the Damiani name in an beautiful repetitive pattern in rose, yellow and white gold with diamonds; and cufflinks from D.Side, co-designed by Damiani and Brad Pitt.

This season’s selection of ornament-encrusted gowns present a jewelry dilemma: match your fake gems with real?  Or accessorize with something completely different?  At the recent Academy of Country Music Awards at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas Miley Cyrus tried the first option, pairing her green bejeweled dress with gemstone Harmony earrings and ring from the Diane von Furstenberg by H. Stern collection. Generally, wearing anything from H.Stern is a guarantee of red-carpet success. But this combination is a bit risky.  I can’t help wishing that the dress was without ornamentation. What do you think? Are the earrings fighting the dress?  Who’s winning?  (Surely not Cyrus.)

H. Stern added just a little bit of “sparkle” to the celebrity wedding of singer Stacy “Fergie” Ferguson and actor Josh Duhamel (“Las Vegas”). The couple walked down the aisle wearing millions of dollars worth of one-of-a-kind creations.

H. Stern created the couple’s engagement ring and wedding bands and also accessorized the entire wedding party. H. Stern’s “Stars” engagement ring in the brand’s 18k Noble gold featured a 4 carat diamond and cognac diamond accents, along with a colored diamond wedding band and 18k white gold band for the groom. Each band is engraved with special personal messages by the bride and groom.

During the ceremony and reception, Fergie changed it up, wearing a variety of different outfits and jewelry designs. She wore more than $5 million of H. Stern’s jewelry, including an 80 carat diamond lariat necklace, as well as a rope diamond necklace worn in her hair as a veil, hair pieces, cuffs, and several other designs, too. Not to be outdone, the groom wore H. Stern’s white and black diamond cuff links. Last but not least, the seven bridesmaids in the wedding party wore the Brazilian jeweler’s “Zephyr” diamond hair clips, priced at $3,000 each. H. Stern’s stunning creations took a star turn during this celebrity red carpet wedding.     — Matthew Kramer

If a Shepard Fairey button isn’t your idea of a stylish accessory, jewelry designer Jeanine Payer today launched a new jewelry collection that’s a more subtle and moving tribute to the inauguration of President Barak Obama.  Her new “Elements of Change” jewelry collection is hand engraved with excerpts from the inauguration poem by Elizabeth Alexander, “Praise Song for the Day.” Payer gave the first pieces from the collection to Michelle Obama, her daughters, Oprah, and other women who she feels are working to advance the president’s message of hope.

Hand-engraved poetry has long been a signature of Jeanine Payer’s work.  When Payer wrote about how moved she was by Alexander’s poem on her company’s blog during the inauguration, a commenter suggested that the poem would be perfect to incorporate into her jewelry designs.

“I reached out to Ms. Alexander to give her a gift, a piece with her poem engraved onto it, and the dialog turned into a collaboration,” Payer says. “Her words about love and possibility are perfect for the art I make.”

The six pieces in the collection, three necklaces and three bracelets available either in sterling silver or 14k gold, will be made and hand engraved in the Jeanine Payer design studio in San Francisco.   The pieces can be worn by either women or men.

“Jeanine Payer’s exquisite designs create elegance in elemental forms,” Alexander says. “Her jewelry honors the power and beauty of simplicity, yet they also capture poetry’s invitation to deep contemplation. In every aspect, Jeanine’s jewelry is beautiful, and I am honored that she would find inspiration in my poem.”

The launch of the collection today also celebrates the beginning of National Poetry Month.

“In today’s sharp sparkle, this winter air, any thing can be made, any sentence begun.” - Elizabeth Alexander

When choosing jewelry for the Screen Actors Guild Awards, a surprising number of actresses had to ask: what rhymes with orange? Dresses in citrus hues paired with blue gems, diamonds, or yellow gold added a tropical note to the red carpet. Blue dresses too, most often paired with diamonds, added to the Isle-of-Capri summery feeling of the February night. Unlike at the Golden Globes, the style was back to bare necks with big bracelets and earrings accessorizing brightly colored gowns.

Lisa Rinna wore Bochic aquamarine cabochon earrings with diamonds and a LeVian aquamarine ring with chocolate diamonds with her vivid orange dress. In almost the same color dress, Jane Krakowski wore Bochic 22k yellow gold disc earrings with rubies and matching bracelet. (Didn’t their stylists call each other?) Eva Longoria-Parker paired her Jenny Packham tangerine gown with a jeweled neck with H.Stern’s Zephyr 6 carat diamond solitaire earrings. Marisa Tomei wore H.Stern’s Zephyr Diamond Cuff with a dress in a creamy Orange Julius color.

In a blue mood, “Slumdog Millionaire’s” Freida Pinto topped off her soft periwinkle gown with classic Martin Katz 8-carat cushion-cut diamond drop earrings, seven-row diamond bracelet, and a 53-carat diamond bracelet wrapped in her hair. SAG Award winner Kate Winslet, in royal blue, wore 22-carat pear-shaped diamond drop earrings and a 39-carat multi-shape three-row diamond bracelet by Chopard.

Generally the SAG awards are more accurate at predicting winners at the Oscars than the Golden Globes. Does that mean that in addition to an Oscar for Kate, we can expect bright colors, fussy or plunging necklines, lots of big diamond studs, and piled on bracelets on the Academy’s red carpet?

Move over Golden Globes. January’s most influential fashion event was the inauguration. First lady Michelle Obama accessorized her lemongrass-yellow coat and dress ensemble by Isabel Toledo for the swearing-in ceremony with diamond studs. At the inaugural balls, she wore elegant diamond linear earrings and stacked diamond bangle bracelets by Loree Rodkin with her creamy one shoulder dress by Jason Wu. The night before at the “We Are One” Concert at the Lincoln Memorial, she also wore earrings by Loree Rodkin: diamond Quatrefoil chandelier earrings with lotus earwire and black diamond center.

As we reported earlier, Obama wore Loree Rodkin dangle earrings on election night too. Looks like we don’t just have a trend-setting first lady who loves diamond jewelry and wears it well. Looks like we have a new first jeweler too.

At the Golden Globes in January, large diamond bib necklaces were a surprise star of the red carpet. Beyoncé illustrated this trend best in a show-stopping diamond fringe necklace by Lorraine Schwartz. Other stars with statement necklaces included Elizabeth Banks in Lorraine Schwartz, Amy Poehler in Fred Leighton, Christina Applegate in a yellow diamond flower necklace by Lorraine Schwartz, and Susan Sarandon in long diamond chains by Fred Leighton. Marisa Tomei had the most fashion-forward jewelry of the evening: Sevan’s one-of-a-kind “Zeus” necklace and hand-carved quartz and diamond ring. Although most stars still focused on earrings and bracelets, perhaps the tide has finally turned.