5 Jewellery Trends To Look Out For In 2024
From playfully oversized jewellery to opal gemstones, here are the jewellery trends we spy in the year ahead.
When it comes to jewellery trends in 2024, we wanted to look beyond the usual suspects. There are certain jewellery motifs that remain favourites through the decades. Think hearts, flowers, birthstones and zodiac symbols. But tastes change, and what has been popular in the past can suddenly look dated or irrelevant in the present. Jewellery trends are especially interesting as they often reflect the zeitgeist of the time. In the 1940s when Van Cleef & Arpels first introduced the ballerina motif in its jewellery, it was linked to Louis Arpels’ love for the ballet from back in the 1920s.
Similarly certain trends are indicative of a time period. In France, one will find the words ‘Qu’hier que Demain’ (translated from French, it means ‘than yesterday, than tomorrow’) engraved on pendants. The trend first started from a jeweller in Lyon in 1907. He took the phrase from a love poem by the poet and playwright Rosemonde Gérard, and soon these engravings were ubiquitous in France.
Today these pieces still pop up in the vintage jewellery market, reflecting their immense popularity at the time. In the same way, certain stones are endeared by jewellery wearers and have come to be valued and prized among collectors. White diamonds, pearls and coloured gemstones like emeralds and sapphires continue to be popular, especially in high jewellery designs. However there have been new shifts in the world of jewellery, both in terms of the gemstones and techniques used, and even the subjects of high jewellery. From playfully oversized jewellery to opal gemstones, here are the jewellery trends we spy in the year ahead.
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Surrealism
From left: Pansy Teardrop Curtain earrings, about $2,843, Schiaparelli. Gold, diamond, black diamond, sapphire, ruby Eyes and Lips ring, about $7,144, Delfina Delettrez.
One can thank Daniel Roseberry the creative director of Schiaparelli for resurrecting the storied French house’s surrealist jewellery when he first took over in 2019. Taking his cue from the iconic Jean Cocteau-designed eyed brooch with a fake pearl teardrop first created for Schiaparelli in 1952, Roseberry has been faithfully reinterpreting these motifs, season after season. Standouts include faces sculpted onto giant gold cuffs and hammered brass statement earrings with giant eyes and ears hanging off them. Meanwhile Delfina Delettrez (of the Fendi family) has been doing delicate body-part jewellery under her “Anatomic” collection for years, and her pieces are a subtler way to wear the trend.
Related article: Schiaparelli Is More Relevant Than Ever
Pop Art-Inspired
From left: White gold, sapphire glass, aluminium, diamond and mother-of-pearl More is More necklace and White gold, titanium, diamond, sapphire, rock crystal and resin More is More ring, Boucheron.
Most collectors can boast a full repertoire of classic jewellery pieces like the tennis bracelet and pearl necklace. But how many can lay claim to a pearl necklace of almost cartoonish proportions that has been created with a mother-of-pearl powder fixed on an aluminium base. Such is the creativity at houses like Boucheron where high jewellery is being shot through with innovation to create truly fantastical pieces. Decorative brooches that look like a Hokusai wave or graphic rings in geometric shapes have also been given the pop art treatments—but are still crafted with the finest materials including gold, diamonds and sapphires and enlivened with enamelling.
Related article: Korean Actress Han So-hee Is Boucheron’s Newest Global Brand Ambassador
Opal Stones
From left: White gold, diamond, black opal, sapphire, tsavorite and garnet Écorce ring, Chaumet. Platinum, diamond and black opal Out of the Blue Shell bracelet, Tiffany & Co.
You might know the opal as the national gemstone of Australia. And perhaps you still associate this multifaceted gem with tourist trinkets from down under. But gem-grade opals of the highest quality and especially deeper-hued stones like the black opal are highly prized. They captivate with their brilliant fire and multidimensional play on light that lend a one-of-a-kind quality to your pieces. Many have likened the swirls of colours found in an opal—think blues, greens and even flashes of orange—to peeking inside a tiny galaxy. In high jewellery pieces, opals become the centre stone and are dressed up in a multitude of ways, such as the baguette cut diamonds to emphasise their rarity, or surrounded by coloured gemstones to play up their myriad tones.
Sea Creatures
From left: Gold, platinum, diamond, sapphire, tanzanite and moonstone Out of the Blue Jellyfish earrings, Tiffany & Co. Gold, white gold, black rhodium, diamond, pearl, opal, garnet and sapphire brooch, Mikimoto.
While animals are another enduringly popular motif in jewellery, sea creatures are a subset that have been popularised by jeweller Tiffany & Co. First explored for the House by legendary designer Jean Schlumberger, its Blue Book high jewellery collection pays homage to some of his archival designs and include interpretations of the sea anemone, starfish and jellyfish. Corals are another organic inspiration seen in Mikimoto’s “Praise to the Sea” collection that includes cheerful pieces like a vibrant coral earring and or a gem studded fish peeking out of a beautifully-crafted coral brooch that’s straight out of a deep sea fantasy.
Plants and Leaves
Clockwise from bottom left: White gold, titanium, diamond, sapphire and spinel Red Carpet Collection earrings, Chopard. Gold and diamond Le Jardin de Chaumet Blé head ornament and gold, diamond and platinum Le Jardin de Chaumet Blé ring, Chaumet.
Flowers have traditionally been a popular symbol in both high and fine jewellery, and some houses have even adopted certain blooms as their signature—think Chanel’s camellia. However, jewellers are expanding their repertoire with an alternative take on plants that were not always traditionally seen as being glamorous. These include the wheat, as seen at Chaumet, seeds, and even foliage that have been immortalised in precious pieces. We love these unexpected inspirations and the elevation of the humbler plants (and plant parts) into exquisitely crafted earrings and even headpieces that play with texture and detail.