A LITTLE BIT OF NATURE: Gold rings with organic pattern. (www.indulgems.com)
TODD REED CUFF: Gold cuff with raw diamond cubes and rose-cut diamonds. (www.toddreed.com)
DAVID TISHBI RING: Oxidized silver ring with textured gold and ruby. (www.davidtishbi.com)
According to Cindy Edelstein from the Jewelry Resource, the trends that we see today are mimicked throughout the industry. Designs are using different textures, mixing different metals, and presenting new stones.
Hoops are popular, earrings are getting bigger, and bangles and cuffs are a must. Stack rings are still going strong, but this is the year of the cuff!
FLOWING STREAM OF GEMS: Gold pendant with raw Montana sapphire. (www.widmandesign.com)
For a while jewelry was tiny, but now it is scaling up. Wear an armload of bangles or a big cuff. Add movement—wear a waterfall on the ear rather than a shield.
On the high-end, raw diamonds and colored diamonds are the No. 1 trend. You can wear raw diamonds from the lowest fun and funky level up to old couture. Mixing raw diamonds with cut white diamonds is very popular as well.
STYLE FOR TODAY: Gold earrings with texture from nature. (www.OdeToOrigin.com)
We also see a trend toward stones that are not cut the traditional way. There are, for example, a lot of colored stones in rose cut, which is flat on the bottom and faceted on the top, like a turtle shell.
"You can do that in the petite, precious way or you can do it in a huge slice of agate or other "fun" stone, and surrounded by diamonds all of a sudden it's a very dressy piece," says Edelstein.
We are also starting to see druse again, which is the aggregate of minute crystals coating the inside of a hollow rock. It used to be a hippy thing, popular 20 years ago. Now it's back. Druse mixed with diamonds is very popular right now.
"So it is all about that raw trend, a rough, more artistic trend, yet counterbalanced by princess jewelry—you know how every trend has its kick back trend—very girly, lacey, all-diamond glitter jewelry is popular too. Erica Courtney is the queen of red carpet princess jewelry. She is doing everything with a little more twinkle, but in a very elegant way, and a lot of designers are doing very open work. Very lacey with white diamond and then add colored diamonds like pretty pinks or rainbow sapphires just to get that twinkle and add color," says Cindy Edelstein.
"Another trend," she goes on to say, "is black—black diamonds, blackened metal—and mixed metal. Mixing white stones with black stones, blackened metal, around a diamond in an all yellow gold piece. So it's fresh, it's edgy, it's new. We are seeing a lot more rose gold, especially in Europe, but starting to come here too."
For financial reasons, there is a silver comeback. A lot of designers have launched silver collections this year —silver mixed with gold—to help offset the economy. And palladium is starting to replace platinum in bridal sets.
From Italy comes chocolate gold—a brand new alloy of gold. "Warm brown metal—it is luscious! And speaking of chocolate gold, chocolate PEARLS are a big trend this year too. Asymmetrical pearls, more variety of the shape and the luster is very popular," explains
Cindy.
In bridal jewelry, pink gold is coming in to the United States. Still very princessy and
lacy, with a lot of attention to the sides of the rings. "But then, the next generation of bride has to get something new. We are now seeing more fashion trends reflected in bridal. There are more daring brides now. This season's entire collection from Todd Reed was center stone rose-cut raw diamonds, red diamonds, gray diamonds—now he is selling them very well—so there is a buyer for that!"
We also note green and ethical trends. Consumers are getting more educated. Last October the first-ever Ethical Jewelry Summit was held in Washington, D.C. On the lowest end of the market, we saw many warnings last year about dangerous jewelry from China. A 4-year-old boy died from lead poisoning last year after swallowing a charm containing 99 percent lead. "So consumers had a big wake-up call to wonder where the jewelry is made, and how safe is it, which is unfortunate for China but good for America," smiles Cindy.
Not only the lowest end of the market is produced in China and India. As a matter of fact, you can almost determine by the size of the company where the jewelry is made. Most of the leading brands are produced in Asia.
"With the whole green market, think about how prominent it is—there are people who won't even eat fruit if it is not grown within a 60 miles radius—well, these people are not going to buy jewelry from China either. When they get engagement rings, they will make sure they are made elsewhere. A lot of people are loyal to American-made jewelry. Ask where the jewelry is manufactured, not only where it is designed," suggests Cindy.
Cindy Edelstein from the Jewelry Resource can be reached at cindy@jewelersresource.com