And while all of the above are actual trends this fall, it’s important to keep in mind that in the age of social media, influencer marketing, and celebrity mania, multiple—and competing—trends can exist simultaneously.

To help streamline what that means for fine jewelry retailers, we’ve highlighted fall 2023’s most salient fashion trends, and the jewels that epitomize them. Happy curating!

Stealth wealth

Unless you’ve spent the past six months on a desert island, you’re well aware of “quiet luxury,” the aesthetic concept du jour. High-quality materials meet inconspicuous styling in looks that underscore a minimalist approach to fashion, including a focus on materials designed to stand the test of time.

As JCK’s longtime fashion correspondent Venessa Lau wrote in “Fashion Files,” her fall preview in our May 2023 issue: “Designer after designer, from Brandon Maxwell and Bottega Veneta to Christian Dior and Balenciaga, put the spotlight on grown-up codes such as spare tailoring, timeless classics, and neutrals.”

Few jewelry collections embody those ideals better than Tabayer. Founded by Uzbekistan-born Nigora Tokhtabayeva, the brand takes its inspiration from talismanic amulets reinterpreted through a modernist lens. Crafted from Fairmined 18k gold, the pieces, such as the Oera hoop earrings below, boast a signature curve that’s recognizable to connoisseurs: If you know, you know.

Florals in season

The vibe for fall is all about romantic floral prints and appliqués—darker than the pastels we normally see in spring and quite a bit moodier. While the runways saw a profusion of roses, jewelers are besotted with the humble daisy, whose silhouette lends itself to artful profusions of color.

Check out this Daisy earring from U.K.-based Basak Baykal, featuring petals that have been meticulously hand-painted and studded with gems.

Racy red

Barbiecore pink gives way to a vivid crimson hue this fall, reflecting the fashion world’s collective embrace of red as the color of the season. For a perfect combo of the two shades, look no further than Gyan Jaipur’s one-of-a-kind ruby, black onyx, and pink opal ring, a deco-inspired testament to the allure of pairing sister colors.

Corporate chic

Power dressing in the form of oversize blazers and wide-leg pantsuits continues to reign supreme. What better way to complement a tailored, masculine look than with a strand of pearls, à la this hand-knotted style from L.A.-based Lizzie Mandler?

Top: Ring in 18k rose gold with ruby, black onyx, pink opal, and diamonds, $13,100; Gyan Jaipur

Schmitz most recently was CEO of Muirbury & Co., an independent firm that builds premium brands. Prior to that, he served as global CEO and chairman of the management board of the Wusthof Group, the German knife manufacturer. At the start of his career, he spent nearly 20 years at Richemont, where he was CEO of Montblanc North America and president and CEO of Montblanc Japan.

He replaces Audrey Finci, who has served as interim president and CEO since March, according to LinkedIn. Frédéric Lévy was appointed John Hardy’s president and CEO in January, taking over from Kareem Gahed, its head since 2019.

Finci will remain a company adviser and member of John Hardy’s board of directors. “As Patrick gets settled, I’m committed to ensuring a seamless transition,” she said in a statement.

Reed Krakoff, the former chief artistic officer of Tiffany & Co. and president of Coach, has been John Hardy’s creative chairman—as well as minority equity stakeholder in the brand—since September 2021. In a company statement, he said he “look[ed] forward to guiding John Hardy together” with Schmitz.

John Hardy is owned by L Catterton,  which combined the North American operations of private equity firm Catterton with Groupe Arnault, the family holding company of LVMH chairman Bernard Arnault. Catterton bought John Hardy in 2014.

L Catterton reportedly put the company up for sale last year.

(Photo via LinkedIn)

“Everyone wore their best on these occasions, and I remember thinking they looked like real-life movie stars,” Wang says. “From their bangles and bracelets, sometimes a featured ring, the style was all about their hands and how they played their mah-jongg tiles. Their style was mesmerizing.”

Fashion would occupy Wang’s early career, stints at designer brands like Liz Claiborne and DKNY Jeans offering lessons in form and structure. She figured out her skills in draping fabric to complement the body could translate to other materials, including metal. Today, Ming Yu Wang New York gives her a place to explore her fascination with wearable art, bold statement jewelry, and heirloom-quality pieces.

It was a long journey from Wang’s birthplace, Taipei, to Vancouver—where her family moved when she was an adolescent in the early ’90s—to New York City, where she debuted her jewelry collection in 2013 using her given name, Ming Yu.

Because of the contrasts between Taiwan and Canada, Wang feels like she had two separate childhoods. But those different cultures also helped form who she is. Her first job was in a Taiwanese noodle shop, whose legendary broth was such a tightly held secret that its owners considered it the essence of the business.

“The owners divided up the portions of the broth when they parted ways,” Wang recalls. “The broth represented the core of the business, and it taught me to be original and authentic with everything in life.” And to pursue work that let her build her own legacy.

Wang majored in Japanese and literature at the University of British Columbia, graduating in 2001. She went back to school in 2004, in New York, and earned an associate’s degree in fashion and apparel design from the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT).

“I started my career as a design intern at Liz Claiborne in 2005 and worked on knitwear,” Wang says. “I later went on to DKNY Jeans and focused on woven apparel and denim, where I started experimenting more with embellishments and washes.”

The speed at which fashion designs come and go in retail stores and how much material gets wasted made Wang realize she wanted to do something else with her skills.

“Maybe it was me daydreaming at work or seeing how fast fashion was affecting the industry—maybe both,” Wang says. “But I wanted to make something with longevity in mind. I loved how keepsakes were passed down in families, just like certain things my mother wanted me to have. I wanted to make jewelry like this.”

As mother to a 3-year-old and a business owner, Wang says she is proud of how far her creative process has come in the past decade.

“It took me a long time to feel more comfortable with what I do and how the stories from my heritage influenced my design. Now that I’m a mom raising my son in Brooklyn, my brand is even closer to my heart than ever,” Wang says. “I think taking time to understand and trust yourself is the compass that I’ve been going by. This brand is so personal to me, so I try to use this platform as my voice.”

Top: Ming Yu “Jennifer” Wang moved from women’s apparel into jewelry when the clothing industry’s focus on fast fashion proved unsustainable for her as a creator and designer. (Photos courtesy of Ming Yu Wang New York)

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The collaboration between two iconic names reimagines the jeweler’s signature “Return to Tiffany” pendants (the usually heart-shape silver dog tags that were inspired by a key ring in 1969), infusing them with the energy and iconography of Queen B and her tour. Tiffany & Co. is the official jeweler for the Renaissance World Tour, continuing a relationship that began with 2022’s “Lose Yourself in Love” campaign. Beyoncé has worked with Tiffany on numerous other occasions, and has often worn custom-designed Tiffany & Co. pieces.

Each necklace in the new collection features engravings of a figure of a horse on the front and the text “Welcome to the Renaissance” and “Beyoncé” on the back side. Tiffany & Co.’s standard engraving, with the 925 mark, is also on each pendant.

The jewels, however, aren’t even the best part of the initiative. The real focal point here is that 100% of the profits from their sales will benefit the About Love scholarship program, an ongoing partnership between Tiffany & Co., BeyGOOD, and the Shawn Carter Foundation. The charitable donation expands on the $2 million pledged by Tiffany in 2021 for student scholarships at five HBCUs (historically Black colleges and universities): Lincoln University in Pennsylvania, Norfolk State University in Virginia, Bennett College in North Carolina, University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, and Central State University in Ohio.

The Return to Tiffany x Beyoncé capsule kicked off in conjunction with the singer’s concert in East Rutherford, New Jersey, last Saturday. Available at tiffany.com, the pendants are available on three different chains, ranging in price from $275 to $700.

Top: Tiffany’s limited-edition pendants celebrating Beyoncé’s Renaissance World Tour come on a link or bead chain. (Photos courtesy of Tiffany & Co.)

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Previously Lagos’ chief digital officer, Willinger will lead all revenue-generating functions, including sales, business development, and customer experience. She will report to CEO and founder Steven Lagos.

She joined the company nearly 10 years ago and has served as digital director and vice president of digital and e-commerce, overseeing all aspects of digital marketing, web operations, customer service, public relations, and social media.

Willinger started her career in the art world, working for Christie’s, Sotheby’s, and Phillips de Pury. Prior to Lagos, Willinger held senior positions at Ippolita and David Yurman, where she grew those digital businesses.

(Photo courtesy of Lagos)

Granted, the marketing budgets that allowed for these moments probably weren’t tiny; even so, the approaches are robust in sophisticated thinking, high-production aesthetics, and ingenuity—and that costs you nothing. Read on for my recap of the summer’s best collaborations, and consider how you might make them work for you.

MEJURI x VAN LEEUWEN

In June, press and influencers gathered at the Van Leeuwen ice cream shop in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, where they enjoyed a little sparkle alongside their scoops, courtesy of Mejuri. To celebrate the drop of new styles within its best-selling Charlotte Collection—a new, slimmer Charlotte ring silhouette and hoop charms, all in pastel, gelato-inspired hues of enamel—the brand staged a weekend-long pop-up shop done in colors that align with the new Charlotte pieces: pistachio, sweet cream, lavender, and cappuccino. Van Leeuwen served up complimentary ice cream in special custom flavors for the celebration (looks like our lady up at the top is enjoying a scoop of Pistachio Picnic—yum!).

STEPHANIE GOTTLIEB x MAGNUM

This month, collaboration queen Stephanie Gottlieb got together with Magnum Ice Cream (known for its decadent bars layered with premium chocolate—available at most grocery stores) to reveal her new More Is More collection.

“The More Is More collection is an outstanding example of maximalism, creativity, and craft that can be customized to an array of styles,”  Stephanie Gottlieb said in a statement. “Each piece is a subtle nod to Magnum ice cream’s iconic bars and will be sure to amp up any look this summer and beyond.”

How does an ice cream inspiration manifest in a jewelry design? The result is pretty…tasteful: six limited-edition jewelry pieces expressed in 14k gold with various combinations of chocolate and vanilla enamel, and caramel and white diamonds.

SYDNEY EVAN x THE SURF LODGE

Jewelry collabs centered on ice cream are pretty sweet. One more idea to try: collaborating with a local hotel. It’s a concept that worked well for jewelry brand Sydney Evan, which created a capsule collection with the Surf Lodge in honor of the Hamptons hot spot’s 15th anniversary.

The collection is inspired by the surf, sun, and laid-back vibes of the Surf Lodge’s location in Montauk, at the east end of New York’s Long Island: “Coming to the Surf Lodge is all about having fun and creating memories,” Jayma Cardoso, the hotel’s founder and creative director, said in a statement. “I loved the idea of designing a meaningful memento to share with our guests.”

Sydney Evan founder and designer Roseanne Karmas tells JCK, “Our collaboration with the Surf Lodge has performed extremely well, and I think it has a lot to do with the emotional aspect tied to the pieces. The jewelry serves as a  a reminder of special moments they had in Montauk and at the property.”

The two brands found each other because they share a publicist. In your neck of the woods, give it a think: Who do you know who could connect you to a local purveyor of sweet treats or everyone’s favorite place for a night out on the town? Start forging those relationships now so that you can leverage them next summer, and if you hurry, maybe even for the upcoming holiday season.

Top: Jewelry brand Mejuri recently used its big-city marketing chops to stage a pop-up at a Brooklyn ice cream shop, but the concept is applicable to any milieu. (Mejuri photos: Zev Starr-Tambor)

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They were a gift from the gem dealer Vlad Yavorskyy, who handed them to me (apropos of nothing) five or six years ago, when I swung by his booth at the GJX show in Tucson.

I’d met Vlad (via phone call) in 2011, when I interviewed him for a New York Times story called “Restoring the Luster to a Once-Loved Gem.” It was my first deep dive into spinel, an enchanting stone beloved by connoisseurs but still largely unknown to the public. After reporting that story, I fell in love with spinel. In the article, I even noted that the gem came in a shade of “metallic gray.”

Vlad’s spontaneous gift felt predestined. But it took until this past January for me to figure out what to do with my matched stones. That’s when I spoke to Jillian Sassone, founder of Marrow Fine Jewelry, for a Robb Report story about jewelers who specialize in re-setting family heirlooms. I thought about my 50th birthday, looming at the end of June, as well as that of my twin sister, Julia.

We’re fraternal twins, but in a riddle-me-this twist, we don’t share a birthday nor even a birth month. I was born 10 minutes before midnight on June 30, and Jul was born 10 minutes after midnight, on July 1.

I also thought about my dad, Leonard, who passed away in April 2022 at the age of 76. His eyes were a steely shade of blue-gray. As Jillian and I spoke, I suddenly realized what I wanted to do with the stones.

For the first time in my 23-year career as a jewelry editor, I commissioned a custom project. I asked Marrow to make two matching 18k yellow gold pinky rings for me and Jul featuring the spinels in modern, minimalist bezel settings. To distinguish the rings, I asked Jillian to add our birthstones to the inside of the shanks: a tiny moonstone for my ring, and a tiny ruby for Jul’s.

From the moment I reached out to Jillian in April, the process was smooth, simple, and straightforward. Sophia Lococo, Marrow Fine’s marketing coordinator, sent me a FedEx label, and I shipped off the stones. At the same time, I emailed Jillian an image of a ring style I liked. Within a month, she sent me a few CAD designs to choose from. I was nervous about the project, but Jillian’s kind, helpful, and encouraging words, not to mention the responsiveness and professionalism of her entire team, allayed my fears.

In mid-June, before I could even ask when to expect the rings, a package containing two thoughtfully wrapped boxes, complete with their own gift bags and note cards, arrived at my home. I couldn’t believe that was it. It all seemed too easy.

I quickly tore my box open and tried the ring on for size. Not only did it fit me perfectly, it fit my vision of what I had hoped it would be. Contemporary yet timeless, the ring has a warm matte gold finish that beautifully contrasts with the metallic gray spinel. When I hold the ring in the sunlight, the gem flashes purple and lavender. I have caught myself staring at it, mesmerized by its seductive multihued brilliance.

Finally, the time for the big reveal arrived. Jul and I spent our 50th birthday weekend with friends at the Skyview in the winemaking town of Los Alamos, about two hours north of L.A. just off Highway 101. It’s a former roadside motel that was transformed a few years back into a deluxe boutique property with lovely hillside views and a great bar/restaurant called Norman.

On the morning of July 1, I knocked on the door of Jul’s room with her gift box in hand. I had slipped my own ring on my pinky finger so I could show her the matching details. When she opened the box and saw her ring, she cried.

“The gray spinels reminded me of Papa’s eyes,” I explained.

Jul nodded in understanding. There was so much to say, and yet I had no words. The rings said it all.

From the first time she was carried into the company offices to her work at jewelry trade shows to her job now as CEO of Kirk Kara, everything Karaguezian has done, she says, has been in service to her family, the institution of marriage, and elevating the brand’s legacy.

Karaguezian says her story starts with her great-grandfather Bali, who opened a workshop in Armenia in 1890, making and selling hand-engraved jewelry. He died in the 1915 Armenian genocide, but his son, Artin, escaped to Beirut, where he continued the jewelry tradition.

Artin created the company’s first wedding band for his wife, Angel, and his talents grew the business. Artin’s son Kirk worked alongside his parents, rebuilding their business several times after their shop was destroyed during Lebanese civil wars.

In 1983 Kirk and his wife, Lucy, moved to the United States with their daughters, Grace and Angela. They changed the company name in 2000 from Something Special to Kirk Kara.

Angela worked in the Kirk Kara offices during summer vacations from school. She graduated from Chaminade College Preparatory and then Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. In 1999, she got her first job outside of jewelry, working in the publicity department at Warner Bros Television. It gave her a foundation in public relations. Karaguezian says it was like a five-year boot camp in networking, learning to be part of a team, and mentoring new hires.

Most important, she expanded her skills in business and, specifically, raising awareness through publicity—which she’d always had a keen interest in, even as she made banners or set up jewelry cases for Kirk Kara. In April 2004, Karaguezian formally joined Kirk Kara, understanding that branding was a key to its growth.

“I wanted to make a larger impact on business development and saw the opportunity to grow my family’s business,” Karaguezian says. “My innate desire for entrepreneurship and branding was a perfect fit with the family business needs.”

Karaguezian went back to Loyola Marymount in 2008 for her MBA. She graduated in 2012 with a focus in entrepreneurship and marketing. “I wanted to get my MBA because I was committed to learning and improving my skills in business to help our family brand succeed,” she says. “The wealth of information and network of professionals I met along the way have supported me in developing Kirk Kara.”

Karaguezian became CEO of Kirk Kara in 2021. She says she brings a new perspective to the company as the first female leader, embracing innovation in its designs and concentrating on storytelling, marketing, and public relations.

One of those stories is that of the love between Angel and Artin. In May, Kirk Kara expanded its Artin collection to include handmade wedding bands for women. These bands are a nod to the elegance of the 1920s, Karaguezian says, but they also are sleek and modern for today’s women. The bands are satin-finished and feature diamonds and sapphires with a touch of hand engraving—a tribute to Artin and his craft.

Karaguezian also expanded the Stella collection with three-stone and hidden halo rings as well as the Dahlia collection with new bridal designs that feature intricate milgrain, marquis leaves, and flower detail.

“Our brand promise is ‘Forever Captivating.’ It speaks to the promise of the product and the women in a relationship,” Karaguezian says. “Tradition, perfection, forever. Our rings captivate and are designed for forever.”

Top: Angela Karaguezian says her favorite part of being CEO of her family’s business, Kirk Kara, is telling stories and publicizing its unique engagement and wedding jewelry. (Photos courtesy of Kirk Kara)

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Shakur engraved the gold, diamond, and ruby crown ring with “Pac & Dada 1996,” a reference to his engagement to Kidada Jones. Shakur typically wore it in public on his left ring finger, including at his last public appearance, at the MTV Music Awards on Sept. 4, 1996, nine days before he died.

The ring is being sold by Yaasmyn Fula, Shakur’s godmother. It carries a $200,000 to $300,000 estimate.

According to Sotheby’s, the piece reflected Shakur’s affinity for The Prince by Niccolò Machiavelli, and its design was modeled after the crowns of the medieval kings of Europe, in an “act of self-coronation” and to signify Tupac’s desire to take his career to the next level.

The ring’s “crown” sits atop a diamond-encrusted gold band and consists of a gold circlet studded with a cabochon ruby, flanked by two pavé-cut diamonds. The inscription bears the heaviest signs of wear, with the band visibly abraded on the palm-facing left side, likely because it came in daily contact with his pinky ring.

Sotheby’s has been taking bids for the ring for the past week, with today the final day.

(Photo courtesy of Sotheby’s)

The bold, unapologetic attitude of that decade inspired Orit Elhanati’s latest jewelry collection, Monochrome. Its statement pieces are a clash of yellow gold and dark, geometric stones. Black hearts seem to glare at petite princess-cut diamonds. Big, boxy pendants contrast with sleek chokers bearing pale opals.

There’s a purposeful push and pull to the work, reflecting the ’80s with its contrasts of punk, minimalism, and neon maximalism, Elhanati says.

Elhanati’s life, too, has had contrasts, starting with a childhood split between Israel and Copenhagen. Today, Elhanati is settled in Copenhagen, and her brand, Elhanati, represents some sense of everything she has seen and experienced.

“I grew up in a captivating blend of cultures, as my roots hail from the Middle East and Denmark, where I was deeply influenced by both worlds,” Elhanati says. “My inclination toward Middle Eastern and Nordic fusion allowed me to create a universe of my own, where I could merge these distinct cultures into one cohesive design language.”

An example of those earliest influences is Elhanati’s Palma Tag, one of her first jewelry pieces from when she founded the company in 2012. Her mother wore a tag necklace every day in Israel, Elhanati says, and the necklace evokes that memory and the stories she wants to tell through jewelry. Palma, incidentally, is her daughter’s name.

As a designer, Elhanati is not afraid to take on shapes other jewelry designers might avoid. Her Mediterranean Rock collection is an example: It is meant to make the viewer think of cliffs and jagged rocks found along shoreline, but it also looks like something from another planet.

That collection, much like Monochrome, offers pieces that are at once raw and well crafted, and could be worn by a man as well as a woman. These pieces are designed to keep you looking, Elhanati says, and they achieve it through texture, shape, and material.

“I dedicated myself to creating unique pieces of jewelry that echoed my cultural blend and emotions. But what matters is that these experiences taught me the power of combining disparate influences into cohesive designs,” Elhanati says. “I strive to blend the contrasting elements of extravagance and calmness, finding beauty in asymmetry and the power of textures.”

Monochrome debuted this spring at Bergdorf Goodman when the store began carrying the Elhanati brand, and it seemed to connect to a retro trend of the moment. But even if a return to the 1980s aesthetic fades, Elhanati says these pieces are strong enough to stand on their own.

“My jewelry is meant to be passed on, to store memories, and to come alive when worn,” Elhanati says. “It’s about making pieces that become part of the person’s journey, something that outlives us, and connects generations.”

Top: Orit Elhanati brings the punk 1980s back with her Monochrome collection that contrasts gold, dark gemstones, and princess-cut diamonds in its pieces. (Photos courtesy of Elhanati)

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