Jewelry & Watch News

Marina B’s Salvia is a yellow gold cuff with a 21.78-carat Colombian emerald, pavé diamonds and emeralds and a black spinel cabochon. To jewelry lovers who came of age in the 1980s, Marina Bulgari was a name to know. A member of the famed Roman jewelry family, the designer boldly introduced her own brand, known simply as Marina B, seducing the glitterati with transformable styles studded with candy-colored gems. “She created so many powerful pieces, but they were very exclusive — you could only find them at a few events around the world,” said Guy Bedarida, the former head designer and creative director of John Hardy, who acquired a majority stake in Marina B in July 2017. “I was very attracted by her style. And the colors, really unbelievable colors.” Mr. Bedarida is not the first person to revive Marina B. Ms. Bulgari sold the brand to Ahmed Fitaihi, a Saudi Arabian sheikh, in 1999 and ended her collaboration a year later. In 2011, Paul Lubetsky, chi...

Chaumet’s Ronde de Pierres earrings feature nearly 2 carats of sapphires and include beads of garnets, sapphires, emeralds and diamonds.   If there is one embellishment that has appeared in every form of the decorative arts — from interiors to accessories, across cultures and times — it is undoubtedly the tassel. Universally considered an adornment, the tassel owed its ubiquity, at least in early days, to its functional side. Anyone working with textiles “had to prevent the thread of fabric from unraveling,” said Frank Everett, sales director at Sotheby’s jewelry department in New York. And, he added, “once you had the tassel hanging around, we wanted to make it decorative, attractive and beautiful.” Tassels were found in Tutankhamen’s tomb. In the 14th and 15th centuries, they were made of silk, which Mr. Everett said was as expensive as gold at the time. As an indicator of opulence, the tassel naturally was used in jewelry: One of history’s most infamo...

Silver rings made by Suzanne Gulliver for the Hells Angels include representations of skulls with horns or covered in flowers, and death with a scythe. PARIS — Retro pop, midcentury modern, vintage eclectic, Wunderkammer kitsch, transitional contemporary. Whatever you call it, the style of decoration defies a single label and yet you will be familiar with the tropes: cocktail-trolley Mad Men, seasoned with Pop Art irony and some signature serious design (just in case anyone was in doubt that aspect had been closely considered). One of the look’s great pioneers is Yves Gastou, who, back in 1986 — when rich people were still collecting Impressionists and antique furniture — opened a gallery in Paris decorated by Ettore Sottsass where pieces from the 1940s and 1950s were mixed with the masters of Memphis. What began as a rebellion has, over time, become a sort of religion, of which Mr. Gastou is a high priest. But this impish septuagenarian with his shock of ...

Before she was beheaded, the queen’s diamonds and pearls were sent to Austria. Now they are on public display — for just a few days — at Sotheby’s. For the first and probably only time ever, New Yorkers will have the opportunity to see, handle and even try on some of Marie Antoinette’s jewelry, including a ring that contains a lock of the queen’s hair and a necklace with 331 pearls and a diamond clasp, which have never been displayed in the United States. “I can’t imagine more important pieces coming to auction unless something from Queen Elizabeth I became available, and that’s not going to happen,” said Frank Everett, sales director of Sotheby’s Luxury and Lifestyle Division. “I don’t know what will ever match it again. I might have to retire.” As part of an exhibit to showcase future auctions, they will be on display at Sotheby’s showroom on York Avenue at 72nd Street in Manhattan through Oct. 16. The jewels were wrapped up and sneakily...

When you think of DIY jewelry, images of clunky clay beads and shabby-looking earrings may come to mind. But with a few tools and some special findings that are easily obtained from your favorite craft store, you can easily make DIY jewelry that’s worth showing off. DIY Charm Bracelet Charm bracelets are easily at the top of our list of the best DIY jewelry ideas ever! Create a look that’s all your own by selecting a charm bracelet and then adding charms – fancy designer ones are nice, and you can of course make your own using trendy findings from a well-stocked craft store. Charm bracelets are fun to wear, and they make fantastic themed gifts for girls and women of all ages. Vintage Fork or Spoon Ring Vintage silver cutlery can easily be transformed into a stylish fork or spoon ring that fits your finger perfectly. There are lots of images online to serve as inspiration! Here’s how to do it: Measure your finger or thumb, and account for any overlap you’d l...

 Just like smart watches, smart jewelry is sleek and sophisticated, yet practical – and many pieces offer go-with-everything appeal. Thanks to an appealing combination of beauty, versatility, and functionality, more and more options are making their way into the marketplace. Here, we take a look at some of the most popular options with an eye toward helping you decide which is the best smart jewelry design for your unique needs. Tory Burch for Fitbit Track activity in style with beautiful cuff smart jewelry from top designer Tory Burch. A range of gorgeous designs in popular colors and gleaming metallic lets you keep on top of your game, ensure you get plenty of sleep and remember to get up and move when you’ve been parked behind your desk for too long. Like many other Fitbit accessories, Tory Burch smart jewelry sends reminders when you need them most.   Motiv An alternative to the more run-of-the-mill fitness trackers, Motiv offers all of th...

By Hedda Schupak Before we get into the nuts and bolts—or clasps and chains—of fine jewelry trends, there’s one thing you need to know: always think evolution, not revolution. Unlike the fashion catwalk, where cat prints are in one year and extinct the next, fine jewelry doesn’t change dramatically from season to season. The inherent cost of raw materials alone makes it impractical to produce volumes of trendy pieces every six months (or, lately, every six weeks) to keep up with fashion. Still, that’s not to say trends don’t exist. Put a slide on an Omega chain and you’re rocking 1995 like a TBT come to life. Take the slide off and mix the chain with a few other, more delicate chains of varying lengths, however, and you’re on trend. Or you can take the slide and put it on a long leather cord wound around your neck a few times, throw on a moto jacket and you’re good to go. And if either slide or chain came from a boyfriend you’d rather not throw back to on Thursd...

 If you think you have been seeing more men wearing rings, bracelets and pendants — like Jay-Z, John Mayer or Hiroshi Fujiwara, known as the Godfather of Tokyo’s trendy Harajuku area — you’re not wrong. The trend, which began several years ago along with the birth of men’s wear fashion weeks, has firmly taken hold around the globe. (The men’s weeks, however, haven’t enjoyed quite as much success.) Some industry figures say Instagram has had a lot to do with the appeal. Men today “don’t look at fashion magazines, but they look at Instagram,” said Cynthia Sakai, a Japanese jeweler who designs her Vita Fede line in New York, has it made in Italy, and sells it around the world in fashion-forward stores like Harvey Nichols and Lane Crawford. She is introducing a men’s line this fall. “Guys do style posts on Instagram, they do selfies and tell their friends what they’re wearing. Instagram and Snapchat changed the game.” But it makes sense that soc...