5 New Jewelry Collections that Should be on Your Radar
It’s always exciting when prestigious brands unveil their latest collections. Many of these take years to create and showcase the expertise of some of the best artisans in the world. Despite a pandemic slowing things down last year, several impressive collections were still digitally released. With inspiration ranging from nature to the supernatural, these one-of-a-kind pieces have added a little glam to our lives. Here’s a look at some of the best new jewelry collections that should be on your radar.
Flame by Fernando Jorge
Flame is the energetic new collection from Brazilian jewelry designer Fernando Jorge. Anyone familiar with Jorge will recognize the smooth lines and sensual curves that have characterized his work for the past decade. Flame is perhaps his most sensuous collection yet. Drawing inspiration from fire, Jorges’ creations are bold and evocative, reminiscent of an unyielding force of nature.
The collection carries 30 pieces of high jewelry with each piece bearing the name of a different type of flame, including flicker, blaze, kindle, beacon, gleam, and ignite. For gemstones, Jorge pays tribute to his home country by sourcing and using Brazilian gems, including emeralds, Paraiba, tourmalines, rubellites, and Imperial topaz in addition to diamonds. The entire collection took a total of two years to create, with several of the pieces designed in Italy, while others were handcrafted in Brazil in the same workshop where Jorge designed his first jewelry piece.
Some standout pieces from the collection are the Flare rings and earrings. I particularly like the version with Paraiba, tourmaline, emeralds, and diamonds. The Flame set, which includes a necklace, earring, ring, and bracelet made exclusively of 18-carat yellow gold sourced from Brazil. The set has a dynamic structure made of individual curved gold links that drape gracefully over the wearer. The High Flare bracelet made in white gold set with pear-shaped diamonds. The bracelet is Jorges’ most valuable piece to date.
At the heart of Jorges’ collection is disaster relief. With several wildfires ravaging different parts of the world including California, Australia, and the Amazon Forest in Brazil, Jorge hopes to provide some kind of relief by donating a percentage of his sales to the protection and restoration of the Amazon rainforest.
Wings of Light by Piaget
Celebrate the beauty of the clouds with a new collection of watches and high jewelry from the Swiss luxury brand, Piaget. The collection, titled Wings of Light, takes you on a whimsical flight to an exotic paradise with vivacious colors and intricate shapes encapsulated in 100 timeless jewelry pieces. Wings of Light showcases the finest gemstones sourced from around the world and expert jewelry-making skills from Piaget and its independent creators.
The collection is divided into three different series—Enchanted Flight, Magnificent Haven, and Ecstatic Dance—each with its own unique meaning and themed jewelry. The highlight of the collection, however, is the Secret Cenote set from the Magnificent Haven Series, which includes a necklace, cocktail ring, and a cuff-style watch. It took almost a year and a trip across the globe to source the gems used in creating the set. The diamond necklace alone took a total of 230 working hours to shape. The necklace frames a beautiful blue Ceylon Sapphire at its center, sourced from the Ratnapura district of Sri Lanka, home to some of the best sapphires in the world. The cocktail ring is set in bombé style with marquise-cut diamonds and a Madagascan sapphire at the center. The showstopper of the set, however, is the magnificent secret cenote cuff watch. The watch features 151 baguette-cut sapphires, 71 baguette-cut diamonds, and 100 brilliant-cut diamonds set in an asymmetrical pattern and framing a rectangular dial made from Australian Opal. The watch is simply breathtaking.
Caravan by Lydia Courtielle
Caravan is the latest collection from French gemologist and antique jewelry expert Lydia Courtielle. Famous for her bold, provocative designs, Courtielle makes no exception with Caravan. Drawing inspiration from the Great Silk Road—a network of trade routes that connected the East and the West from the 2nd century B.C. to the 18th century—the collection takes you on a journey through various timelines and civilizations from the great empires of Lydia, Turkey to the golden roads of Samarkand. Caravan is for adventurous jewelry lovers, with a rich historic and cultural symbolism that makes every piece a collectors’ dream.
The collection includes a vibrant array of 13 rings, six earrings, four necklaces, and two bracelets. One of my favorite pieces is the gold and jasper neckpiece, which carries an enormous amount of detail—much like the rest of the collection. The jasper pendant paints a beautiful picture of the brown sands of the Gobi Desert. The rest of the piece is made with a myriad of gemstones, including 18-carat gold, emeralds, moonstones, brown diamonds, and sapphire.
Rings also take center stage in this collection. There is the Sumerian Lion ring depicting a lion made in sapphire and onyx. The ‘vulture ring’ portraying a sculpted bird made in 18-carat gold with wings set in brown, black, and white diamonds. The exquisite ‘Aladdin lamp ring’ made in 18-carat gold and set in 34 white diamonds, 8 brown diamonds, 480 blue sapphires, and 18 turquoise stones.
Sur (Naturale) by Cartier
Cartier satisfied expectations with the release of its new high jewelry collection, sur (naturale). With nature as a muse, Cartier delivers a bold and creative take on three natural elements: flora, water, and fauna. The collection seamlessly blends wilderness and fantasy with a diverse use of gemstones and a clever play of light and color to enhance the exuberance of the gems.
Sur [Naturale] includes 93 stunning pieces comprised of necklaces, rings, earrings, bracelets, and watches. The necklaces steal the show, however, and are easily the highlights of the collection. There are five exquisite high jewelry necklaces in the collection.
The Gharial necklace stands out for the unique shape of its gems. It includes 20 octagonal-shaped emeralds sourced from Zambia. Four of the emeralds are paired asymmetrically and are suspended from two tapered diamonds. The rest of the necklace is made of platinum and covered in diamonds of various shapes and cuts.
The Tillandsia necklace is inspired by the tillandsia plant (specifically, the pink quill), which is a beautiful flowering plant with thin, recurved leaves and paddle-shaped spikes. Cartier captures the features of the plant with two large oval-shaped green beryl stones representing the paddle-shaped spikes, and six thin lines featuring yellow rose-cut diamonds, pear-shaped brown diamonds, and pink rutilated quartz as the leaves.
The Orpheis necklace is made in the shape of a snake with a large 53.94 carat rectangular Zambian emerald at the center at the head and staggered diamonds and onyx forming the curved body.
The Sinope necklace is inspired by water in its different states from icy crystals seen as five oval-shaped Madagascan sapphires to flowing waves captured in the wavy pattern of the neckline, featuring diamonds and Lapis lazuli.
The Hemis necklace is Cartier’s reinterpretation of its iconic panther design. The necklace features a majestic 71.8-carat kunzite surrounded by opals, pink diamonds, and white diamonds mimicking pebbles on a river bed. Cartier’s expert craftsmanship shines through in this piece, with each stone being of a different height and shape, yet maintaining a design coherency and even weight distribution that ensures the comfort of the wearer.
Messika by Kate Moss
Supermodel Kate Moss has teamed up with French jewelry expert, Valerie Messika, to create her first collection, simply titled Messika. Moss and Messika first collaborated in 2019, when the model starred in the brand’s Lucky Move campaign. Messika noticed Kate’s love for all things jewelry, and her diverse collection of pieces gathered from the start of her modeling career at age 14. It seemed natural for the two to collaborate, and thus began a year-long journey of creating jewelry with back and forth trips between Paris and London.
The collection takes a light, creative approach to high jewelry with less of a defined theme and more of a little something for every occasion. The inspiration, of course, being Moss and her eclectic taste, which ranges from 70’s style hippie chic to Art Deco and bohemian pieces. Kate’s influence also shines through with the infusion of colorful gemstones, something that’s rarely observed in Messika’s body of work.
The collection contains a total of 70 pieces separated into 11 thematic sets. You’ll find everything from mismatched earrings, chokers, and sautoirs to ankle bracelets, arm bracelets, brooches, and even a nose chain. Some exciting pieces in the collection include the yellow gold and diamond sautoir necklace, which is a modern take on the classic 1970s tassel necklace. The diamond and malachite set brings a touch of finesse to bohemian jewelry. Not to mention, the stunning array of beautifully crafted bracelets—many of them featuring baguette diamonds, one of Kate’s favorite cuts. I particularly love the white gold and diamond bracelet inspired by 1920s knotted jewelry.
About The Author
Debbie Azar is the Co-Founder and President of Gemological Science International (GSI), one of the largest gemological organizations in the world, and a distinguished leader in the global diamond and jewelry industry. As an executive with extensive knowledge of the jewelry and gem lab industries, her entrepreneurial skills and vision have helped GSI achieve rapid and continuous growth worldwide, establishing 13 leading-edge gemological facilities on four continents. She currently serves on the boards of the Jewelers Vigilance Committee, Responsible Jewellery Council, and Jewelers for Children, and is a member of the 24 Karat Club of New York. She has been featured in Forbes, Daily Mail, Good Morning America, Bloomberg, Bloomberg Businessweek, Fox Business, Fox5, CBS2, BOLDTV, Varney&Co, The Street, and NASDAQ, among others.
