2017 Trend

Jewellery trends of 2017

It’s times like these when I wish my specialist subject were fashion, not fine jewellery. Fashion’s upcoming offerings are right there, online, for all the world (with internet access) to see, complete with helpful pictorial guides as to the most obvious trends – pink! Cats! Acid brights!

                              

And while the fashion jewellery trends are there to spot, too, (huge earrings, mainly) fine jewellery is an entirely different beast. Because what looks amazing on the runway and translates easily onto the high street just isn’t feasible for most people when wrought in 18-carat gold and precious gems.

But let me start with the exception to the rule: Celine’s divine baroque pearl drops as seen at the SS17 show. Baroque pearls are bound to make a comeback, and are relatively inexpensive when compared to their perfectly spherical peers.

But forget delicate little numbers – the bigger the better. Pearl specialist Mikimoto has some amazing examples, as does Annoushka, but if you’re feeling handy, there are endless suppliers on Etsy and eBay.

2016 saw the return of that 1980s stalwart, unadorned yellow gold. From Parisian wunderkind Charlotte Chesnais to Milanese heritage brand Vhernier and New Yorker Ana Khouri, gem-free gold jewellery made a huge comeback, and for 2017, I predict it will be silver’s turn.

Sophie Buhai is this particular material’s master. She has been creating large, organic shapes from it for years, and I look forward to seeing her next collection. Silver hasn’t really been appreciated by the fine jewellery world for a few years now, despite being a precious metal, but it’s the perfect foil (get it?) to the new season’s rainbow-bright colour palette, which can clash with the warm tones of yellow gold.

Which brings me to what is bound to be a major trend for 2017 – colour. And what gives jewellery colour if not bank-breakingly expensive coloured gemstones? Enamel.
Often associated with Indian jewellery, the technique of fusing liquid glass in bright colours to metals can be traced back to the Persians, and is now synonymous with the gloriously-hued Meenakari jewels of India – look no further than Amrapali for some incredible examples.

But it’s the use of enamel in Western-style, contemporary jewellery that’s about to explode – from Londoner Alice Cicolini to Canadian Holly Dyment, London-based Noor Fares and even Amrapali with its contemporary line – enamel-enhanced fine jewellery is going to be seen everywhere.

And, while it may be cheating, looking at Pantone’s colour predictions for 2017 can provide clues as to what materials might be seen in abundance – next year’s colours, when translated into precious substances, are as diverse as jade, watermelon tourmaline, turquoise and Mediterranean coral – a veritable rainbow of options.