2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Business of Fashion
Who Would Pay $20,000 For a Hamburger Ring?
'Square cut or pear shape, these rocks won't lose their shape,' sings Marilyn Monroe's Lorelei Lee, fit with a sparkling Art Deco diamond collar and cuffs, in the 1953 classic 'Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend.'
Today, Lee might have more flexible tastes. A new wave of designers are proving women don't just want any old diamonds — they want diamonds in the form of cherry earrings, zodiac charms, rings that say 'press for champagne,' and bracelets that mimic coiled wires and spell out 'I <3 U,' too.
Novelty fine jewellery is having a moment. Designers including Lauren Harwell Godfrey, Carolina Bucci, Nadine Ghosn, Lauren Rubinski and Marie Lichtenberg pair the seriousness of their materials (18 karat gold, diamonds, rubies and emeralds) with an irreverent approach previously associated more with fashion and costume jewellery.
Though the designs are light, they come with a hefty price tag: Ghosn's stacked ring made to look like a hamburger goes for over $25,000, while an apple pendant from London-based Jessica McCormack's Summer 2025 fruit salad collection runs $10,000 — and a polished emerald pearl and diamond piece is priced upon request.
Meaghan Flynn Petropoulos, founder of the jewellery showroom Necessary Excess, said such pieces were a small part of even the more avant-garde leaning collections she carried just a few years ago. But retailers' interest is rising, and more brands are putting out entire collections based around funky motifs.
The novelty factor is helping to keep jewellery sales growing even as overall spending on luxury goods is in a global slump. Last year the jewellery market grew 2 percent, while apparel declined 2 percent, according to Bain & Company. There are plenty of reasons for the two categories to diverge, but a big element is that shoppers are looking for a distraction, and a cute, diamond encrusted frog ring provides exactly that.
'In times of trouble or uncertainty you want pretty things,' said Frank Everett, vice chairman of jewellery at Sotheby's. 'People want things that make them happy,'
The more playful approach is also in line with fashion's decades-long trend toward casualisation, said Melinda Zeman, founder of Hong Kong-based label Boochier. Shoppers want diamonds they can wear with their jeans, to the grocery store, or to the beach. McCormack, who sells a collection of what she calls 'Day Diamonds,' said she's seen a number of requests for anklets recently.
'People don't want to wear a seven karat solitaire out because it feels so dressy,' said Zeman. 'The way people dress has changed.' Jewellery's Novelty Bug
Novelty and play have always flourished in jewellery, said Everett. Cartier's Nail and Love bracelets, based on nails and screws, were created by Juste Un Clou in 1971 and continue to drive sales for the brand. In the 19th century, designers were obsessed with natural forms including realistic bugs, in the 1930s, whimsy was everywhere, said Everett, who added some of Sotheby's recent hits recently have been a Raymond Yard broach shaped like a house, and a martini charm bracelet from the collection of Bunny Mellon.
Independent designers kicked off the latest novelty wave.
'When I did the burger in 2016, everyone was like 'no one is going to buy that with 18 Karat gold and diamonds',' said Ghosn, who also makes paper clip bracelets, a ruby 'low battery' necklace, french fry cufflinks and bangle made to look like a bent spoon. 'There was zero appetite and zero risk taking with regards to something different than the conventional.'
After putting out the pencil bracelet a decade ago, she steadily sold around 20 per year. This year, she has exceeded 100 orders — and even launched a new 'chewed' edition, fit with bite marks.
McCormack's brand, known for its chandelier earrings, torque necklaces and engagement rings, has dropped smiley face pendants and 'Hello Sailor,' nautical collection featuring striped pearls and fishhook pendants. To her surprise, even her highest-echelon of serious clientele bought into the playful pieces. For jewellery customers that already have the basics, novelty offers a new incentive to purchase.
'It's tongue-in-cheek, the world of diamonds can be very serious,' the designer said.
Women buying their own jewellery — as opposed to waiting for men to buy it for them, a historically large but gradually shrinking share of the market – are also more open to bolder pieces.
Zeman launched Boochier after she couldn't find anything to commemorate the birth of her third child.
'Everything felt so classic and extremely feminine,' said Zeman. 'Nothing I saw represented what I wanted to wear myself.'
Now, she sells a range of curly gold bracelets made to look like slinkys, earrings that mimic tetris pieces and collars and bangles made of customisable Gameboy-inspired letters: one recent commission read 'Howdy Yall.'
The most out-there designs also tend to market themselves, spreading by word of mouth and on social media.
Designer Carolina Bucci first built a name for herself with the 'lucky bracelet,' 18 karat gold woven to look like a friendship bracelet (and worn by Carrie Bradshaw throughout the last season of 'Sex and the City'). Her Forte Beads, which imitate the breezy colourful plastic beads children play with (starting at $1,370 and $690 respectively) pop on social media.
'Jewelry is not easy to photograph and to transmit the intricacy or preciousness of it … anything to do with the beads gets so much more attention and spread because it's visually easier,' said Bucci. Growing Difficulties
The appeal of novelty often goes beyond its tone. It's technically challenging to get the agate, tiger's eye, jasper, lapis lazuli and amethyst she uses for her beads into that exact shape with a wide hole, said Bucci.
Ghosn chose to make a bracelet of heart-shaped colour diamonds when she collaborated with Swiss diamond label Gubelin in March because it's challenging to cut diamonds into that shape, she said. One of Lichtenberg's signatures is a $31,240 pendant made to look like a magic eight ball toy.
'It's like [doing] triple flips in ice skating,' said Lichtenberg. 'It looks easy [because] my pieces are laid back and funky, but the intricacy and difficulty is cool.'
How brands showcase these designs is often more casual, and social-first — marked by shots of wrist stacks, necklaces over T-shirts and even next to candy necklaces in the case of Boochier.
'I'm not polished, I'm not photoshopping,' said Ghosn. 'I think [traditional brands] are surprised to see a product can remain that high a luxury item without that perfection.'
The approach makes clients feel like they can DM questions, like what a piece looks like in a different size, or next to specific colour, said Zeman.
But amid the play, market headwinds are building. The rising price of gold is creating uncertainty that could make already risky experimentation more difficult. Litchenberg said the price of gold 'killed [her] margins in the last three to four months.' Shoppers are already pushing back against ultra-high prices in other luxury categories, such as handbags.
Still, everything is getting more expensive, said Ghosn, which makes it all the more important for brands to offer something different and personal. Plus, this approach started resonating more post-pandemic when people needed a pick-me-up — and they still do, said Flynn Petropoulos.
'The things that are compelling people to spend right now are based on a feeling,' said Flynn Petropoulos. 'We're not in a space politically where anyone is looking for anything less than uplifting … If people can invest in something that maintains its value literally [in the price of gold] and figuratively in their mood, I don't see [the trend] slowing down.'
