Skip to main content

Tag: jewellery

2023 Jewellery Trends

Written by Anya Cooklin-Lofting on . Posted in Fashion, Latest, Partner Blogs.

By Anya Cooklin-Lofting

I spend the majority of my free time gazing into jewellery shop windows or scrolling through Instagram accounts dedicated to all that glitters. Between browsing the expressive work of contemporary designer-makers to squinting at velvet-clad plinths in antique jewellery ateliers, there’s hardly time to stop for a spot of lunch. In the world of jewellery, there is always a story to be told, whether it’s the innovative use of materials or a particularly exciting provenance, and that’s why it makes such a thoughtful gift, for loved ones or yourself. 

Trends in jewellery move quickly, and any good jeweller will tell you to buy what you love, and wear it with gusto, despite the trends. However, if you’ve amassed something of a collection, a jewellery trend can act as a prompt of sorts, either to dig out a much-loved piece or to treat yourself to something new. So, read on for the biggest trends for 2023 from some of BBB’s favourite jewellery brands.

Colourful Gemstones 

alice van cal chroma emerald cocktail ring
The Chroma Emerald Cocktail Ring

In a trend that echoes the romance and sentimentality of Victorian acrostic jewellery, which featured gemstones with specific initials to spell words or messages, colourful designs are enjoying a renaissance. From infinity bands set with a rainbow of sapphires in perfect chromatic order to cluster rings of bright stones in perfect chaos, this joyous trend encourages playfulness and self-expression. 

Alice van Cal, the founder of her eponymous jewellery company, has just launched CHROMA, a collection of cocktail rings in pink tourmaline, emerald, garnet and yellow sapphire. Each ring in the radiant collection is inspired by the ancient tradition of colour therapy, inspiring a burst of happiness in its viewer. Van Cal works on the principle that each gemstone holds deep meaning and protective, supportive properties. She advises clients to go with the colour they’re most drawn to, allowing intuition to help in choosing the stone they might need the most.

Stacking & Layering

Rachel Jackson Jewellery
Rachel Jackson London

In another nod towards self-expression, stackable rings and earrings and layer-able necklaces will endure in popularity in 2023. This mix-and-match approach allows you to clash styles, colours and eras for a curation that speaks to your mood, or even just your outfit. There are no hard or fast rules to creating your own stacks and layers, but some of the most beautiful combinations can be achieved when you contrast old and new. 

A one-stop shop for the perfect stackable, layer-able pieces is Rachel Jackson London, where birthstone necklaces can be paired with Art Deco-style alphabet pendants and gemstone chains with gold and pearl charms. 

Organic Shapes

Irena Chmura dewdrop pendant necklace
Irena Chmura Dewdrop Pendant Necklace

For many, the greatest marker of luxury is the evidence of the maker. For those who love organic shapes and perfect imperfection, this trend is for you. The visual signs of a craftsperson’s hand beating or engraving are characterful and charming. Equally, something magical happens when a jeweller takes the natural form of a piece of gold and sets it in a way that enhances its inherent, unadulterated beauty. 

Irena Chmura is an independent designer who does just this. Each piece of jewellery is handmade in a small London studio, while gemstones are set in a small stone-setting workshop in Hatton Garden. The trend for organic, natural forms can be seen in Chmura’s Dewdrop pendant necklaces, each set with a cut gemstone that serves to accentuate the natural textures in the gold drop. 

Ethical Jewellery

Ana Dyla Azra Citrine Earrings
Ana Dyla Azra Citrine Earrings

While it’s true that the importance of ethics shouldn’t come in and out with the trends, it would be remiss to omit the increase in the number of jewellers offering ethical alternatives. Ethical concerns in the jewellery industry could involve the support of artisans and reinvestment into communities all over the world, responsible manufacturing, ethical sourcing, the use of recycled or recyclable materials and environmentally aware shipment. 

One great example of a jeweller taking steps to contribute to a more ethical jewellery industry is Ana Dyla, a company that prides itself on its ethics and sustainability. The company has had B Corp status since 2021 and designs with the environment and its artisans in mind to drive positive change in the jewellery industry. Not only does Ana, the company’s founder, constantly look for new ways to limit the jewellery’s impact on the environment, but also looks at the industry as a whole, right down to the packaging design, which is FSC® labelled. 

Passion Investments & NFTs

Written by Anya Cooklin-Lofting on . Posted in Finance, Latest, Lifestyle.

By Anya Cooklin-Lofting

For many, investments of passion are a welcome balm to the complexities and intangibilities of more traditional investment categories like stocks and bonds. At their most basic, passion investments involve the purchase of items you love that tend to be defined by their rarity, quality, cultural or aesthetic value and of course, their demand. It is all about investing in alternative kinds of assets that bring you more than just a return on your investment should you choose to sell. In other words, such investments offer investors the chance to enjoy the items under their care. 

Typical passion investments include art and furniture, jewellery, coins and cars, which generally demonstrate an increase in value over time, or at least tend to hold their value. Because passion investors aren’t guaranteed a return, it’s important to look at how different passion investment categories have performed over the last couple of decades to help inform their purchases. However, investments of passion do tend to perform well during periods of economic uncertainty because the value of passion asset classes doesn’t undulate with the rise and fall of potentially unfavourable stock markets. In this way, passion investing proves to be a sensible, enjoyable and rewarding way to diversify your investment portfolio. 

The best part about investing, and investing in passion asset classes more specifically, is that you don’t have to be an ultra-high net worth individual to get involved. While there are some categories that demand a certain amount of wealth due to the nature of the assets (such as classic cars), the majority offer entry-level investment opportunities for every budget.

Fine art is the best example of a passion investment that feels at once democratic and exclusive depending on the financial commitment you’re happy to make. Although there is no guarantee that your investment will pay off, you’ll be able to enjoy the art while you own it and bide your time while tastes and demands fluctuate. 

The same principles can be applied to antique and designer furniture or jewellery. Our collective, quickly changing tastes and preferences adversely affect the valuation of these kinds of assets. The best thing to do over and above enjoying your purchases is to keep them safe, clean and out of direct sunlight.

The more progressive, experimental set of passion investors, however, are turning to other asset classes. Designer trainers, for example, have come into their own as an investment category, hence the £22,783 price tag attached to the Kanye West X Louis Vuitton collection. But one of the most headline-grabbing passion investment options is in Non-Fungible Tokens or NFTs, which allow passion investors to own digital assets. 

In the midst of the pandemic in March 2021, market tracking revealed a collective spend of US$200 million on NFTs including artworks, memes and gifs. Fundamentally, an NFT is a non-interchangeable, non-replicable asset, making it more similar to a piece of art in the physical world than the cryptocurrency one would use to buy it. 

This is well summarised the popularity of ‘Bored Ape’ NFTs, a limited edition of 10,000 artworks with different unique traits and qualities, owned largely by super-rich musicians and sports personalities and created by the application software developer, Yuga Labs. The very human act of art-buying is driven by aesthetics; we buy the art that speaks to us, and this is also how passion investors pursue their NFTs, and Bored Apes in particular. But on a wider, slightly more psycho-sociological level, Yuga Labs has created a brand-led community in the same way that other luxury brands have done, giving wealthy participants in the community a sense of belonging and prestige. They have successfully built a digital community that uses a heady cocktail of ‘hype’ (as celebrities publically invest in their NFTs) and new technology to charm an audience and persuade people into passion investments that serve to express their digital identities. 

In the same way a passion investor in physical fine art might collect works from a narrow artistic movement, era or style to say something about who they are in the world, NFT investors are investing in works that inform their digital presence. All of us with any disposable income have those things in our lives that feel like part of the collage of ‘stuff’ that makes up our curated personalities. NFTs are just an extension of that phenomenon but in the digital world.