We’re All Ears
Earrings are set to be the hottest jewellery trend in 2021, so keep an eye out for these colourful statement pairs
Earrings are set to be the hottest jewellery trend in 2021 and top billing is for colourful statement pieces, movement mobiles incorporating the link chain trend, or gem-set tassels and all kinds of hoops. The overriding trend is colour, with vibrant hues and rainbow combinations as popular choices. Fine faceted gemstones, particularly in unusual cuts, are winners, as are carved gemstones in floral and leaf designs.
Rose gold is a glorious complement to most styles, while some designers are reaching for enamel to contrast, complement, or simply tie design elements in a joyous movement of colour.
The single earring is an avant garde addition to the glam earring conversation, as is the asymmetrical pair. Length, too, is an important part of this conversation, with earrings long enough to become ‘shoulder dusters.’
Meanwhile, unusual materials like finely woven bamboo or carved wood, as well as wood marquetry, are being combined with gemstones, pearls, and diamonds to make bold statements.
Design Intention
The underlying intention among designers is to give earrings a new sense of modernity. A proponent of modernity is Texas-based designer Nak Armstrong: “I am exploring the idea of earrings as modern sculpture and the mobile style helps me explore larger scale, bestows a sensuous vibe, and negates the possibility of being clunky.”
His latest Rose + Stem series is an ode to this exploration. The rose in the piece is an impressionist, pixelated interpretation composed of gemstones cut into unusual geometric shapes and set at angles to create the desired e ect. “The fun part is that it can be worn in multiple ways – as an ear cu , where the stem, leaves, and the lower part of the flower come from behind the ear, and the upper part of the flower sits on the front of the ear.” He says the design lends itself to the popular single earring trend or the asymmetrical look.
Fashion designer Prabal Gurung, who is creative director at Japan’s Tasaki Atelier, invites wearers to be bold and experimental with his jewellery o erings. A version of his Linkage earrings was recently on the catwalk as a single earring. It stylishly combines two linked open squares, one in diamond pavé and the other in pink gold with a South Sea pearl.
The chandelier gets a modern interpretation from Armoura’s designer Stuart Mcgrath in Dublin, Ireland. Drawing inspiration from Japan’s cherry blossom season, he mixes pink sapphires and mobile white mother-of-pearl inlay elements with diamonds to create cherry blossom details and pagoda elements that are held together with fine black enamel.
Nak Armstrong draws inspiration from Japan too and incorporated this in his new Botanica and Origami collections. “I love the way Japanese art and design pairs black with saturated and acid colours. I did this with Botanica, which is an ode to Japanese flora motifs.” For the Origami collection, he had stones cut to mirror the angular folds of origami for pieces like Shawl inspired by the folds of a Japanese kimono.
Hoops
Many are re-imagining hoops in a variety of contemporary styles. A version of Tasaki Atelier’s Nacreous has a double hoop: The smaller with drop gemstones contrasted with a pearl at the pierce point to be worn not just as a suspended hoop, but over the top of the ear as a double circle “ear cover.”
London-based Robinson Pelham has jazzed up the hoop with its recent Disco Hoop earrings that are pavé set with mixed colours of sapphires, Tsavorite garnets, and diamonds.
Meanwhile Talkative in Tokyo has reinvented the hoop with Crest, a series of gemstone hoops, with a wavy shape (reminiscent of a leaf) carved from a variety of stones including bi-colour amethyst, green agate, jasper, and rutilated quartz.
An up-scaling of the hoop trend is the oversized open work design, where the shape is outlined by fine diamond or gemstone pavé. La-based designer
Jacquie Aiche has created a winner with her diamond pavé open kite shape with tassels of tiny slender gold bars interspersed with diamond pavé that sway o the kite to “impart the feeling of being showered in diamonds and gold.” Her bolder statement earrings are composed of large translucent gemstones like turquoise and chalcedony, as well as pearls, designed for length and movement and incorporating the vibe of raw mineral magic.
Colour and whimsy
LA designer Irene Neuwirth evokes whimsy with her Lily of the Valley mixed gemstone earrings: Delicate gemstone flowers carved from pink, green and fire opal, as well as chalcedony and turquoise with diamond highlights. Her carved pink tourmaline Tropical Flower earrings are dazzling, while her Gumball hoops with the surface studded with chrysoprase and emerald elements embody youthful glam.
In response to the call for long, colourful articulated earrings, Henn of London’s designer, Ingo Henn has created stunning pieces that celebrate the extraordinary colour and cut of the gemstones he uses. “Personally I love long earrings because they have the ability to be dramatic, simple, and timeless at the same time.” Winners are the drop earrings featuring Imperial topaz in 18-karat red gold with enamel and hand engraving and the briolette-cut, blue-green Brazilian tourmaline drops beautifully complemented with graded enamel, handen-graving and pave-set diamonds.
In Brazil, designer Silvia Furmanovich has answered the colour call in an unusual way: Collaborating with artists in Japan who use centuries-old techniques of bamboo weaving. She combines their fine, colourful bamboo creations with gemstones or South Sea pearls and 18- karat gold.
Similarly, Noor Fares in London mixes materials like carved rosewood with colourful gemstones, cold enameling, engraving, and stone inlays. In her Muladhara earrings from the Prana collection, she contrasts carved rosewood with garnet and amethyst plus ruby, diamond, pink, yellow, and lavender sapphire highlights and then ties it all together with black rhodium and enamel.