Artist-designed jewelry is changing the way women think about adornment.

Jewelry is being celebrated and sold more like art—and it’s about time. It didn’t happen overnight, but in the past year in particular we witnessed a clear repositioning: More elite jewelers, including Hemmerle, Taffin and Suzanne Syz, exhibited at more high-profile international art fairs and galleries alongside contemporary artists, and the auction houses hosted individual designer exhibitions. There also has been a proliferation of artistically inclined jewelers forging sculptural pieces and innovative concepts in gold and gemstones, from the young haute joaillerie designer Emmanuel Tarpin, who is creating imaginative, modern pieces like we’ve never seen before, to familiar favorites Silvia Furmanovich and Fernando Jorge, whose artistic creations combine gemstones with unexpected elements, such as wood and the Brazilian tagua nut, respectively. Clients are firmly on board, appreciating their jewels’ artistry as much as its weight in gold and stones.