Pantone Colour of the Year: These Jewels are a Ray of Light in the Dark

January 23, 2021

10 min read

Pantone, the world’s authority on colour and the provider of professional colour standards and digital solutions to the design community, releases an annual report to announce the shades that are trending. These are the colours that reflect global fashions and demonstrated through clothing and accessories, cosmetics, interior and graphic design, and packaging. In 2021, these colours are PANTONE 17-5104 Ultimate Gray and PANTONE 13-0647 Illuminating, two different hues that come together to create an inspired pairing, combining a sense of depth and thoughtfulness with the optimistic promise of a sunny day.

“The choice of two separate colours highlights how contrasting elements can unite to convey a message of strength and hope that is both enduring and inspiring, one that highlights the importance of different colours, like different people, coming together. The conjunction of the long-lasting Ultimate Gray with the bold yellow Illuminating is an expression of positivity backed by fortitude,” says Leatrice Eiseman, Executive Director of the Pantone Color Institute. “Practical and durable, yet warm and upbeat, this colour combination offers us endurance and hope. We need to feel encouraged and inspired – this is fundamental to the human spirit.”

A Graff yellow and white diamond necklace

Graff oval-shaped yellow diamond earrings with white diamonds

Two yellow diamond and white diamond trilogy rings by Graff

As someone who believes in the eloquence of the language of colours and supports the idea of unification and optimism, I am going to take you on a journey through the mineralogical palette of these colours. In which jewellery and precious materials can these colours be found? First, look for stones that have the colour of a ray of sunshine: yellow diamonds and sapphires, heliodors (yellow beryls), some forms of topaz and apatite, citrines and zircons. The main thing is that they have a colour which matches the shade of Illuminating, so one that’s not too saturated and one without an orange tint.

A yellow diamond and white diamond suite by Ronald Abram

A grey hue is primarily one that white precious metals, with their characteristic sheen, can produce. This may also take the form of various coatings, such as rhodium plating or a steely patina, formed over time. Although jewellery’s grey colour palette is the smallest of any colour, it is also the most impressive: it includes grey smoky diamonds, some spinels and natural Tahitian pearls, whose cost exceeds the price tag of their classic white counterparts.

Messika Voltige Trapezistes ring from the Voltige high jewellery collection, set with a 10.19 carat pear-shaped fancy yellow diamond

The diamond-shaped pavé frame, accompanied by baguette-cut diamonds, serves as a trapeze for the yellow diamond in this Messika Voltige ring

With their blend of strength and optimism, Ultimate Gray and Illuminating do not have to be used in equal measure. Either of these colours can take priority. It is for you to decide which of them to focus on in your own way. To give you some food for thought, here are some of the most attractive representations of these shades in jewellery.

John Hardy

Classic Chain Sungai Biang Lalah necklace from the Cinta collection with rainbow moonstones, hematite and yellow diamonds

Messika

Radiant Firebird ring with a yellow diamond and marquise-cut diamonds in white gold

Piaget

Extremely Piaget Twisted Decoration ring in rose gold, set with a grey moonstone

Picchiotti

Xpandable yellow diamond ring

Anna Hu

Papillon ring with yellow and white diamonds

Madly

Spunky Sparkler ring with a grey spinel centre stone

Harry Winston

Loop earrings with yellow sapphires and diamonds

Fernando Jorge

Surrounding bracelet with carved serpentine and diamonds in yellow gold

Jahan Jewellery

Yellow diamond earrings with fancy cut white diamonds

Pasquale Bruni

Bon Ton earrings with flower-shaped grey agate cabochons

Levuma

Yellow diamond and white diamond necklace

Chaumet

Joséphine Eclat Floral ring in platinum with a cushion-cut fancy intense yellow diamond

De Beers

Old Bond Street yellow diamond ring

Chaumet

Chaumet Parade from the Les Ciels de Chaumet ring with yellow sapphires and diamonds in yellow gold

Levuma

Yellow and white diamond flower earrings

Van Cleef & Arpels

Butterfly pendant with yellow sapphires and a marquise-shaped diamond 'body'

Carol Kauffmann

Petit Pois ring in yellow gold, set with a grey tourmaline and diamonds

Calleija Aurielle

Ring with a 5.53ct radiant-cut yellow diamond surrounded by white diamonds

Assael

Tahitian pearl necklace with a carved lilac jade clasp

Feng J

Calla Lily Butterfly earrings with grey spinel

Forevermark

Forevermark 12.96 carat fancy yellow diamond earrings with a frame of pink diamonds

Assael

J. Hunter for Assael necklace with Fijian keshi pearls with a white gold and diamond clasp, alongside a necklace of baroque Fijian pearls with a white gold clasp

Anna Sheffield

Eleonore Delicate ring with a 1.00ct pear-cut grey spinel centre and white diamonds in white gold

Antonini

Extraordinaire ring with a mosaic yellow sapphires and diamonds

State Property

Fine Jewellery Allegory Major Noir bracelet from the Unfold Collection with black Akoya pearls in white gold

Boghossian

'Kissing Diamond' ring with a fancy vivid yellow diamond atop a larger white diamond

IVY

Earrings with more than 10 carats of grey spinel in addition to sapphire and diamonds in yellow gold

Neha Dani

Kephi ring with a yellow sapphire centre stone surrounded by purple sapphires in white gold

Jahan Jewellery

Choker necklace with 297 round yellow diamonds and a 26 carat cushion-cut diamond drop

Louis Vuitton

Voyage dans le Temps Dentelle de Monograme ring in white gold with a 9.50 carat grey spinel from Tajikistan and 2.59 carats of diamonds

Van Cleef & Arpels

Beauté Céleste ring with a 4ct yelllow diamond centre stone

WORDS

Katerina Perez is a jewellery insider, journalist and brand consultant with more than 15 years’ experience in the jewellery sector. Paris-based, Katerina has worked as a freelance journalist and content editor since 2011, writing articles for international publications. To share her jewellery knowledge and expertise, Katerina founded this website and launched her @katerina_perez Instagram in 2013.

MADE WITH:

Yellow diamond Sapphire Moonstone

BRANDS:

Van Cleef&Arpels State Property Picchiotti Piaget Pasquale Bruni Neha Dani Messika Madly Louis Vuitton LEVUMA John Hardy Jahan IVY New York Harry Winston Forevermark Fernando Jorge Feng J De Beers Chaumet Carol Kauffman Calleija Boghossian Assael Antonini Anna Sheffield Anna Hu

JEWELLERY TYPE:

Ring Necklace Earrings Chocker Brooch Bracelet

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