Exceptional Designs: The Most Memorable Jewels of 2023

From exceptional craftsmanship and innovative materials to stand-out gemstones and kaleidoscopic colour combinations, this year has been jam-packed with high jewels that wowed us. Continue reading to discover the 25 creations that made our hearts beat faster over the last 12 months…

When you see as much sensational jewellery as we do here at KaterinaPerez.com, narrowing an entire year’s output from our favourite high jewellery maisons, brands and designers is no easy task. As we look ahead to the New Year and another exciting period of invention and creativity, we’re reflecting on the 25 pieces that wowed us in 2023. Below, you’ll find five necklaces, five pairs of earrings, five bracelets, five rings and five brooches that made us stop and take notice. Let’s dive right in.

Necklaces

Back in March, we wrote about the new ‘Couture’ direction at British house Garrard and its Northern Lights necklace, which we loved for its sinuous shape, beautiful opals, sapphires, green tourmalines, tsavorites and mother of pearl ‘matchsticks’. Next, there’s the Pomellato Ode to Milan High Jewellery collection, specifically the Skyline necklace with 128 spinels and diamonds. Our third pick is from the Louis Vuitton Deep Time High Jewellery collection, which was bursting with distinctive necklaces, chains and layered looks. We finally decided upon the Bones transformable necklace with a 43.58-carat oval-cut opal, a 20.9-carat pear-cut Paraiba tourmaline, tanzanites, tourmalines and diamonds. Just as we were about to agree upon the Chaumet Feuille de Vigne necklace, the Mikimoto Praise to the Sea High Jewellery collection lured us in with its siren’s song! The Blue Whale necklace epitomises 2023’s obsession with the sea, which is also the focus of Tiffany & Co.’s latest Blue Book collection. And speaking of the oceanic themes, our final pick is Alexander Laut’s seaweed-inspired necklace with South Sea pearls and diamonds in white gold.

Earrings

There was an overwhelming number of beautiful earrings to choose from this year, but some stood out for a mixed bag of reasons. First, there’s the Boucheron More is More Pull Me transformable earrings-meet-hoodie-strings, with citrines, onyx, cacholong, white opal and diamonds. Tasaki also presented some colourful options in its Atelier 6 Nature’s Spectacle High Jewellery collection, especially the Cascade earrings with Paraiba tourmalines, diamonds and graduating lines of Akoya pearls. The Graff Tribal earrings wowed at the brands Sunrise exhibition earlier this year with two pairs of sensationally rich, pear-shaped yellow diamonds, surrounded by white diamonds for a total of 65.62 carats. We’d also like to spotlight a pair of Art Deco-inspired emerald and diamond earrings crafted by Czech jeweller, Luboš Korbička of Korbička Šperky, who was a perfect host on Katerina’s visit to Prague and the city of Brno. Finally, let’s not forget the NatureScapes collection by Assael, with its melding of pearls and unusual materials, including petrified wood.

Bracelets

We love when designers add new techniques to their repertoire, and that’s exactly what Neha Dani did with her carved agate bracelet, presented at PAD London earlier this year. Each piece of mineral had to be custom-cut to fit a diamond-set titanium frame, wrapping like vines around deep orange gems. Next, there’s the Snake cuff bracelet in Elie Top’s Magica Naturae High Jewellery collection, which features his signature yellow gold and blackened silver scales with a deep red rubellite and diamonds. The final trio of pieces to make the list are by Tiffany & Co., Buccellati and Tasaki, whose distinctive styles really shone through this season. For the former, we loved two pieces in the Pisces suite of the new Blue Book ‘Out of the Blue’ High Jewellery collection. We almost opted for a wrist enveloping fish, but instead chose the more wearable Pisces cuff with untreated Umba sapphires, white opals and diamonds. The Buccellati Mosaico High Jewellery collection contained a selection of flexible golden bracelets, including this one with a honeycomb gold interior and a frame of white gold punctuated with 4.22 carats of diamonds. Finally, the Tasaki Flourish is worth a special mention for its colourful array of pearls, Paraiba tourmalines, sapphires and morganites.

Rings

Coloured gemstone cocktail rings are part of the KaterinaPerez.com DNA, and we’re always hunting for new and impressive minerals to showcase on Instagram. A great example of this is the Sicis La Vie En Rose ring with its fluttering articulated micromosaic petals surrounding a 1.43-carat trilliant-cut diamond. Also on Instagram, you’ll find a closer look at the Bleu Royal – the largest internally flawless blue diamond to ever appear at auction, totalling 17.61 carats. It was sold by Christie’s in November for a staggering $40m (£32m)! Sometimes you just can’t stop thinking about a particular stone, and that’s certainly the case for the Caratell Plum Blossom ring with an oval-shaped purplish-pink sapphire centre stone. Finally, the Messika Midnight Sun High Jewellery collection contained the eye-popping Joy Cœur Toi et Moi ring with two heart-shaped diamonds for a total of 25.07 carats, and the De Beers Metamorphosis High Jewellery offering included the ostentatious Summer Masterpiece Diamond & Jacket ring, with a 7.61 carat fancy vivid yellow diamond and four possible ways-to-wear.

Brooches

Finally, let’s talk brooches! All the way back in January 2023, we wrote about the Boucheron Like a Queen High Jewellery collection, including the Rolling Red brooch with 17 oval-shaped rubies from Mozambique totalling 18.82 carats. The Tweed de Chanel High Jewellery collection also piqued our interest and caused quite a sensation on Instagram. We especially loved the Chanel Tweed Lion brooch with an oval-cut red spinel of 9.13 carats, diamonds, rubies, spinels, and spessartite garnets. Another top pick is the Van Cleef & Arpels Dea Eterna clip with a 3.47 carat oval-cut pink sapphire, blue sapphires, lapis lazuli, grey cultured pearl, and diamonds from Le Grand Tour High Jewellery collection. Our final two choices return to the ocean, which is undoubtedly one of the biggest themes of the year. The Mikimoto Praise to the Sea collection contained boundless brooch options, including dolphins, manta rays, octopuses, whales and starfish. Our top pick, however, is a playful duo of clown fish swimming through coral tendrils in fire opal, sapphires, mother of pearl and onyx. Last but not least, the Anna Hu Siren’s Aria Seashell brooch is a showstopper. It’s grounded by a natural pecten keppelianus seashell with diamond ‘seaweed’, Mediterranean coral, Akoya pearls and a natural baroque pearl of 29.30 carats.

So, what do you think of our top jewellery picks for 2023? Some have been chosen for their gemmological merit, others their exemplary design, and some for their sheer joyfulness. Whatever captures your attention, I hope you have found inspiration and fresh ideas from this extraordinary collection of finery.