It’s always interesting to see which fine jewelry brands make it to the Oscars.
Every year, brands small and large campaign hard to hitch a ride down Hollywood’s most high-profile red carpet, wooing Tinseltown’s top stylists and their assistants—in showrooms and in private—and occasionally collaborating with image makers to create showstopping custom jewels.
By all reports, this wooing requires a ton of effort. And until a celebrity exits the car and sets foot on the red carpet, a company doesn’t know for certain whether they’ve secured a placement.
But the payoff, when things go as planned, is huge.
Place a pair of distinctively designed earrings on a bona fide style star—a Charlize Theron, a Gemma Chan, or an Emma Stone—and zillions of photos showcasing your jewelry ricochet around the world, and potentially enjoy a long afterlife in the Oscar fashion history stories media outlets run annually.
Take Japanese jewelry brand Niwaka. Few outside of fine jewelry circles were familiar with brand’s name or designs (the company is based in Kyoto and has stores only in Japan). But a few years back, the brand began successfully placing pieces on celebrities at red carpet events.
This year’s been big for the tiny brand. To name just two memorable Niwaka moments since January: Robin Wright in a long and dramatic Niwaka necklace at the Critics’ Choice Awards and Jennifer Lopez in Niwaka yellow gold and diamond earrings and pink gold, rose quartz, and diamond rings, paired with her slinky silver Tom Ford gown, at the Oscars. Because of its efforts in Tinseltown, Niwaka is no longer an unknown entity.
Hollywood’s old-guard jewelry brands, including Chopard, Fred Leighton, Harry Winston, Lorraine Schwartz, Tiffany & Co., and Cartier, are still bedecking superstars. These brands are go-tos for stylists and their clients, having built up enduring relationships with Hollywood’s image makers. But less storied brands have become red carpet staples, too, in recent years—Irene Neuwirth, Messika, Gismondi 1754, Sutra, and Forevermark, and Hearts On Fire among them.
Here are the jewelry brands that enjoyed the most, and splashiest, placements at this year’s Oscars.
Tiffany & Co.
Best Actress nominee and winner for Best Original Song, Lady Gaga wore the Tiffany Diamond, which was set in a new necklace, paired with beautiful yellow and white diamond Tiffany earrings. It was all the iconic American jeweler needed to own the evening’s jewelry scene.
Chopard
Chopard had so many great Oscar moments, courtesy of dozens of celebs who wore the iconic brand—among them Mark Ronson (in a classic Chopard gold watch and cufflinks); Awkwafina, who sported spinel and diamond pieces with her lavender pantsuit; and Best Actress winner Olivia Coleman, who wore chunky diamond drop earrings from the legendary atelier.
Bulgari
Charlize Theron was, for many fashion lovers, the most stylish star of the evening—and the classic Serpenti necklaces from Bulgari she wore (over her dress!) made her look. Challenging Theron for “most fashionable” of the evening was Crazy Rich Asians actress Gemma Chan in a flowing pink Maison Valentino gown—and she, too, wore Bulgari: a suite of diamond and emerald jewelry.
Forevermark
De Beers’ diamond brand is a firm favorite in Hollywood, and Best Actress nominee Melissa McCarthy came clad in a gorgeous Forevermark diamond line necklace sparkling with 33.61 cts. t.w. diamonds. The brand was also responsible for up-and-comer Amandla Stenberg’s yellow gold jewelry look, which was this reporter’s personal favorite.
See all the favorite looks of JCK’s editors and writers in the Oscars jewelry story we published yesterday.
Top: Gemma Chan in Bulgari (image via: @thepinkpepper_blog)
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