This edition of Britt’s Pick is about a pair of earrings—an absolutely ideal pair for the season from jeweler Walters Faith. In typical fashion, though, I have a roundabout way of getting to them.

I love Christmas music, but I also love that over the years, songwriters have paid attention to what comes after that holiday too: New Year’s Eve. It’s the 1947 song “What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve” that I find especially alluring. It’s charming, it’s romantic, it’s exciting.

Fun random fact: It reportedly annoyed songwriter Frank Loesser that his song was (is) played mostly around the holidays, because it describes a person madly in love, making rash plans well into the future.

And yet, whether referring to the song or not, asking someone what they’re doing New Year’s Eve is like the next best thing to proposing marriage. It signifies a commitment, an intense desire to ring in a new year with someone you hope to also finish it with. And this applies not only to people who are single or courting, but to those from all walks of life. If my husband of 11 years asked me what I was doing New Year’s Eve, even just to be cute, I’d melt into a puddle. I’m a sucker.

With the expectations of this wondrous evening comes the preparations for it, adding to its grand essence of hope and romanticism. You need the perfect dress (ridiculously festooned with sparkles, of course), makeup (also glittering), and, obviously, the jewelry. The jewelry may even be the most important part (try to convince any of us in this industry otherwise), because it becomes a symbol of the year to come. One wouldn’t wear a slinky sequined dress to the office. One probably wouldn’t wear gallons of eye glitter, either. But the jewels from that night? One could do with never taking them off, if desired.

And so New Year’s Eve jewelry should most certainly be as important as, say, Mother’s Day gifts—maybe even more so. If pressed to select a category, I’d go with earrings. The way they move when you turn your head and laugh. The way they catch the light in photos. The way they frame your face.

And here we have the perfect pair (I told you we’re get there!). From Walters Faith, the Lytton earrings may seem a bit literal as far as symbolism is concerned—it doesn’t take an art major to see in them the image of a glittering ball, not unlike the famous icon of New Year’s Eve. But that’s exactly what makes them so perfect. Because they weren’t made in the image of that icon, so they only touch on that symbol for one night, and then go on to sparkle the whole year through. In the light of day, they’re a chic pair of rose gold discs atop pavé diamonds, like grapes on a vine or, more playfully, a beehive hairstyle.

Bottom line is, New Year’s Eve plans or not (2020 is synonymous with not), the Lytton earrings are the ideal choice to wear while ringing in 2021 at home, and will shine greatly to greet the sun as a new year—and hope—dawns.

Top: Lytton disc chandelier earrings in 18k white and rose gold with 1.77 cts. t.w. diamonds, $9,900; Walters Faith

Brittany Siminitz

JCK Contributing Editor