These fab fashion jewelry brands bring affordability to your mix without sacrificing style

Consider your youngest shoppers. As they explore the limits of their purchasing power, having the right balance of well-made yet affordable fashion jewelry in your store may be the key to creating a customer for life. The five brands featured here are small, focused, and incredibly proud of their craft. They design with feeling and purpose and can relate to consumers looking to understand where (and from whom) their goods are sourced. Make no mistake—this is not fast fashion.

Jane Winchester 

Jane Winchester’s line of made-in-the-USA coin jewelry is ideal for people seeking an everyday staple with a soulful vibe. There’s meaning behind each design, from the signature coin pendants—inscribed with symbols of love, protection, luck, and peace—to its popular zodiac pendants.

Largely inspired by the 2017 Women’s March, designer Jane Winchester Paradis started her brand in December of that year. Today, the pieces—made in gold plate, silver, and 10k and 14k gold—sell in about two dozen U.S. retailers as well as online.

“Let’s just admit, jewelry is for the privileged,” says the suburban Philadelphia–based designer, whose résumé includes a stint at Barneys New York and 11 years at Lilly Pulitzer. “Whether it’s inexpensive or ­outrageous, it’s all a luxury.”

Come for the coins, but stay for the carved heart and butterfly pendants, ­beaded earrings, and link chains—all compatible for layering. The cherry on top of this charming collection? Its affordability.

“I love my price point,” Paradis says. “From the moment I wrote our business plan, I knew I wanted the core product to be between $200 and $300, and not to be afraid to…offer items up to $2,500. The key to me is a connection to the piece and the meaning behind it, married with perceived value.”

 

Stacey Lee Webber

Stacey Lee Webber isn’t just a jewelry designer; she’s also a metalsmith and artist whose work is on display in institutions such as the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

“I envision my brand to be a mix of one-of-a-kind, showstopper jewelry pieces alongside truly amazing large sculpture and wall pieces,” says Webber, who’s been designing jewelry since 2005 but just started wholesaling in 2015 (she’s in about 60 U.S. stores).

“My aesthetic is often inspired by the vintage materials I work with,” Webber says of her jewelry designs, an impressive array of coin styles repurposed in a clever, cool way. Vintage American buffalo nickels are reworked into swinging oval-shape earrings dipped in gold, dangling pearls. Lady Liberty coins are gilded in 14k yellow gold, with gemstone drops at the end of each earring. And you don’t have to drop serious coin: A pair of FDR studs, hand-cut from antique silver dimes, runs only $60. Of course, more intricate pieces—such as a $4,400 charm-heavy necklace—go much higher.

“I am looking to reach fashion-­forward, art-­loving men and ­women,” says Webber, who in 2018 collaborated on jewelry for an Oscar de la Renta runway show. “I want my clients to be collectors who want to support and invest in a full-time artist and designer.”

 

Brinker & Eliza

Brinker and Eliza Higgins are the mother-daughter duo behind this brand, established in 2017. Mom Brinker, a trained metalsmith, spent a decade designing her own jewelry before joining forces with Eliza, who brings fashion merchandising experience and creative flair. Think gold-­plated hoops dangling with rock candy clusters of Czech glass, or gem-studded cowrie shells; pearl nautilus shell earrings with baroque pearl drops; necklaces adorned with rainbow hearts and vintage charms. Look at anything made by the Connecticut-based team and you’ll instantly feel lighter and more carefree.

“I will forever be pulled toward details that look as though they were found in a vintage store or the attic of someone’s very stylish great-great-grandmother,” says Brinker. “I also live right by the beach—it’s impossible to not feel something when you look across the water, or down at your feet surrounded by a hundred seashells.”

Pieces, which are sold at retailers such as Moda Operandi, won’t break the bank—the highest price you’ll find is $428 for a heavily armed charm necklace—but they will break anyone into a smile.

“More than anything,” says Brinker, admitting that the brand started as a hobby, “we hope to keep making things that make people happy.”

 

Ania Haie

If you’re catering to Gen Y and Gen Z clients, look no further than 2-year-old London-based Ania Haie.

Delicate chains, clusters of earrings, and easy, breezy bracelets—crafted in sterling silver and plated in rhodium or 14k gold—will appeal to young (and young at heart) shoppers seeking trendy but not over-the-top jewels.

“Customers tell us it has a very broad appeal. The younger customer who is social media–savvy, [age] 25 to 35, ­especially adores Ania Haie,” says cofounder Andy Maine.

“We wanted a brand that was affordable, and customers could buy regularly to match the high-street trends. There are more expensive and lower-price items such as ear cuffs, which are great presents.” The Crush ear cuff, for instance, can be had for just $19. And wearers can easily create a neck mess with $29–$129 chains.

“We have a design team working with mood boards and fashion forecasting. The catwalk trends give us lots of inspiration,” explains Maine. “Layering and wearing multiple pieces are the key.”

On the Ania Haie website, you can even sort through jewels—which are sold at more than 700 U.S. retailers alone—according to trend. Just a few of the very wearable current collections: Chain Reaction, Modern Minimalism, and Bohemian Dream.

 

Jam + Rico

If you’re getting a carefree, tropical island getaway vibe from Jam + Rico’s jewelry, that’s no coincidence.

Though founder-­designer Lisette Scott was raised in New York, the Caribbean is her source of inspiration. “Rooted in my culture of Jamaican and Puerto Rican heritage, I’ve been driven to reconnect to the islands my grandparents left behind,” says Scott, whose 4-year-old Jam + Rico is a portmanteau of those nations’ names. “The Caribbean is full of color, adventure, and wonderful, loving people. Once a year, we select an island to visit and find inspiration from the colors, traditions, foods, and natural beauty.”

That inspiration is evident in each design, such as the half-moon Carmen earrings, threaded with silk tassels or the triple-tiered Sol earrings, which evoke golden sunsets.

“My mom had the most beautiful costume jewelry from the ’80s. I knew I wanted to work with brass, sterling silver, and gold plating to create pieces of this same quality,” says Scott, whose styles rarely go above $100. “I wanted to create jewelry my friends and peers will be able to enjoy.”

As much as Scott is able to take from the Caribbean, the designer is hoping Jam + Rico will soon be able to give something back. “My dream is to move my production to Jamaica and Puerto Rico.”