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Jewelry design collaborations tend to be news that my JCK colleague Emili Vesilind and I love to jump on it, and we’ve covered quite a few this year.
Many involved strategic partnerships with a celebrity or style influencer with solid social media following. The most recent example: Omega’s announcement this week of two new strap options for its De Ville Trésor watch that were designed in collaboration with the Kaia Gerber model. Perfectly timed, it seems, for last minute holiday gifts.
Others have sought to pair independent jewelry designers with raw and unique materials, such as Australian Argyle diamonds or Muzo emeralds.
Then there were established jewelry brands that partnered with talents that operate outside of the jewelry world (wedding dresses, athleisure, sleepwear, menswear) to create capsule lines that blend two different aesthetics but simpatico. They’re always favorites for us because of the element of surprise, of not knowing exactly how it’s going to turn out, but somehow knowing it’s going to totally work.
We also love for heritage brands to partner with emerging, often younger jewelry artists, because it’s exciting to see how an outsider operates within an established design code and pushes the boundaries of a code.
Let us know if you have a really good collaboration in the works for 2019. In the meantime, here’s our take-back on the best of 2018.
January
Rio Tinto Diamonds with a Story Designer Capsule

Since 2012, the Rio Tinto Diamonds With a Story program has sought to put Argyle diamonds in greyish, neutral to variegated gold into the hands of innovative designers passionate about sustainable and ethical mining practices. Generation 2018 featured the work of designers Eva Fehren, Ana Khouri, Anita Ko, Alison Lou, Ileana Makri and Arpana Rayamajhi.
February
Pyrrha x Paul Smith

Paul Smith x Pyrrha is a five-piece jewelry capsule inspired by the whimsical imagery of the Paul Smith crest, a play on the term coat of arms which also features a bunny motif.
June
Margot McKinney x CD Greene

Presented at Bergdorf Goodman for a limited time this summer, a lavender silk dress created by fashion designer CD Greene in collaboration with Brisbane-based Australian jeweler Margot McKinney. The general scarcity and market value of Australian keshi pearls compelled McKinney to say in a prepared statement, “We believe this is the rarest dress in the world.
August
Paige Novick x Atelier Swarovski

Designer Paige Novick has partnered with Atelier Swarovski to create a collection of exquisite jewelry featuring a rainbow of colorful topazes, lab-created diamonds and fair-trade gold. Said Novick at the time of launch: “Not only do rainbows elicit awe, but they also offer the promise of sunshine and blue skies. My goal was to instill joy, hope and positivity into the designs. In the current political climate, I think we all need it!
September
Stacey Lee Webber for Oscar de la Renta
On September 11, at Oscar de la Renta’s spring presentation in New York City, daring necklaces and earrings were set in creatively cut vermeil pieces accented with pearls, red coral and gold. a simple leather cord. These pieces are the result of a collaboration between the fashion house and Stacey Lee Webber, a freelance jewelry designer and sculptor based in Philadelphia. Webber shared with JCK that the brand first contacted her via Instagram. Webber said in the interview: “On the runway, they did the look of an earring, which made one of my earrings really important in the show. walk on their flagship models – the Hadids – it was so cool. “
Messika Paris x Gigi Hadid

Did someone say Hadid? When Gigi Hadid version 2.0 for Messika Paris launched this fall, founder and designer Valérie Messika said JCK: “She sent me three pages of mood board inspirations and from the first moment I saw them, I fully understood her vision of jewelry. It was an Indian and bohemian influenced chic, with lots of hand bracelets, body chains, anklets and pendants tassel elements. “
Georg Jensen x Sophie Bille Brahe

Crossing a world-famous Danish design house with cool and contemporary Danish jewelry designer Sophie Bille Brahe resulted in a double dose of quintessentially Scandinavian goodness perfectly integrated in 18k gold and diamonds. Called Halo, the 19-piece jewelry line is led by Brahe’s affinity for precise lines, flat edges, and understated geometric elegance, and its dominant pattern – soft, continuous circles – came to her after seeing a drawing in the archives of Georg Jensen.
October
Lela Rose x Shining Earth

It was first announced during New York Bridal Fashion Week: The ethically-minded jeweler has partnered with wedding brand Lela Rose on a collection of six engagement rings and two wedding rings. inspired by design elements found in Rose’s bridal collections. The designs incorporate floral embroidery and nuanced beaded embroidery. The most notable styles include the Dahlia, which is defined by a compass-like halo studded with four pear-shaped diamonds.
Diamond Foundry x AU Showroom

The San Francisco-based company’s latest partnership is a group capsule with designer-led, New York-based AU showroom jewelry brands: Halleh, Hi June Parker, Selin Kent and S / H Koh. The lab-grown diamond and gold non-traditional bridal designs were meant to appeal to fashion jewelry consumers who don’t want to feel a stylistic disconnect between her wedding and her fashion jewelry.
Tacori x Who What to Wear

Tacori chose Who What Wear, the media brand known for addicting fashion, shopping and celebrity style content, as the partner of their first-ever design collaboration. Together, they launched Love, Los Angeles, a semi-thin capsule that focuses on everyday chic stackable necklaces, rings, earrings and bracelets that celebrate laid-back Los Angeles elegance.
November
Emily Oberg x Stone and Strand

Style influencer Emily Oberg’s Sporty & Rich brand / media platform is an ode to high-end sportswear mixed with haute couture. The five-piece capsule collection she designed with downtown New York jewelry retailer Stone and Strand reflects this playful marriage. Both rings, anklet, earring, and nameplate necklace all feature a two-digit number, rendered in team jersey fonts.
At the time of the launch, Stone and Strand founder Nadine McCarthy Kahane said JCK that “Oberg’s lofty approach to everyday fashion was a perfect fit with what we do at Stone and Strand from a creative standpoint”, also noting that “Emily embodies the mission of someone who is true to herself and does not feel that she has to conform to the expectations of others.
DECEMBER
Muzo Emerald Colombia designer capsule

This collection includes the work of 25 designers and as many unique perspectives through nearly 100 unique pieces of jewelry. The only unifying element was the abundance of imperfection, as this capsule is about designers who take inspiration from organic matter. The full roster of designers attending the inaugural program includes both rising stars and established talent, many of whom have been covered on this blog and elsewhere on JCKonline.com including Alice Cicolini, Dana Bronfman, Eden Presley, Erica Courtney, Katherine Jetter, M. Spalten, The Rock Hound, Victor Velyan and others.
Above: Omega’s announcement of its collaboration with current model Kaia Gerber came just in time for our recap of the best design collaborations of 2018. Gerber has produced two new bracelets for De Ville Trésor de the brand watch, both decorated with a camouflage pattern. They will land in some Omega stores at the end of this month.
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