Editor’s Note
**Editor’s Note:** This article explores the rising trend of charm and medallion jewelry, highlighting key players like Foundrae, Van Cleef & Arpels, Pandora, and De Beers, with a focus on Foundrae’s new London boutique.
The Double Cherry Medallion, by Foundrae.
Talisman Medal 18-carat white gold diamond necklace, by De Beers.
Pendants and medallions are perfect fodder for fans of bohemian dressing, popularised by Van Cleef & Arpels’s reissued Zodiac pieces, Pandora’s symbolism-imbued Talisman designs, and the rough diamond-dotted medallions of De Beers. One US progenitor of the charm trend is Foundrae, which has opened its first standalone UK boutique on London’s chi-chi Mount Street. In honour of the opening the brand has designed a new cherry motif pendant with cabochon garnet details, a nod to a fruit native to Britain and a symbol of good fortune.
Brooch, by Van Cleef & Arpels.
Sarah Mekki Daouadji
Fast Lane pink brooch, by Francesca Villa.
A recent trip to Saint-Tropez to witness the unveiling of Hublot’s ice cream-hued Big Bang watches found me trawling souvenir shops for Côte d’Azur-inspired cord bracelets. Trinkets inspired by travel are nothing new, but they’ve been elevated to new heights across high and fine jewellery. Van Cleef & Arpels’s Fascinating Egypt collection boasts 180 one of a kind pieces inspired by Pharaonic Egypt, featuring hieroglyphic messaging, deities and panoramic, pyramid-lined vistas, imagined in glittering diamonds and slabs of stone. More Americana than ancient, Francesca Villa’s On The Road collection features road trip-inspired pendants and brooches that resemble postcard-inspired depictions of flaming trucks, formed from colourful carved stones and diamonds.
Diorette ring, by Dior Joaillerie.
Saffron earrings, by Chaumet.
Nothing is more delectable than jewels that evoke juicy Sicilian lemons, raspberry sorbet or a tropical piña colada. A host of brands are crafting designs in colours that scream out of office, using liquid enamel and lacquer. Crank up the colour with Chaumet’s unfurling Journey Through Nature high jewellery earrings, the blooming pansies in Dior Joaillerie’s Diorette ring, or Bea Bongiasca’s signature painted enamel pieces, accented with tiny goldfish and starfish.
Marbella Club necklace, by Goossens.
Chain bracelet, by Laurence Graff Signature Collection.
Nothing looks better on tanned skin than yellow gold, which, thanks to the current appetite for vintage jewellery from the ’70s and ’80s, is the only metal you should be wearing for sundowners this summer. Make like Dua Lipa at her wedding eve cocktail in Sicily and opt for Bulgari’s signature Serpenti watch, writhing with precious stones and diamonds, or Bella Hadid in Saint-Tropez with her stack of Pandora bracelets. We also recommend the Midas-touch tones of Goossens’s collaboration with Marbella Club, featuring Andalusian orange pendants and tangy quartz beads inspired by the iconic hotel’s gardens, plus the newest pieces from the Laurence Graff Signature Collection, imagined in sculptural links of yellow gold and diamonds.
Deep Stream earrings, by Fernando Jorge.
Harmony bangle, by Hemmerle.
Bohemian jewellery touches are essential to any high summer wardrobe, from healing crystals to chunks of turquoise. Jewellers are also leaning into designs honed from wood, like London-based Fernando Jorge, whose Deep Stream pieces are crafted from undulating curves of the louro wood indigenous to his native Brazil. Fellow Brazilian Ana Khouri has also incorporated rosewood into her latest one-off designs, which include a collar necklace pierced with diamonds. Munich-based jeweller Hemmerle, famed for using distinctive materials from mini mosaics to pebbles, incorporates amaranth wood into its signature Harmony bangles.
