Best Gifts Guide

When it comes to gifts of love, jewelry almost always shows up in several spots in a top 10 list, with diamonds, color stones and pearls among the favorites.

While all of these gems are definitely a girl’s best friends, jewelers who spotlight their bestsellers for different occasions offer customers a starting point to find the perfect gift.

Classic designs that mix metals, play with negative space and are sprinkled with diamonds or a pop of color make easy gift and self purchases, hails Eve Chiles for the silver and gold manufacturer Breuning in Lawrenceville, Georgia. Beaded details, intersecting geometric shapes, chevron and floral designs are popular in cuffs and bands, earrings and pendant necklaces.

Diamonds
Deeply storied in love and commitment, diamonds remain the most popular sentimental jewelry gift to give for holidays including Christmas and Valentine’s Day, and occasions like birthdays, cheers Renato Cruz, vice president of product development for Sumit Diamond, New York.

Cruz advocates nurturing collectors by promoting collectibles like stackable rings and other matching diamond sets. “Customers love matching sets. They will buy the pendant and come back for the matching diamond earrings, bangles and bands. Diamonds can be worn everyday, and because of today’s stylings of gold and diamonds, they’re affordable and can be bought for any milestone.”

The latest diamond fashion collection by Ostbye offers an example of stylish, affordable diamond designs in 10K white, yellow and rose gold in earrings, pendants and rings with beaded detail. “These mainstream designs provide a perfect look for everyday wear,” describes Theresa Namie, merchandise manager for the Minneapolis, Minnesota-based manufacturer.

Classic looks with a twist are where trends are strongest, re-imagining style staples from studs to solitaires with different stone shapes, colors, settings, and mixed metals.

Jennifer Phelps-Montgomery, designer for the New York City-based MWI Eloquence, hails natural fancy color diamonds an unexpected and beautiful alternative to white diamonds, particularly in spicy hues from peach to cinnamon to brown and set in rose and yellow gold. She sees an uptick in pendants, as well as long dangling earrings, and rings and line bracelets. In addition to making great anniversary, birthday and push presents, she sees the rate of women gifting themselves fine jewelry on the rise.

Color Stones
Gemstone jewelry is a favorite to pop color for the holidays, says Namie, who cites Ostbye’s latest sliding gemstone pendants in silver set with ruby, sapphire and emerald for price points that make them very collectible.

Moreover, Namie says Ostbye offers “Birthstone Bliss” in versatile bezel-set pendants in a variety of gems, a color for each month of the year. “The collection invites mixing and matching to create your own story. Perfect to pair with other birthstone rings and earrings.”

In fact, Namie notes that Ostbye’s birthstone stackable rings have been so loved that the company created another design in diamonds and gemstones. “This ring makes a fashion statement,” she says, adding that women are collecting them in all birthstone colors and pairing them with other styles to tell their own stories. These rings are great for wedding bands, anniversary rings, and the birth of child.

Pearls
Richline Group / HonoraOn trend in the fashion world, pearls more than any other gem is a gift remembered every time the wearer puts them on, reflecting their popularity to give for special occasions, says Kathleen Ross, creative director for Honora, a Richline brand in New York City. She suggests pearls be a part of niche presentations throughout the store especially for bridal and birthday gifts.

Ross describes designs that are easy to wear and combine well with other things most popular, particularly set in silver, although yellow gold is trending. She rates pearls and blacks diamond in Honora’s latest Noir collection of fun and flirty in designs with a touch of orbital dimension, among the top trends for fall/winter.