Fashion influencers hail a silver streak for spring 2021.

As waist-up dressing in our Zoom-age continues, silver jewelry trends for 2021 keep our focus on the face, with earrings and necklaces the bestselling product categories in this important precious metal.

Fashion influencers, like The Zoe Report, hail a silver streak for spring 2021. Fashion houses, including Louis Vuitton, Hermès, and Chloé, accessorized their spring collections in silver jewelry, from “sleek to scintillating, with a common thread of statement-making throughout.” Among the most noteworthy design directions are high-shine metals, chain links, and pearls in the mix.

Earring Trends

Attention is on the face. As videoconferencing, not to mention the masks we’re all wearing everywhere but our homes, it’s unsurprising that earrings remain entirely focused,” says Gloria Maccaroni for the Silver Promotion Service.

“Earrings are a great way to attract interest and highlight your style,” she continues. “New silver collections feature modern sculpted shapes and colorful and playful motifs in studs, drops, and dangles that don’t go overboard.”

Silver’s unique combination of physical characteristics allows it to be shaped and crafted into almost any design imaginable, Maccaroni cheers, making jewelry makers more expressive.

With that in mind, textural surfaces are trending in silver jewelry design — woven, interlocked, dimpled, overlaid, and etched, reports Maccaroni. “The detail of mesh, hammered layers, combinations of silver and gold are all examples of the limitless designs opportunities silver presents.” She mentions the designs of Samuel B. reflecting many of these silver jewelry trends, particularly the use of texture.

Layering is crucial in necklaces and earrings, particularly with young women wearing studs with a new drop earring or several geometric-shaped earrings. Jewelry designers are increasingly selling single earrings as an affordable way to create a style upgrade.

Trending Necklaces

Next to earrings, necklaces remain an accessory favorite, from statement collars that can be worn independently to a “neck mess” of styles or graduated lengths of looks, including chains and charms, bold pendants and pearls, says Macaroni. She describes the trend to layer necklaces focused on mixing lengths, looks, and links. While seemingly mismatched, the grouping tells the wearer’s story.

Maccaroni cites uber-long pendant necklaces among the silver jewelry trends to watch this year. “If you’re not really into chokers, the ultra-long necklaces with bold pendants are the perfect solution, great to wear over blouses, T-shirts, and even swimsuits.”

Matthew Benham of the designer silver brand Samuel B. concurs that longer lengths in necklaces are becoming more popular. “Before 24-inch was very popular, now we’re seeing demand for 30-inch, enough to add it to our assortment.”

Symbols of luck, love, and spirituality are compelling motifs leading to silver jewelry trends. “Charms remain popular — like chocolate, we keep wanting more,” Maccaroni says. “This jewelry trend has been strong for a while and hasn’t peaked yet. Designers keep creating them.” People wear graduated layers of single-charm necklaces or one necklace dangling multiple medallions.

“Silver will always serve as wonderful bridge jewelry,” describes Theresa Namie, merchandise manager for Ostbye, Minneapolis, Minnesota. “Now, more than ever, it’s important to have a quality item in jewelry with a price point obtainable by most that tell a story.”

Namie cites coin-style designs with initials and sayings, like Ostbye’s Diva Collection in silver, with accents of 10K rose gold and diamonds, a great example of jewelry resonating with consumers today for both gift and self-purchase.

Silver & Gems

“Silver continues to be the most accessible price point across all brands,” says Roopam Jain, president of the branded division for Jewelmark in New York City. Popular branded collections, like Enchanted and Disney Treasures, Hallmark Moments, and Tokens, combine sterling silver with 10K/14K gold, diamonds, and gemstones like sapphire, garnet, morganite, topaz, and mother-of-pearl.

Pearls also pair well with silver. The New York-based pearl brand Honora offers excellent examples of this dynamic duo and the variety of looks achieved, such as mixing asymmetrical baroque freshwater pearls with high-polished silver curb chains. Or, Byzantine-inspired thick woven chain coupled with freshwater circle pearls. Reflecting the sculptural nature of silver, the brand’s Rare Form collection pops freshwater pearls in free-flowing lines of high-polished silver inspired by the architecture of Zaha Hadid.

Color is a silver jewelry trend that Benham says is picking up steam, particularly in conservative markets that typically prefer silver alone or silver and gold designs. “We’re seeing more interest in designs set with color stones, particularly multi-color pieces, as well as statement jewels with a larger gemstone central to the piece.”

The gems drawing the most attention, Benham says, have been birthstones, mainly a collection the brand developed that features 7mm stones in handcrafted designs in its signature Royal Bali look, in stud earrings, station necklaces, and bangle bracelets.

“We built this program as a loss leader, thinking we weren’t going to make a profit, but it would lead to other sales,” says Benham, noting that the pieces are intricately made for the price points. “But we quickly realized how many we were selling. Birthstones are such an easy gift and self-purchase. They take the stress out of what someone would like. A classic favorite, the twist is the design details.”

Benham notes that while there is a lot of attention being paid to earrings and necklaces as leading silver jewelry trends, bangles are popular as well, but in smaller gauge sizes, like 3mm, where customers would buy two or three bracelets to stack together, instead of wearing one bolder statement piece.