The new trends in jewellery. Wear your art on your sleeve, add colour with ranbow gems, layer up with fine gold chains and unearth old pieces from your jewellery box … any outfit can be transformed with jewellery …
CASHMERE AND CUFFS
Gold cable-knit cashmere sweater, Johnstons of Elgin, €229; gold-tone Arial rhinestone stretch cuff, €120; gold-tone and rhinestone bracelet, €113; both Christina Goldston; all at Kildare Village; www.kildarevillage.com.
We have all heard about shopping our own wardrobes, but have you ever thought of shopping your own jewellery box? Just like fashion trends, jewellery trends are cyclical and that piece of jewellery which looked dowdy, odd or too “old” for you ten years ago might suddenly be back in fashion. And as we don’t subject our jewellery boxes to the same annual purges as we do our wardrobes, all those treasures, both precious and non-precious, should be still there, just waiting for you to rediscover them. The gold Albert chain you got for your 18th birthday: it looks modern and right for now with a V-neck sweater. The brooch you wouldn’t have been seen dead in when you received it as a gift: it adds sparkle to your black wool coat. Take it out and wear it!
Claddagh rings and signet rings, even cameos, are enjoying a comeback. The tennis bracelet you haven’t worn in five years: it looks great layered with another cuff or bangle over the sleeve of your sweater. Yes, the new way to style cuff bracelets is over your sweater, as spotted on the runway at Louis Vuitton, Halpern and Chanel, where cuffs were layered over the sleeves of luxe cashmere sweaters, like this one, above, by Johnstons of Elgin at Kildare Village. Why hide something so pretty where it is only occasionally glimpsed? Group cuffs and bangles of different widths together (as long as you keep tones the same) or try a single silver bracelet over a crisp shirt or evening blouse …
18ct gold Bone cuff, Elsa Peretti, Tiffany & Co.
Gold vermeil Bow cuff, €165; www.onedamelane.com.
18ct gold LV Volt cuff with diamonds, Louis Vuitton.
Rose gold-plated Clic Clac H Cliquetis enamel bracelet, Hermès, €685, at Brown Thomas.
ONE SET SIX WAYS TO WEAR
The Boodles Be Bold necklace and bracelet duo is a thing of beauty and a work of jewellery genius. The gold and diamond necklace can be worn with and without the drop-motif in two modes; with bracelet incorporated for a longer necklace; plus the bracelet can be worn with motif in two modes, and on its own. Visit Boodles at 71 Grafton Street, Dublin 2, to see how it works. www.boodles.com.
CONTEMPORARY CLASSIC
Italian Fope jewellery (pronounced fo-pay) is Weir and Sons’ best-kept secret – bracelets, necklaces, earrings and rings in white, yellow and rose gold, with Fope’s signature stretchy spring-loaded design – are well-known among the cognoscenti (in 52 countries) but less familiar to Irish customers. This will change. Collectible and cool. Discover Fope at Weirs, at Hartmanns in Galway and at Keanes in Cork, Limerick and Killarney. www.fope.com.
