This was the 90th anniversary of the Oscars, so it seems entirely appropriate that some of the best pieces of jewelry on the red carpet would have been at home on the red carpet for the first Academy Awards in 1928. The top 2018 Oscar jewelry trend was stiletto drop earrings, a style popular at the time.
Art Deco inspired designs and one actual Art Nouveau treasure were among my favorite jewelry pieces this year. Gal Gadot’s Art Deco-inspired Tiffany & Co aquamarine necklace was a standout. And director Greta Gerwig wore an antique blue moonstone necklace designed by Louis Comfort Tiffany between 1910 and 1920.
Surprisingly four of my top five picks feature blue gems: aquamarine, sapphire, and moonstone. Helen Mirren’s classic Harry Winston sapphire parer is high jewelry at its best. Emily Blunt’s aquamarine chandeliers by Chopard are statement earrings updated with soft color. Blue sapphires and aquamarine have not been as common on the red carpet as emeralds and diamonds or even rubies this decade. Perhaps this is the beginning of a blue mood for red carpet jewelry.
Although four of my picks look back to classic jewelry of the past, one instead looks resolutely forward: the Messika choker and ear cuff worn by Danai Gurira are luxury jewelry of today not yesterday.
