International Jewellery London and Katherine Ormerod Reveal Social Media Jewellery Trends Coming to High Streets

From Erogenous Zones to Eco Essentials

The UK's jewellery trade gathers at International Jewellery London, 1-3 September. Katherine Ormerod, a fashion and lifestyle journalist talks about what makes jewellery trends.

LONDON, Aug. 30, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- In the days of old, before we spent on average three hours, 15 minutes on our phones every day, jewellery was a category in which timelessness and tradition were valued above all else. Trends were evolutionary rather than revolutionary and aesthetics were often safe, created within set boundaries, made to appeal to as many consumers as possible.

Growing at around 6% per year since 2015, demand has changed the rules of the game, with fashion jewellery booming and a newly empowered customer - the woman buying for herself - looking for an individual, eclectic reflection of her personality.

Trends have become far more important to the success of collections. As women seek to express themselves with jewellery as they once did with their apparel choices, channelling the Zeitgeist has become more important than ever. The water cooler is new media - social platforms like Instagram and Pinterest which have become instrumental in making and breaking trends and in turn brands. Any jewellery trend over the past two years will probably have been supercharged from social media.

Shells, medallions, the dominance of gold have all got social media to blame for their current popularity. The comeback of statement pieces, especially trophy earrings has a social angle.

The trends gaining the most traction are idiosyncratic and offer a clear signal about the type of woman who wears them. Take freshwater pearls. Natural, non-spherical and beautifully organic, freshwater pearls often paired with unhewn gold point to a consumer engaged with issues of sustainability and imperfect beauty rather than anything overly polished. Elsewhere the comeback of heavy gold link chains offers a powerful, 80s and 90s inspired attitude, with a more masculine energy.

For the consumer with a penchant for the dainty, this season's fruit-inspired trend picks up on Instagram's obsession with peaches, lemons and cherries, adding a burst of summer-time optimism the whole year around. As for new categories of jewellery, the anklet is having a moment with a new erogenous zone identified. Whether super-fine or snake-chained, it's a must-have item for any fashion insider. When it comes to precious and semi-precious stones, the trend for horizontally set, narrow emerald cut stones is certain to gather steam in the season ahead. For the truly fun at heart, the vogue for brights - from pretty coloured stones to beads adds a pick 'n' mix, youthful approach to any jewellery box. No matter the woman, there's a social-media inspired trend, just waiting to be discovered.

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Catherine Anderson
Midas PR
catherine.anderson@midaspr.co.uk