Summer is when the prestige jewellery counter at any major department store starts feeling stale, and when the small independent makers — the ones with two-week delivery windows and Instagram-only stockists — quietly take over the conversation. We have spent the last two months building a list of independent jewellery brands that have actually been putting out finished, wearable, considered work in 2015. The category has been turning over fast; the names that mattered in 2013 are not necessarily the names that matter now. Five brands earned a permanent spot in the rotation this summer.
Sophie Buhai Is the Quiet Story of 2015
The Sophie Buhai jewellery line launched at the very start of 2015 and has been the underground prestige conversation in New York since spring. The pieces are heavy sterling silver, cast in a way that reads vintage but is unmistakably new — the round-pearl drop earrings and the chunky cuff bracelets have the kind of weight that does not pretend. Sophie Buhai is the brand to watch on this list because the maker is approaching jewellery the way she approached her clothing line — with a coherent design vocabulary rather than a collection of trend pieces.
The pricing also makes sense. The line sits at the very top of “I bought it for myself” territory, the design language is restrained enough to not date in two seasons, and the materials are honest. The pearl drop earrings have been the breakout piece; the round-pebble pendant on a long chain is the one we keep going back for.
Sophie Bille Brahe Made the Floating Pearl a Real Category
The Danish maker Sophie Bille Brahe has been quietly building distribution through 2015, and the brand’s signature — pearls floating on a thread of yellow gold or rose gold — is now the cleanest answer in the entire single-pearl-earring conversation. The Botticelli is the most-photographed piece, the Crescendo Étoile is the editor pick for anyone who wants a real statement, and the Fontaine de Pluie is the kind of piece you wear once and stop thinking about for the next ten years.
The brand has been doing its US distribution through Matchesfashion and a small handful of curated stockists, and the supply has been thin all year. If you see a piece you want, the right move is to pick it up immediately rather than wait — restocks have been arriving slowly and the strongest editors’ picks tend to disappear within a week.
Anita Ko Is Where the Stylists Have Been Pulling From
Anita Ko has been a low-key staple on the Hollywood floor for a few years, but 2015 is the year the brand crossed into the editor consciousness. The diamond-drop earrings on a thin chain and the oversized hoops with diamond accents are doing exactly what the prestige earring market has been missing — they sit between the over-formal heirloom piece and the costume statement. The maker has been quietly using lab-set diamonds in the entry-level pieces to keep the price approachable, and the design language carries through the whole line.
What we keep watching is the stockist roster. Barneys has been the obvious anchor, but the pieces have started showing up at Net-a-Porter and at smaller boutiques with stronger curation. The hoop is the gateway piece; the cluster bracelets are where the real money goes once a customer has committed.
Jennifer Meyer Owns the “Personal” Necklace
Jennifer Meyer has been making yellow-gold initial necklaces, leaf charms, and bar pendants for the better part of a decade, and the line has finally hit the moment where the design itself is recognizable — you can spot a Jennifer Meyer leaf necklace across a restaurant. The maker has been a quiet anchor of the LA prestige scene, but the brand’s website finally caught up with the demand this year and the direct-buy is now actually convenient. The 18k gold “puffy heart” pendant is the season’s quiet bestseller; the small layered chain stack is the gateway look.
The reason this brand belongs on a 2015 list and not a 2010 list is the styling. The way the line is being worn now — three or four chains layered, the bar pendant tucked under a tank, a small diamond stud paired with a hoop — is more wearable than it has ever been. We have been quietly amassing the layering chains over the spring.
Catbird Stays the Default for the Daily Stack
The Brooklyn-based Catbird shop is still where the daily stack starts. The Threadbare hammered ring, the diamond Sweet Nothing, and the cluster of tiny stackers in 14k yellow gold are the pieces that go on once and stay on through summer. The maker has been doing single-store retail for years, and the website has finally caught up with the kind of inventory transparency that a serious customer needs — which sizes are in stock, what the realistic ship date is, whether to expect a permanent piercing fitting or a direct mail.
The smartest summer move is the Constellation Bracelet, which has been the runaway sleeper hit of the season. The price is approachable, the look is sturdier than its weight suggests, and the chain holds up through showering, swimming, and the kind of summer that destroys most fine jewellery. Layer it with a Jennifer Meyer initial pendant for the cleanest version of the daily stack we have been wearing this year.
What We Are Watching Through Fall
Two new entrants have been on our list since spring. Beck Jewels has been quietly building a small bar-pendant line that is doing what the early Catbird drops did — small, considered, well-priced. The other is the maker behind Jennie Kwon, whose deco-inflected bezel-set diamond pieces are the smartest answer to the post-Catbird daily stack we have seen this year.
Until then, we are wearing the Sophie Buhai pearls with everything, layering the Catbird stack daily, and finally letting the Anita Ko hoops live on the bedside table where they belong. We will see you with the winter jewellery picks in December.