Winter is the season we wear coats, and the jewellery we choose has to read above the collar. The third Tuesday of December is our annual edit of small and independent jewellery brands, and the winter 2016 selection landed warm — gold-toned, talisman-laden, layered. The pieces we kept reaching for were the ones that worked over a turtleneck, under a scarf, through a coat removal at dinner, and onto a hand that had been holding a glass of wine for two hours. Below: the seven names worth knowing for winter 2016, and the gifting rules we landed on after a year of buying for ourselves and others.
Foundrae, the talisman house
Foundrae launched in 2015 and spent 2016 quietly becoming the brand the editors-of-editors wore. The medallion necklaces in 18-karat gold, charged with strength-and-protection iconography, were the brand’s core proposition; the fluted pendants and the cigar-band rings completed the lineup. The pricing was firmly luxury — a fine-jewellery investment — but the staying power justified the consideration. Three friends bought their first medallion in 2016, and not one regretted the decision. The takeaway: a Foundrae piece earns its place when it carries meaning the wearer chooses for themselves.
Anita Ko, returning
Anita Ko‘s diamond ear-cuffs continued their cult run, and the holiday party season was prime ear-cuff time. The brand’s chain bracelets stacked beautifully under a sweater cuff, and the small diamond hoops became the year’s most-photographed everyday earring. The takeaway: Anita Ko remained the fine-jewellery insider’s favourite for a reason.
Jacquie Aiche, on a chain
For winter 2016, Jacquie Aiche‘s long-chain pendants — turquoise, malachite, smoky quartz — were the layering pieces that worked over a black turtleneck. The body-chain pieces from summer 2016 had stretched into a full year of wear, and the brand’s fine-jewellery-meets-bohemia identity translated to winter as readily as to summer. The takeaway: a long pendant on a fine chain is the winter layering piece every wardrobe has room for.
Catbird, the holiday-gift end
Brooklyn’s Catbird ran a strong holiday gifting program through November and December — the threadband pinky-ring stack, the small initial pendants, the “everyday star” stud earrings — and the brand’s local-luxury proposition continued to scale beyond Bedford Avenue. We bought three engagement-adjacent gifts and one initial pendant for an out-of-state niece. The takeaway: the right Catbird gift is one the recipient will wear daily for a decade.
Sophie Buhai winter
Sophie Buhai‘s heavyweight silver moved beautifully into winter. The Trinity ear-cuffs, the chunky vermeil rings, the heavy oval-link chains — all read polished and confident over a coat collar. The brand had been building wholesale presence through 2016, and by December was firmly established at Bergdorf Goodman. The takeaway: winter is the season heavyweight silver finally earns its weight.
Wwake, the editorial pick
Wwake‘s opal-and-thread aesthetic — the small opal ear studs, the threadbar earrings, the asymmetric necklaces — moved firmly into the editorial conversation through 2016. The Brooklyn-based brand was the third-Tuesday’s most-discussed name in our group chat, and the opal stud became the everyday earring of the season. The takeaway: a single opal stud reads more contemporary than a single diamond stud at every price tier.
Maya Brenner, gifting again
Maya Brenner‘s tiny gold initials and state pendants continued to be the under-three-hundred-dollar fine-jewellery gift answer through December. The brand’s pricing kept the gift in the comfortable range for a sister or sister-in-law, and the slimness of the pieces meant they layered cleanly with other chains. The takeaway: a single discreet initial reads more confident than a name in cursive, every time.
The gifting rules we landed on
Three rules we settled on after a year of buying. One: choose the metal temperature first; gold-toned reads warm, silver-toned reads contemporary, and mixing reads inconsistent. Two: the right gift is the piece the recipient will wear weekly, not the most-expensive piece your budget allows. Three: a piece that arrives in a velvet pouch is more memorable than a piece that arrives in a paper box. We applied these rules across nine December gifts, and not one returned. The takeaway: jewellery gifting is the most-satisfying gift category when the rules respect the recipient.
What we are wearing
Our actual winter 2016 jewellery edit, narrowed: a Foundrae strength medallion on a 14-karat chain, an Anita Ko diamond ear-cuff, a Jacquie Aiche long turquoise pendant, three Catbird threadbands, a Wwake opal stud pair, and a Maya Brenner initial pendant we never take off. We will see you on the first Tuesday of January for the new year’s monthly roundup, and on the third Tuesday of June for the next summer jewellery edit.