From enchanted wildernesses to juicy gemstones, this season’s most exciting jewellery stories are brimming with imagination, heritage and heart. In this special edit, Marie Claire spotlights ten noteworthy moments in the world of fine jewellery — and the creative forces behind them.
We celebrate four glittering decades of Kiki McDonough’s vibrant creations, dive into Carolina Bucci’s meaningful charity partnership, and marvel at Sophie Bille Brahe’s cosmic diamond dreamscapes. From one-of-a-kind engagement rings to painterly enamelled lockets, these are the pieces to treasure now and forever. This season’s jewellery blends the traditional with the contemporary, the refined with the playful, and brings together craftsmanship with purpose. Whether you're searching for something sentimental, sustainable or simply spectacular, this is your definitive guide to what’s new (and beautifully handcrafted) right now.
1. Where The Wild Things Are
A childhood spent exploring the “tangled” Suffolk wilderness has given Alex Monroe endless inspiration for his whimsical jewellery designs, as well as a lifelong appreciation for nature. Now, Monroe has collaborated with The Garden Museum in London on a new exhibition called ‘Into The Wild’, which examines and celebrates five endangered habitats across the UK. Working with floral designer Hazel Gardiner, Monroe has handcrafted silver plant sculptures (one adorned with rubies) to represent each environment, which will be displayed alongside sketches and studies that document his creative process – all designed to encourage reflection on local conservation and the connection between our environment and mental wellbeing. At the same time, the jeweller will launch a 20-piece capsule collection called Wild Botany, with statement designs inspired by the British countryside.
‘Into the Wild’ at the Garden Museum in London will run between 1st May – 1st June 2025. Visit gardenmuseum.org.uk and alexmonroe.com.
2. A Life in Jewellery
This June, British jeweller Kiki McDonough celebrates 40 years in business in suitably colourful style. Renowned for her bold use of vivid gemstones such as fire opals and peridots – which has won her legions of devoted fans, including Queen Camilla and the Princess of Wales – McDonough will debut a collection of reissued archival designs taken from the past four decades. These and many of her other bestselling pieces will also go on display at London’s Saatchi Gallery on June 3rd and 4th as part of an anniversary exhibition, before being transferred to the Kiki McDonough flagship in Sloane Square. Alongside this, the jeweller will publish her first memoir entitled A Life of Colour, in which she shares many of her favourite, and most colourful, moments from her remarkable career so far.
Visit saatchigallery.com to book tickets or visit kiki.co.uk.
3. A Friend Indeed
Florentine jeweller Carolina Bucci is famous for her signature Lucky friendship bracelets, which are crafted using delicate 18k gold chains handwoven with colourful silk threads. This year, Bucci has collaborated with the Art of Wishes charity on three limited-edition Lucky bracelets featuring charms representing magic, courage or hope. Proceeds from the sale of each design – created with the aid of children involved in the charity – will benefit the UK’s Make-A-Wish Foundation, supporting children facing critical illness.
£195 each, with £100 from each sale going to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Available from 29th April at carolinabucci.com.
4. All for love
On the hunt for a truly unique engagement or commitment ring? From now until 28th June, one of the UK’s finest independent jewellery boutiques, Tomfoolery London, is hosting a special showcase entirely dedicated to all things LOVE. Curated by creative director Laura Kay, the LOVE Ring Showcase features one-off designs by an international roster of contemporary jewellers including Brooke Gregson, Alison Macleod, Ruth Tomlinson and WWake, plus original and alternative bridal jewels that even the biggest wedding refuseniks won’t be able to resist.
Visit tomfoolerylondon.co.uk or visit Tom Foolery, 109 Fortis Green Road, Muswell Hill, London, N10 3HP.
5. Modern Heritage
The discovery of a cache of primeval artefacts, including weaponry, on her grandparents’ farm in North West Scotland two years ago was a huge surprise to Ellis Mhairi Cameron, and has provided endless narratives for her textured gold jewellery since. Her expressive new bridal designs (think rugged, thick commitment bands set with earthy-coloured diamonds, asymmetric drop earrings and shield-like ring jackets) seem totally timeless, as wearable today as they would have been in ancient times – a testament to Cameron’s exacting eye for beautiful detail and to the enormous talismanic power of heirlooms to carry our emotions, hopes and loves throughout the ages.
Available at ellismhairicameron.com.
6. Family Values
For many years, Jessie Thomas worked from a space on London’s Pimlico Road previously occupied by her father, the celebrated goldsmith David Thomas, who ran the boutique for over four decades. But this May, the fine jeweller is flying the nest and opening her own standalone flagship on Linnell Street near Sloane Square. Divided into a 250-square-foot store - housing Jessie’s elegantly refined ready-to-wear engagement rings and jewellery collections – plus a modern workspace where she will craft her designs, the space signals a fresh phase in the evolution of Jessie’s career – albeit one that’s still a stone’s throw from her sparkling roots.
Visit jessiethomasjewellery.com to find out more.
7. Juicy Fruits / Salad Days
Fresh from her atelier, Jessica McCormack’s Fruit Salad collection is an evocation of summer at its juiciest and most playful. Vibrant, carefully colour-matched gemstones have intricately set in McCormack’s signature blackened white gold to create the voluminous look and feel of plump cherries, sunny lemons, sweet peaches, juicy apples and ripe pears, which hang temptingly from diamond necklaces and Gypset earrings. Pick of the crop is a unique 20.25-carat pear-shaped emerald suspended from a yellow gold ball-and-chain necklace. Utterly delicious.
Available at jessicamccormack.com, prices from £3,500.
8. Seeing Stars
“I’ve always seen diamonds as stars, and it’s exactly how I feel when I work with them – like I’m shaping a star,” claims the Danish jeweller Sophie Bille Brahe. “I’ve spent so many hours looking at the night sky, it felt right to create a collection around it.” Brahe’s latest collection, entitled Starry Sky, reimagines these heavenly bodies as precious gemstones. Think asymmetric arrangements of round and oval cut diamonds (a first for the designer) which shimmer like cosmic clusters, plus descending pearl drops as luminous as the Milky Way.
Available at sophiebillebrahe.com.
9. Painterly Paradise
Where do the worlds of nautical tattoos and Medieval artists collide? In the work of historian-turned-jeweller Cece Fein Hughes, who was first inspired to create hand-enamelled jewels after musing on the tattoo-like qualities of a piece in the V&A Museum, and whose designs are now worn by Taylor Swift, Gigi Hadid and Dakota Fanning. Her latest collection, Triptych, takes its cues from the dreamlike paintings of the 15th-century Dutch artist, Hieronymus Bosch, whose depictions of ecstasy and the underworld have been reinterpreted as delicate insect, botanical and romantic motifs on golden lockets, chunky signet rings and heavenly, diamond-studded charms.
Available at cecejewellery.com.
10. Into the Archive
With gold prices soaring ever higher, jewellers are re-discovering the beauty of working with cool, contemporary silver. None more so than the inimitable Nina Runsdorf, who is celebrating 20 years in business by revisiting some of her earliest designs for her new collection, which she has named ‘Archive’. Smooth sterling silver disc earrings, chunky cocktail rings set with ochre-hued topaz, linear cuffs and graphic bracelets hark back silvery silhouettes imagined by Runsdorf at her very first jewellery bench, which she installed at her family’s farmhouse at the tender age of 18. “It means even more to me now that my own daughter has joined my company. We’ve been working together for four years, and I get such joy from her ideas and her enthusiasm,” Runsdorf says.
Available at ninarunsdorf.com.
