What may be less well known is that shells also date back in jewelry to the dawn of civilization and probably even before that. While mollusks may not have been as high-profile of late as the other eternal jewelry motifs, they are heating up again now like a mid-summer day. And it feels so right.

Combing for seashells along the seashore and putting them on some kind of necklace must be an instinct buried deep in our DNA. The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s collection of ancient shell jewelry supports this idea. It includes shells fashioned into elaborate designs from Egypt’s Middle Kingdom period. Simple puka shell necklaces were made back then too. Even examples of gold shell motifs are in the museum’s Egyptian holdings.

Much more recently shells can be found in mid-20^th century fine jewelry. Perhaps the most well-known examples are the Lion’s Paw shells the Italian duke Fulco di Verdura set in gold brooches with gems. New York designer Seaman Schepps also produced turbo shell earrings wrapped in a gold wire. And there were countless gold shell styles made in the last century.

Now several COUTURE designers—CADAR, DEZSO by SARA BELTRAN, JENNA BLAKE, and SILVIA FURMANOVICH—are carrying on the shell tradition and adding their own dazzling spins to the concept. See what I mean below.

Silvia Furmanovich

Famous for her fearless use of alternative materials, Silvia Furmanovich has brought wood, bamboo, lacquer and horse mane into her iconoclastic fine jewelry. She seeks out the master craftsmen who specialize in each material and comes up with creative ways to incorporate them into her jewelry designs.

For her shell pieces, Silvia has taken a very light handed approach. After finding the most interesting and unusual specimens made by Mother Nature, she just adds a smattering of diamonds here and there before setting them in a ring, bracelet or earrings. On occasion she pairs the shells with a beautifully chosen stone to coordinate or contrast with the colors.

Dezso by Sara Beltran

If you follow Dezso designer Sara Beltran on Instagram you might think she lived on beachfront property and not in New York City because pictures of her on the sand and her perfectly sun-kissed skin is what fills her feed. The beach also clearly nourishes her creativity.

Sara’s visual logo is a black shark fin. Her pendants people obsessively collect include carved gem seahorses, starfish and all kinds of aquatic themes. More than any other motif, however, the line includes shells. Real shells set in gold and styles carved from gems are strung along her gold neck wires, cord necklaces and anklets. There is also a slew of puka shell choker necklaces in the collection.

While it all might sound bohemian, there’s an elegance to it. Sara works exclusively in a neutral palette with pops of red. This means the styles function just as well in the city as in the sand.

Cadar

Many of the collections Cadar has created are based on ancient motifs they’ve made modern in all gold. There are snakes and flowers, hearts and feathers. Shells also feature in the line.

The divine designs include necklaces and bracelets with multiple shells and larger pieces with one big shell. There is even a big shell ring that opens like a bivalve shell with two parts. The secret spot inside of the “cocktail ring”  is engraved “where love flies free.”

Jenna Blake

Jenna Grosfeld, the creator of Jenna Blake, is a collector of vintage jewelry as well as being a jewelry designer. When she is looking to the past she doesn’t limit her acquisitions to just one period. Instead she gravitates to what she loves from eras as different as the Victorian and the 1970s. This maximalist all-encompassing approach comes across in the range of her work.

For her shell designs, Jenna is clearly tapping into her 1970s self. There are real seashells and gold ones among the collection. All have accents in easy breezy light colors and serve the good beachy vibes.