How did hoops make the transition to year-round jewelry? To pick up on the basketball analogy that inevitably accompanies hoops, it’s like they went from a free throw to a three-pointer or one of those half-court shots Caitlin Clark makes with ease. In other words, designers have played with hoops, adding features and unexpected details, changing proportions and generally reinventing the style.

Several COUTURE talents have an incredible hoops game. EMILY P. WHEELER, JENNA BLAKE, NIKOS KOULIS and SILVIA FURMANOVICH all make hoops that elevate the everyday and go right into fabulous evenings. The kind of memorable nights that define the new season and raise my enthusiasm for the adventures the fall brings.

Silvia Furmanovich

There’s nothing in jewelry-land quite like Silvia Furmanovich’s collection. The Brazilian iconoclast discovers all kinds of master craftsmen in far-flung corners of the world and then works with them to tell vivid stories through the techniques they use such as hand-painted miniatures and marquetry. Generally, Silvia’s earrings, rings and pendants are shaped like flat canvases to depict a narrative. But her hoops are different. They are big, but there is still much less space than she usually has on the tubular form to express her ideas.

Not surprisingly, Silvia manages to get her lyrical points across clearly on her wide wonderful and oversized hoops. The pieces are covered with colorful lacquer and illuminated with gold motifs such as snakes, suns, moons and stars.

Nikos Koulis

One easy way to understand the level of Nikos Koulis’s talent is to simply take a look at the hoops in his collection. It will take a minute. He has many more than you see here. All of them are something special.

There are styles split between gold spheres and chain patterns. Huge diamonds light up his utterly unique wide blackened gold hoops. Little circles hang from some of the big hoops. Diamonds seem to defy gravity at the center of translucent enamel squares in special styles. Even the simplest hoops in Nikos’ collection prove not so basic with subtle details like rope patterns. The wealth of imagination and ideas proves, as if there were any doubt, the Greek designer is something of a mastermind.

Emily P. Wheeler

Last summer when Barbiecore was everything, I thought Emily P. Wheeler captured the style perfectly in her collection. When I saw her work at COUTURE earlier this summer, my first thought was that the designs were like the jewelry equivalent of Taylor Swift’s costumes on the Eras tour. But then I realized, it’s just Emily being Emily. Her jewelry reflects a joyful soul with gems in a rainbow of colors.

When it comes to hoops, Emily has lots of ombre-set gems in pretty pastels. Being the cool Californian that she is, she suggests layering and maybe even throwing in a matching ear cuff; the look is like an endless summer in the form of jewelry.

Jenna Blake

Variety is the spice of Jenna Blake’s jewelry collection. She serves up any number of styles to match the many moods we all have. When it comes to hoops Jenna works in a medium to small size range. While the small huggie scale can veer towards a classic mode in the hands of a lesser designer, Jenna keeps things interesting with gems.

Bezel-set diamonds punctuate wider styles and thinner ones feature prong-set gems. Then there are the pyramid-shaped turquoise and lapis accented with diamonds that line her medium hoops. These stunners are just the kind of jewels you can imagine pairing with a sundress or, well, just about anything in your fall wardrobe.