What does any of this have to do with jewelry? Well, I have noticed the rise in popularity of jewelry that tells stories for a few years now and have been calling it “narrative jewelry.” Though the term isn’t widely used, I think it should be. The category stretches back in history to the dawn of civilization when cameos and intaglios and gold jewelry featured gods from Greek mythology. In fact, I think narrative jewelry would make a great and popular exhibition at the Lucas Museum.

Many COUTURE designers tell stories in their jewelry. Find out about pieces from the imaginative collections of EDINA KISS, FRANCESCA VILLA, NEVER NOT and TEMPLE ST. CLAIR below.

Francesca Villa

The tagline emblazoned across the landing page of Francesca Villa’s website reads, “Finely crafted jewelry with stories to tell.” Engaging and unexpected, the Italian designer’s narratives dive into the territory of comic books and romance novels.

Cartoon characters Popeye, Batman and the Green Hornet come to life in Vari-Vue lenticulars that Francesca sets in diamond pendants. In her reverse carved Essex crystals painted in enamel, themes range from mid-20^th century style pin-up girls to boys fishing with a rod and reel.

The title of the designer’s most recent collection, Change Your Stripes, hints at the fact that there is more than one part to the story in the jewels. The rings, for example, swivel with a vintage resin cameo on one side and a painted miniature on the other. In the Snaking Beauty ring a nymph and a fawn cover the cameo and a snake is depicted on the miniature.

Temple St. Clair

Temple St. Clair was born in Virginia and lives in Manhattan. Florence, Italy, where she established her label 40 years ago, is her home away from home. The essence of the city, as the birthplace of the Renaissance, flows through Temple’s collection. Her signature crystal and gold amulets allude to dreamy historical narratives, as do the celestial designs she explores.

Temple’s Arcadia Animals, which are sculptural pendants that come in small medium and large sizes, maintain a Renaissance spirit while simultaneously looking to a different part of the world. They are based on the designer’s drawings from her trips to Kenya. Fully three dimensional the cheetah, elephant, giraffe and hippopotamus have flowers and birds from the landscape engraved on their bodies adding to the narrative of the jewels.

The story about the baby lion, Simba, that he is emerging from tall grass, is implied by the long blades depicted on his back legs. His name also immediately conjures up The Lion King and the famous opening call from the “Circle of Life” song, “Nants ingonyama bagithi baba.”

Never Not

Never Not’s collection features carefully selected, somewhat unlikely themes that imply great adventures. Co-founder and designer Nina Dzhokhadze’s most well-known creations are a series of luxurious gold suitcase pendants, which now come in mini carry-on sizes. Each features different gem patterns and sometimes motifs implying various places to travel and the experiences that can be had on a journey.

People searching for something unique have embraced the luggage, including Travis Kelce, who bought the Touch Down design for Taylor Swift. Although the title of the piece refers to a plane landing, the Kansas City tight end might have been thinking of the kind of action that happens in the end zone when he saw it.

This year at COUTURE Never Not launched Turn It Up, a series of gold and gem-set boombox pendants. The motif instantly suggests travel back in time to the 1980s and ‘90s when the portable cassette players were popular in the city streets. Of course, they conjure up music, which is always a vibe shift. The titles of pieces take it further into a mood. The “Making Noise” and “Let’s Go Dancing” designs both have loud colorful gem combinations. “Smooth Operator” features an unadorned gold surface on the boombox and understated gemstones with just a few diamonds.

Edina Kiss

Last fall, Edina Kiss, a California-based designer with the heart of an artist, launched her line of bold, gold and gem-set creations. The whimsical work, which is impeccably manufactured in New York, exudes a sense of comedy and drama.

Edina’s face pendants would fit right into a Dr. Seuss book. Her hoop earrings of face silhouettes look like two people in a conversation I really want to eavesdrop on. Her drip popsicle earrings evoke a fabulous summer day.

And the carefully crafted roller skate pendants are the kind of conversation starter that might just make a stranger or an old friend tell you a great story, like how they used to go to Skate Circle in Central Park and get down with the best of them.

Marion Fasel writes about contemporary trends and jewelry history in The Adventurine newsletter on Substack. The author of 11 books focusing on 20th-century jewelry design, Marion’s most recent publication, The History of Diamond Engagement Rings, was named “One of the best coffee table books for 2026” by The Wall Street Journal.