W
here do trends come from? First, several designers must independently think along the same lines, capturing a mood and translating it into their creations. Then, somehow, it has to be catapulted into the atmosphere to feel like the right look at the right time. This can happen when an editor, like yours truly, notices it across collections. It can come together when one celebrity, or better still, two or three, turn up in the mode. For me, a trend can also be like a lightbulb going off over my head when I see a friend wearing something beautifully.
Header image features Buddha Mama
In a constellation of stunning jewels at the GEM Awards, there was such a beautiful message to those stars.
Selim Mouzannar
Image courtesy of Emily P Wheeler
At the 2026 GEM Awards, which is like the jewelry world’s equivalent of the Oscars, the statuesque Amanda Gizzi, Senior Vice President of Corporate Affairs of Jewelers of America, sparkled plenty in a pavé-set diamond star necklace from Buddha Mama that she paired with a strapless, long black dress. In a constellation of stunning jewels at the GEM Awards, there was such a beautiful message to those stars. They burned on my brain like a comet crossing the sky.
Image courtesy of Anna Maccieri Rossi
A few days after the GEM Awards, I saw the sci-fi film Project Hail Mary starring Ryan Gosling. The plot revolves around stars. They weren’t jewelry stars, but they kept my mind in the heavens. I realized how many great classic five point stars were in the collections of COUTURE designers right now. See some of the various ways ANNA MACCIERI ROSSI, BUDDHA MAMA, EMILY P. WHEELER, HARWELL GODFREY and SELIM MOUZANNAR are making stars part of their work.
Image courtesy of Anna Maccieri Rossi
Anna Maccieri Rossi
A watch designer for over 15 years, Anna Maccieri Rossi communicates messages about the importance of time through her jewelry. The Latin phrase “carpe diem” is engraved on the back of her pendants and the idea of seizing the day is reimagined in a star motif that turns like a second hand on the front. “I feel like the mechanism that makes watches tick is magical,” the Italian designer explains. “And I wanted to apply that type of magic to jewelry.”
Image courtesy of Anna Maccieri Rossi
The star motif soars throughout other pieces in Anna’s collection. They can be found at the middle of black and white mother of pearl hoop earrings that echo the concept of a moon phase complication on a watch. Little stars are a also at the top center of her Half An Hour Earrings.
Image courtesy of Anna Maccieri Rossi
Image courtesy of Anna Maccieri Rossi
Image courtesy of Buddha Mama
Buddha Mama
Everything Nancy Badia and her daughter Dakota design for their Buddha Mama collection feels like it reaches for the stars. Meaning, it is over-the-top-fun. They make playful pieces that others wouldn’t dare to do like ginormous gem-set, enamel and diamond and 22K gold evil eye rings and enormous enamel and diamond Happy Buddha pendants.
Image courtesy of Buddha Mama
The Buddha Mama diamond star jewels, as I mentioned above, are next level. They are strung along in lines on necklaces and bracelets, like the Big Dipper. There are also super single star rings.
Image courtesy of Buddha Mama
Image courtesy of Buddha Mama
Image courtesy of Emily P Wheeler
Emily P. Wheeler
Emily P. Wheeler clearly has a 1970s soul. All her jewels dance with a disco vibe, but her Shooting Star Collection really highlights that side of her character. Emily’s stars are composed of bold gold and pink, blue and purple gems. Each of the stones is cut in kite shapes that fit together in gold settings to form a star.
Image courtesy of Emily P Wheeler
There are “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” stud earrings and single star bracelets. Bigger star bracelets and rings with long, star-shaped tails that wrap around the finger and wrist also exist in Emily’s celestial sphere. These special pieces feature colorful gems on the tails like the ionized vapors that trail a shooting star.
Image courtesy of Emily P Wheeler
Image courtesy of Emily P Wheeler
Image courtesy of Harwell Godfrey
Harwell Godfrey
Lauren Harwell Godfrey, the creative force behind, Harwell Godfrey never just has one single thing her jewels represent. She builds full narratives behind the pieces that set such a magical mood. When I look at her Supernova Cocktail Ring, I can’t help but think of yet another story. Except it’s from the movies.
Image courtesy of Harwell Godfrey
Remember the pendant the cat named Orion wore on its collar in Men in Black that had the Arquilian Galaxy inside it? Well, the way Lauren has subtly tucked all those stars under that big pearl feels like a whole Arquilian Galaxy could be hidden inside that big pearl.
Image courtesy of Selim Mouzannar
Selim Mouzannar
Gazing upon Selim Mouzannar’s stars with the diamonds lit up by colorful gems gives the feeling of romantic treasures. It’s easy to imagine the single star rings or big star bracelets in a jewelry box of a woman in love during the distant past.
Image courtesy of Selim Mouzannar
They are the type of thing you just know Robert Browning would’ve given his wife Elizabeth Barrett-Browning. After all he wrote her a poem titled “My Star” which had the phrases a “dart of red” and a “dart of blue.” The poem suggests personal and emotional connections matter above all. He was a man with stars in his eyes.
Image courtesy of Selim Mouzannar
Image courtesy of Selim Mouzannar
Image courtesy of Harwell Godfrey
Marion Fasel writes about history and contemporary trends 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.
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