by Ann Covode
With the Oscars approaching this week, movie fans are anxiously awaiting their favorite stars on the Red Carpet. Last year’s Oscars featured jewelry looks from all of the famous jewelry houses as well as smaller designers. A couple of standouts last year included earrings that Jane Fonda wore from Chopard and Elizabeth Moss from Harry Winston. Whether you are a “Book Club” fan or “Handmaid’s Tale” the jewelry looks on the runway are always exciting! This year you might look for Laura Harrier, an Evanston native, on the red carpet for her role in Spike Lee’s “Black Klansman”.
Laura Harrier at the Cannes festival 2018.
We all look forward to the Oscars at this time of year. Maybe it gives us a break from the grey skies and the cold and snow? It’s always fun to see our favorite stars dressed up wearing sumptuous gowns and jewelry. What dress and jewelry will the stars be wearing this year?
The dress at the 2018 Oscars were much more colorful than the blackout statement at the Golden Globes, except when it came to the jewels. Diamonds and white metals were the overwhelming favorite among the stars at the Oscars. The other major trend on the Oscars red carpet was sparkling drop earrings, particularly pear shaped gems or filigree designs. Necklaces were not as prevalent as in past years but those that did appear were sparkling Diamond statements.
Jane Fonda in Chopard jewels
Elizabeth Moss in Harry Winston
Oscar red carpet favorite, Nicole Kidman, a presenter at the 90th Annual Academy Awards, was adorned in more than 84 carats of Harry Winston diamonds, including Winston Cluster Diamond Chandelier Earrings (23.52 carats)
Before Oscar jewelry became big business, Gwyneth Paltrow wore her own bracelet (made by pal Cathy Waterman) to the awards in 1999.
Vince Bucci/AFP/Getty Images |Steve Starr/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images.
In early 1999, Gwyneth Paltrow was the hottest commodity in Hollywood. When the blond ingénue won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in “Shakespeare in Love,” she propelled her status even higher — and took her friend, the Los Angeles-based jeweler Cathy Waterman, with her. “It had a strong impact on my business,” Waterman says of that night. Paltrow had plucked a delicate mesh floral bracelet, made of diamonds and sapphires, from her own personal collection to wear on the red carpet.
At the time, relationships between actresses and jewelers were casual and intimate. “An actress would reach out to me directly and ask to borrow a piece for an event. Because I had an unlisted number [and no storefront], it was usually someone that I already had a relationship with,” she says, noting that with the “warm and charming” Paltrow, “I remember asking her at one point if she baby-sat.”
Eve Alfillé has created some red carpet worthy statement pieces in her many years as a jewelry designer. Her “Pure Sugar” collar necklace is one such piece. As a child Eve talks about being captivated with rock candy. While her friends devoured the sweet treat she ate it very slowly because she was so fascinated by the shape of it.
This sweet confection is composed of raw natural beryl crystals. She was drawn to their unpolished angular forms. She likens the pieces of this necklace to siblings, all of whom must work to get along.
The centerpiece of the necklace Eve describes as an “explosion” to mimic the high you get with that much sugar! It is a mélange of carefully balanced forms and colors of gems including a faceted moonstone, a Ceylon moonstone rectangle, a triangular moonstone (clasp), a square-cut sapphire, 2 oval sapphires, an aquamarine segment, a pear-shape beryl, a teal tourmaline, drusy malachite, and the sparkle of 4 tiny diamonds.with uniquely cut aquamarine along with sapphires and moonstones. The moonstones represent the glow that stays with you after you’ve eaten it! $10,800
Going forward through the 1980s, extraordinary jewels at awards shows were still few and far between. Stars wore their own, more modest pieces, or even costume jewelry. And if they borrowed, it was usually because “there was a personal relationship [with the jeweler],” Fasel explains. “Before [the ’90s], lending was really reserved for editorial purposes,” Rebecca Selva, Fred Leighton’s chief creative officer and P.R. director, tells The Post. The benefits of supplying jewels for glossy photo shoots were obvious, as the brand’s name would appear in the pages of top magazines. But at that time, no one was asking Oscar nominees about their outfits on the red carpet. The publicity opportunities were indirect, at best.
Comedienne Joan Rivers helped change all that in 1994, when she created a show for the burgeoning E! network, called “Live From the Red Carpet,” in which Rivers, a jewelry lover, asked questions about the pieces the actresses wore. Joan Rivers — seen here at the Oscars “Live from the Red Carpet” on E! in 1996 — ushered in the era of red carpet jewelry-watching.
Another Oscar worthy pair are Eve’s “Seville” Earrings and “Suprising Thaw” necklace.
Eve’s spectacular “Seville” earrings from her Antiquities series were inspired by the opulence of the Spanish Renaissance Court. She envisioned the maidens of the court in their corset bodice dresses and big skirts wearing these earrings. The new world yielded pearls and gold and the opulence was on view everywhere in their dress and architecture. The rosy colored pearls and the rose cut diamonds give a nod to that era as well.
These one of a kind earrings feature a beautiful pair of rosey-bronze cultured mabé pearls in the center of the 18k gold elements with a pair of teardrop shaped rose-cut diamonds surrounded by 18k gold granulation in the permanently attached earwires. Suspended from sides are 4 freshwater cultured pearls which flutter & dance. Suspended at the bottom are 2 tiny cultured Akoya pearls and a pair of tiny shimmering faceted diamond briolettes which quiver and shine as you move and talk. $4350
“Surprising Thaw” Necklace. When Eve saw these rose and bronze colored south sea pearls she was immediately drawn to them. To capitalize on their color she introduced lighter pinker tones with Lake Kazumiga pearls and morganite pieces. Morganite, a favorite of J.P. Morgan, legendary financier, the stone was named after him when discovered on a mining expedition he financed in Brazil. The effect is a subtle mix of color that accents your skin tone beautifully. The clasp interlocks in 18K pink gold to bring together this iridescent masterpiece. $15,300.
What will you be wearing for the Oscars?
