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The Oscars: Jewelry’s Biggest Night Shows Statement Pieces Are Still A Thing | February 12, 2020 (0 comments)
Hollywood, CA—The 2020 awards season came to its crescendo Sunday night with the 92nd Annual Academy Awards event, aka the Oscars. By now, of course, everyone knows that the Korean film Parasite was both a surprise upset win and a groundbreaking first foreign film to take away the award for Best Picture.
There was the usual round of read-into-it-what-you-will social commentaries reflected in the dress of the stars, but the best news was that the return of major jewelry we observed in earlier awards shows continued in a major way on Sunday night.
Fashion-wise, the prevalence of pink and/or a host of armor-like metallic dresses gave a nod to women’s empowerment and the ongoing push for greater equality in Hollywood. While many women-directed movies were up for various awards this year, none of the female directors themselves were nominated. Actress Natalie Portman made a statement about that by having the women’s names embroidered in gold on a cape she wore over her gold gown, while Monáe (above left) wore one of the night’s most show-stopping ensembles: a Ralph Lauren beaded metallic hooded gown, a kind of Handmaid’s-Tale-meets-Marvel-superhero mashup of female empowerment and modesty.
For jewelry lovers, however, the real message was that a massively embellished gown can indeed take massive jewelry along with it. Monáe wore four major Forevermark pieces: the massive Lace of Light diamond choker (36.54 ctw), Flower diamond ring (4.31 ctw), eternity bands (6.19 ctw), Vero Amore diamond ring (7.04 ctw), and Forevermark by Yerushalmi halo diamond stud earrings (6.36 ctw). All were in 18k white gold.
Gender-bending fashion is no longer news, nor is glittering jewelry for men. Last year, Billy Porter’s tuxedo gown was the buzz of the ball, but this year his shimmering orange and gold gown was just another gorgeous gown on the red carpet.
Billy Porter. Image: Page Six
Bigger Billie buzz went to teenage singer and Grammy sensation Billie Eilish, who wore a man-sized Chanel suit (in keeping with her usual androgynous style), accented with jet-black talon fingernails and bi-color black and chartreuse hair. Both she and Porter wore heaps of jewelry: hers, Chanel (of course) and his, Swarovski Atelier bracelets.
Billie Eilish. Image: Page Six
Meanwhile, actor Timothée Chalamet, a rising star for both his onscreen performances and his edgy choices of red-carpet attire, wore a Prada tracksuit accented with a Cartier diamond and ruby “Tradition” brooch (Image, PopSugar):
Related: 2019 Oscar Trends Include Statement Jewels and Bright, Gender-Bending Fashion
Hair jewelry made news again, whether it was Rebel Wilson’s elegant barrette, Saiorse Ronan’s Gucci diamond and emerald winged fly hair clip, or the magnificent Boucheron high jewelry headpiece, earclips, and bracelet ensemble worn by Salma Hayek (aka Mrs. François Henri Pinault). Since her husband is the founder and head of Kering, the luxury conglomerate that owns Boucheron (along with Pomellato and a host of other luxury fashion and jewelry brands) the entire company is her jewelry box. We expected nothing less.
Statement necklaces continue to rule the red carpet. Major earrings and show-stopping rings also were trends. Celebrity stylist Micaela Erlanger, who selected platinum jewelry for presenter Sigourney Weaver (below), said, “For a night as glamorous as the Oscars, I chose brilliant jewelry with megawatt sparkle. Sigourney Weaver’s earrings set in platinum added extra shine, similar to Gal Gadot, Charlize Theron and Greta Gerwig in platinum necklaces!”
Gadot and Theron’s jewelry came from Tiffany & Co., as did Camile Morrone’s. Gerwig sported Bvlgari, as did Lily Aldridge. Regina King, Idina Menzel, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and Kaitlyn Dever wore platinum from Harry Winston, while Julia Butters wore platinum from up-and-coming brand Lark & Berry London.
But you don’t have to be dressed by a stylist or married to a luxury tycoon to pull off a red-carpet look: plenty of regular jewelry-store brands were represented as well. Who wore what:
Weaver’s look featured platinum jewelry from Kwiat and Fred Leighton: her Kwiat earrings with pear shaped diamonds (12 carats each), and two estate pieces from Fred Leighton: a Cartier Art Deco bracelet with emeralds and diamonds and a 1930’s Bombe-shaped ring with diamonds by Rene Boivin.
Brad Pitt and Chris Rock both, um, rocked platinum jewelry from Kwiat and Fred Leighton as well: Pitt wore a 1920’s diamond and onyx dress set by Cartier, while Rock wore an Art Deco pinky ring with onyx and diamonds (approximately 2 ctw) by Fred Leighton, and a diamond stud earring from Kwiat. Actress Rooney Mara wore an antique Old European cut diamond twin ring from Fred Leighton, while Kelly Ripa wore platinum earrings with emerald and baguette diamonds from Kwiat.
Harry Kotlar diamonds made an appearance at the Oscars as well. Model Jasmine Tookes wore a massive diamond ring, while Adriana Lima wore Harry Kotlar diamond chandelier earrings to the Vanity Fair Oscar Party, an invitation as coveted as the awards themselves.
Jasmine Tookes, above, and Adriana Lima, below, in Harry Kotlar.
The Vanity Fair party, hosted by Radhika Jones at Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills, also featured Scarlett Johansson decked out in almost 24 carats of Forevermark jewelry valued at $200,000. She wore Forevermark Light Fall diamond earrings and a Forevermark by Dalumi diamond line bracelet (8.53 ctw), both in 18k white gold. At the Oscars themselves, Johanssen wore Forevermark x Anita Ko Exceptional Pear diamond drop earrings (26.65 ctw) and a Forevermark diamond bracelet (29.15 ctw), both in 18k white gold.
Ko, a jewelry designer who’s a darling among the fashion crowd, talked about how the Forevermark collaboration came about, and why she decided to partner on these particular pieces. “Forevermark approached me about designing some special pieces for the Oscars red carpet using diamonds from their Exceptional collection, and I was honored to take my signature design aesthetic and transform these rare, natural treasures into red-carpet worthy masterpieces. I’ve always admired Forevermark for the incredible quality of their diamonds, and I love that their diamonds are sourced responsibly and give back,” she said.
“I’m always initially inspired by the raw materials and how I can bring movement and light to the piece I am designing,” she continued. “As soon as I laid eyes on the two pear-shaped Forevermark Exceptional Diamonds, I knew the silhouette of my Olivia earrings was the perfect design to highlight the beauty of these on-of-a-kind stones.”
Not to be outdone (monetarily, at least) Reese Witherspoon (Judy) wore $1.8 million worth of Forevermark jewelry to the Vanity Fair Oscar party; a total of 68.41 carats in Forevermark by Rahaminov Asscher diamond drop earrings (36.10 ctw) and diamond line bracelet (27.02 ctw) both in platinum, and a Forevermark Journeydiamond ring set in 18k white gold (5.29 ctw).
Here's a closer look at Janelle Monae's Forevermark jewelry:
Finally, actress Chrissy Metz (This Is Us) attended the Oscars in Forevermark Frozen Beauty diamond earrings (14.87 ctw) and Cipher diamond ring (10.79 ctw), both in white gold.
While Billy Porter wore just three Swarovski bracelets at the Oscars, he wore Hearts On Fire to the MPTF Night Before The Oscars party on February 8. He wore a shimmering deep green gown with Hearts On Fire’s Copley diamond link bracelet (3.32 ctw), Aerial Victorian bypass diamond ring (3.86 ctw), Illa diamond shooting star wrap ring (5.76 ctw), all in 18k.
Other celebrities in Hearts On Fire and/or sister brand Mémoire included E! News correspondents Erin Lim and Lilliana Vasquez, actresses Kathrine Narducci, Christine Lahti, Sydney Park, Mishel Prada, and TV personality Kelly Osbourne. Lim wore Hearts On Fire’s Triplicity drop ear vines (1.52 ctw), and Mémoire’s diamond three row station tennis bracelet (7.98 ctw), both in white gold. Vazquez wore Mémoire’s shared prong twist hoops (1.47 ctw) in rose gold.
Actresses Kathrine Narducci wore Hearts On Fire’s Triplicity diamond triangle lariat necklace (0.45 ct), Lorelei floral diamond bangle (0.68 ct), and Mémoire’s crisscross diamond bangle (1.5 ctw) in yellow gold; Christine Lahti wore Hearts On Fire’s Triplicity gold and diamond cuff (4.78 ctw) in yellow gold; and Sydney Park wore HOF's pointed diamond band (0.7 ct), Gracious bezel diamond band (1.1 ctw), and Mémoire’s Geo Arts oval eternity band (5.58 ctw), all in white gold.
At the 28th Annual Elton John AIDS Foundation Academy Awards Viewing Party, Kelly Osbourne wore HOF Triplicity golden necklace with triple tiers of diamond triangles (16.9 ctw) and Enchantment diamond right hand ring (2.05 ctw) set in yellow gold, while actress Mishel Prada went to the famed Vanity Fair Oscar Party in Aerial diamond ear vines (1.46 ctw), Aerial diamond crossover right hand ring (1.0 ct), and Lorelei diamond crisscross ring (1.05 ctw) set in white gold.