Why red is such a great choice in jewelry

24 January 2015 | Esther Ligthart | Trends & Inspiration

Red is such a flamboyant color. I adore red lipstick, but don’t own a red piece of garment. It looks terrible on me. But the lipstick…ah the lipstick is so bold. It puts you out there and you need to be a confident woman wearing it with ease. Red color in jewelry is just as sassy as the red lipstick is. It’s kind of loud and out there. But so very charming and intriguing at the same time. And for those of you who like to be on trend: it's a shade of red, Marsala, that is thé color of 2015!

Marilyn Monroe, still an icon today. Beautiful and original: Sanalitro gioielli

Solange Azagury_Partridge lips collection. A fashion bracelet by Guess and Rihanna showing how to wear red with confidence!

Rubies are red

The gemstone that springs to mind when you think of red colored jewelry is of course: ruby. And it deserves that place. Ruby is a beautiful gemstone with a lot of different tones. Ruby is part of the corundum family and its color is red because it contains chrome. Natural rubies aren’t widely available…well, natural rubies of the beautiful quality that the high end jewelers look for.

Solange Azagury-Partridge ring, in the middle a beautiful poncho by YSL. The long pendant is by Valente Milano, the gemstones are agate. The necklace on the left is by John Apel and the ring underneath by Mark Schneider. The black ring is by Piropo Yogas

Magerit makes jewelry with a kind of art nouveau feeling to it. The wonderful coral pendant on top is by Felter gioielli and the lovely Ballerina ring is by Cris Porto.

There is however also a lot of appreciation for the lesser part of ruby in more fashionable jewelry.

Mauro Felter Tourmaline earrings followed by FR Hueb earrings in the middle and the ring with a big ruby is by Mary Esses. Bottom left: Dietrich Spinel ring with enamel in gold. Alessandro Fani enameled ring and a leather red pendant for your bag by YSL

My favorite red lipstick is by Chanel, I love the beauty bloggers, these often young girls have found ways to demonstrate colors of lipsticks that are really helpful! The lipstick on the right is by Lancome, and amongst the models there is Kim sporting stunning lips. Not sure about those eye lashes but the lips look very hot.

Spinel and agate, fire opals and garnet

Other red stones that we come across in jewelry are spinel and garnet. And also agate. Of course there are some more, but these ones are the most common. There are some opals that are showing a beautiful red color and then we have a huge amount of synthetic stones that we can find in gold jewelry, but more commonly in silver jewelry and of course in fashion jewelry.

How I love the Russian company: Jewellery Theatre, this pendant of a pepper with seeds in it is just delightful. The beautiful classic bracelet is by Bavna and the very important necklace with 850ct of rubies, black pearls and diamonds is fit for a queen: Andreoli

The watch and the ring are both by Louis Vuitton and the gorgeous ring on the left is by Recarlo, The ruby watch is by Chaumet

Gemologists

A gemologist will be able to tell you a lot more about the various stones, with also a lot more passion. It is a very specific area within the jewelry industry and it should be as a lot of money is at stake when evaluating a stone. I was fascinated when I visited the natural history museum in Leiden last year; Naturalis, where they had this kind of Wunderkammer…a wonder room filled with the most beautiful gemstones in their natural piece of rock….

The ring contains real feathers and like the bracelet on the left is made by ModernFlowerChild (Etsy) The red pair of sneakers is by YSL. The wonderful and impossible boots are by Charlotte Olympia and the bracelet in leather is by Les Bijoux de Ganou(Etsy). Bottom in the middle: Trollbeads and another lady that is not shy to wear red: Nicole Kidman here with hubby Keith Urban

Beautiful mexican fire opals and diamonds in a gold setting: Different Gems. The flower ring is by Carrera Y Carrera and the earrings are available on Net a Porter and are by Dolce & Gabbana

And I am more fascinated by gemstones as a piece of nature and how beautiful nature is, than in terms of value in jewelry. I must admit that I do love gemstones for the color they add and the wonderful light and energy they give to a piece of jewelry, more than I am fascinated by its price or the intensity of color ( = value). A fire opal can blow your mind away. And I love to admire it for the stone that it is. For the beauty that it showing.

So many different pieces of jewelry just to satisfy any kind of taste! this is not my taste but I am sure that in my part of the world a pendant like this is hugely appreciated: Gordon Aalto/ The necklace on the right is by Cartier and the monkey watch is made with small pieces of porcelain: Sicis

This ring is SpotlightJewelry and is just 22 dollars (Etsy) The earrings are by Irene Neuwirth and the wonderful bright dress is byRoksanda

Natural beauty

What I love about gemstones too is their history. Where they considered valuable in the past? Did people think they had magical powers? It seems that they did think that of the ruby in the Middle ages. I love these kind of sentences from a far past, in this case the bible: that a good woman outshines the value of rubies by far in the eyes of her husband.

This is true handicraft! Cut in paper and treated to be able to resist water. You can find jewelry like this on Etsy, this necklace is by Sbirotak from Bulgaria and will cost you around 30 dollar. The cute little charm is by Rosato and the fun bracelet is by Kulto.

Like a tattoo: heart by Thomas Sabo, the cufflinks are by DeGrisogono, Cara Delevigne wears jewelry and red lipstick with the utter confidence of a topmodel. I love the necklace on the right! it is by MGS and one of the big trends this years is stackable jewelry, these bracelets are by Pipo Perez

Or:…Wisdom is far more valuable than rubies. It shows how much rubies were valued already as it must have been one of the most precious things in order to make such a statement :-)

The classical taste in jewelry with a modern twist: Piaget ring, pendant by Tresor and the beautiful earrings are by Zydo

I love to see how they used it and for whom it was made. It is only now that *everyone* can afford a piece of jewelry with a diamond, sapphire, emerald or ruby in it. I know, I know…not really everyone but you get the idea. In the past this was only for the church, the very wealthy, the nobility and the kings and queens. I love the stories about how it all evolved in the past 2000-3000 years.

Stephen Webster made this collection for Dom Perignon. The ring in the middle is by Bavna and the rings are by Crivelli, the stone is more pink than red and it is indeed a pink sapphire. The ring with black scorpio's on the left is by Magerit, the Pallavi Foley earrings with rubies, diamonds and fresh water pearls, the ring with the heart and the blood drop is by Dior and is from the Cupidon collection. The stones are diamonds and spinel

Both pictures are so hot!...The ladies on the left are Victoria's angels and are wearing bejeweled bra's, the ring on the right is by DeGrisogono and is just : WOW!

Red = instant confidence

Wearing red jewelry is indeed sometimes like wearing a red lipstick. A classical ruby ring may not give that idea perhaps, but red is not the most obvious choice for many people. I am always intrigued to see women (or men) wearing something that I simply would not expect immediately. It is like Lydia Courteille said: a woman that wears nice clothes, classic and poised and then shows this enormous extravagant ring ( fake or real) is immensely fascinating.

Solange Azagury-Partridge lips collection, I adore her designs. The paper birds, how lovely are they?! are by J9Illustrations and are available on Etsy and are just 25 euro. The bracelet with the flowers is also from Etsy and is by ModernFlowerChild.

She communicates that she does obey society but she has a secret side to her…It’s like a wink.

Every time I see the richness in colors and the spectular women I think I need to write a lot more about India and the Indian jewelry industry. I am trying to dig into it, so you will read something soon!. This pictures are by Gintanjali who does beautiful jewelry shows. In the middle DeGrisogono. The pendant below on the left is by Mousson Maison. In the middle we have Abhusana earrings and the stunning earrings on the right side are by the Russian company: Jewellery Theatre

And this is why you should go for red jewelry:

If you are seeking for something different next time and flowers and animals aren’t your thing, nor are skulls or other slightly more eccentric designs, then seek for something red. It will surprise you how it will change your mood for the better. You see, it has this very special power : every time you look at it…it winks back at you ;-)