Dragon bling: red jewellery trends for Lunar New Year – Armani, Van Cleef & Arpels, Bottega Veneta and Boucheron release lucky-coloured collections just in time for the Chinese Year of the Dragon
- Ferragamo, Armani, Bottega Veneta, Boucheron and Anita Ko all have new rings, bracelets and earrings chiming with the season, showcasing rubies, carnelians, spinels, rubellites and rhodolites
- ‘In addition to red-coloured gems and crystals, materials such as lacquer, enamel and coral have been used to create different textures and shades,’ says Libby Page, market director of Net-a-Porter
Since the autumn/winter 2023 shows, designers have been busy painting the runways red – not just with clothes, but with eye-popping jewellery too.
At Ferragamo, designer Maximilian Davis matched his sleek all-black looks with chunky red resin collars, while Giorgio Armani chose vibrant rosettes to decorate statement earrings for his haute couture show.
Reinforcing this trend is the fact that red is always in at this time of year with Asian buyers as we near the Lunar New Year, which falls in early February in 2024. As a particularly auspicious colour, it is widely worn by all, affecting sales of jewellery as well as fashion and watches.
Beyond Lunar New Year, jewellery designers continue to see red for spring/summer 2024, offering some respite from the all-black looks that have dominated the runways. While the colour is widely associated with love and romance, often resulting in more delicate, feminine pieces, the latest offerings couldn’t be more different.
Spring’s red-hued jewels are on the bolder side, creating a more confident look. Take for example Bottega Veneta’s Armour earrings and matching necklace, reminiscent of dragon’s scales. Red enamel, applied by hand, highlights their sculptural, contemporary shape. Also making a fashionable statement with red is Italian jeweller Sabbadini, whose 18k rose gold and bronze earrings have been coated with vibrant red lacquer.
“Top jewellery designers have created playful and uplifting red pieces. In addition to red-coloured gems and crystals, materials such as lacquer, enamel and coral have been used to create different textures and shades, perfectly complementing the ultimate primary palette looks,” says Libby Page, market director of Net-a-Porter.