Rapaport Magazine
Style & Design

Go big or go home

Designers are flaunting large diamonds in their collections, employing artful strategies to keep them both stunning and tasteful.

By Rachel Taylor

Image: Shutterstock.

To mark the opening of its flagship in Tokyo at the close of 2021, Graff rolled out an extra-special piece: the Infinity tiara. At the center of this swirling diadem is one of the largest heart-shaped diamonds in existence, weighing 157.80 carats.

While most do not have access to stones of such magnitude, there is pent-up demand for sizable diamonds in the market right now, allowing designers to experiment with ever-larger rocks. The question is, how can they up the carat count without tipping into vulgarity?

One option is a type of herd immunity: By using many important diamonds in a single piece, as Fernando Jorge does in his High Flare suite, designers can hide larger stones in plain sight, making them seem somehow less ostentatious than they would be alone. Other jewelers are choosing to set sizable stones in edgier designs than would have been traditional for such important gems — inverted or tilted cuts, unusual settings rather than a simple solitaire, a celebration of fancy colors.

Today’s high-carat shoppers want more than a commodity; they want a piece of precious art. By balancing design with gemological opulence, jewelers avoid the risk of big bling looking dated and out of touch.

Tiffany & Co.Schlumberger L’Envol diamond and platinum brooch with two marquise diamonds totaling more than 10 carats.
tiffany.com


Fernando JorgeHigh Flare earrings in 18-karat Fairmined gold with 16.82 carats of pear-shaped diamonds.
fernandojorge.co.uk


Le vianCouture ring in platinum and Honey gold with a 6.50-carat Sunny Yellow diamond and Vanilla diamonds.
levian.com


MessikaMagnetic Attraction earrings in 18-karat gold and diamonds, including 25.69 carats of pear-shaped, fancy-yellow diamonds.
messika.com


ForevermarkDrop earrings in platinum and 18-karat yellow gold with 10.43 carats of vivid-yellow diamonds and additional diamonds.
forevermark.com


Chanel55.55 necklace in 18-karat gold and diamonds, with an octagonal, 55.55-carat diamond at the center.
chanel.com


Harwell GodfreyTennis necklace in 18-karat gold with 13.10 carats of diamonds.
harwellgodfrey.com


Emma Clarkson WebbRing in 18-karat yellow gold centering a yellow diamond with old mine cushion-cut diamonds on either side, in a Georgian setting with a black rhodium finish.
emmacwebb.com


Sarah HoA round-brilliant, 8.52-carat diamond in a ring made of the brand’s bespoke titanium-aluminum alloy.
shojewellery.com

Article from the Rapaport Magazine - January 2022. To subscribe click here.

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