Modern diamonds aren’t meant to be left in the jewellery box they are made to be worn. All the time.
Diamonds have long been considered a staple of a well rounded jewellery box, either as a reality or as an aspiration. However, in recent years, these desirable gemstones have been experiencing an image makeover. A generation ago, diamonds, with the exception of an engagement ring, were kept for best; they were the stones worn after dark, designed to glitter in candlelight, to complement a dress that was little and black. No longer.
Just as these days it is perfectly acceptable to wear couture with Converse (see Rooney Mara at the 2020 Oscars for inspiration) and pair high street with high fashion, diamonds are now most definitely for every day. And why shouldn’t they be? These are stones associated with love, glamour, brilliance – the ideal thing to cheer up a dull day or make a simple outfit sparkle.
Now we’ve established that diamonds need to see the light of day, the only debate is how do you wear them? The stones themselves can be pretty uniform in terms of their looks – lit as if by an internal fire, usually white – which is especially true if you’re buying pieces set with Mappin & Webb’s stones, which are always of premium colour, cut, and clarity. But how you choose to style them is where these stones can become unique.
Let’s start with the tennis bracelet; the style so named because US tennis star Chris Evert used to wear a diamond bracelet on court – and you can’t really get more “everyday diamonds” than that. It’s a classic piece of jewellery but it can still be imbued with personality. Mappin & Webb have refined the design of this luxurious line bracelet with an open setting to encourage optimum diamond sparkle and to ensure the stones lay smooth around the wrist, with no flipping. The fastening also has a double catch for additional security while still remaining delicate. It is available in a succession of carats – two and five carats in either yellow or white gold, right through from two carats to 10.2 carats in either yellow or white gold. This not only gives you options as to how much diamond to display, but also whether you go slim and stack with other stone-set or precious metal designs or style the seven (carats) solo and let the diamonds do the talking.
For maximum impact, you could pair the bracelet with Mappin & Webb’s five-carat tennis necklace; it’s a knock-out combination, which would make even jeans and a t-shirt look like the last word in luxury.
If you like your designs to match, FOPE’s Aria collection has the perfect pair – a delicate white-gold lariat necklace with the clasp set with diamonds complemented beautifully by dainty drop earrings. Both designs feature FOPE’s new signature – a precious metal cylinder engraved with the brand’s logo, the “O” of which has a tiny diamond in its centre. It’s one of those playful details for which FOPE is renowned. Both designs are a fabulous way to add sparkle to a stack but could just as easily be styled solo.
It’s your choice. Because, at Mappin & Webb, diamonds are all about how you like to shine. So, how do you?
Explore our diamond jewellery here at Mappin & Webb online or visit us in store at one of our showrooms where our jewellery experts will be delighted to help you.
Author Credit: Laura McCreddie-Doak has been writing about jewellery and watches for over a decade. She is a regular contributor to the likes of Times LUXX, Wired, The Telegraph, and Evening Standard, as well as online publications such as Ape to Gentleman.
