The Best Summer Jewelry to Update Your Wardrobe and Your Mood

The Best Summer Jewelry to Update Your Wardrobe and Your Mood

The Best Summer Jewelry to Update Your Wardrobe and Your Mood 

  It’s the season for bold, bright, and playful jewels.

By: Jill Newman

When the temperature starts to rise, we instinctively shift to lightweight, skin baring clothing. It’s also the perfect time to update your jewelry wardrobe with colorful, playful pieces to match the summer spirit and style.

Some jewels transcend the seasons (gold and diamonds are appropriate every day of the year), but there are also vibrant styles that scream ‘summer is here’! Those jewels include colorful enamel and gemstone designs and any floral motifs. These will standout on light clothes and bare skin – and look glamourous poolside. If you are like me, you might even have your go-to beach jewels (mine are a Sydney Evan turquoise bead necklace and a pair of Silvia Furmanovich botanical marquetry and gemstone earrings).

Just as summer signals poolside piña coladas, it also means fun jewels – the kinds of pieces that have a feel-good factor. Why wilt in the sun when you can put on oversized turquoise or coral earrings and look fresh and fashionable? It’s an easy way to boost your style and mood.

“Summer is a chance to be a bit more experimental and louder with your jewelry,” says designer Emily Wheeler. “Your wardrobe is simplified in summer months, and everything gets more colorful and fun.” Wheeler’s favorite summer jewel is a pair of bold earrings. “I live in Los Angeles where it gets really hot, so my uniform is a summer dress and sandals. Statement earrings dress up the look and make me feel a bit more put together.”

The breezy dresses and off-the-shoulder tops that are popular during the summer also provide an opportunity to layer on bold and lively jewels that will stand out against sun-kissed skin. Italian designer Bea Bongiasca is a firm believer in specifically summer jewels, and you’ll always find her on the Italian Riviera in colorful pieces. “When I’m on the beach, I layer my Pop Chokers with bathing suits,” she says. “In the evenings, I love to stack oversized rings, such as the Give Them Flowers rings.”

Bongiasca’s playful jewels comes in a rainbow of enamel colors and gemstones, and she says the blue palette was inspired by the sea and summer vibes. “Jewelry is a form of self-expression, and in the summer months I want to express my style differently than in fall,” says the designer. That means shedding the jewel tones in favor of pastels and neon-colored vine earrings, stacks of bracelets and necklaces. “My jewelry collections are affordable,” she points out, “so you have the flexibility to easily switch up your jewelry for summer to fall months.”

The Five Must-Have Summer Jewelry Trends:  

Statement Turquoise Jewelry

Designers have embraced dreamy shades of turquoise in large-scale earrings and pendants. Echoing the summer sky, beautiful blue turquoise is one of those flattering colors that makes everyone look and feel pretty. Some of my favorites are Irene Neuwirth’s carved turquoise floral earrings, Guita M’s stylish drop earrings, and Jennifer Meyer’s sentimental turquoise heart pendant.

A Rainbow of Colors

Go bold and bright with vivid enamel and big juicy gemstone pieces. They infuse a pop color to even the simplest summer dresses. Have an earring party with Bea Bongiasca’s enamel styles – available in every color - or layer on Buddha Mama’s colorful and symbolic pendant necklaces.

Coral and Shells

Get the beach vibes with bright coral pieces and shell jewelry. Imaginative designers like Sylva Yepremian of Sylva & Cie. carve shells into beautiful pendants adorned with gemstones and Arunushi features sculptural coral in stylish earrings.

Go Natural

That easy-going summer vibe comes through jewelry made in earthy materials, like Silvia Furmanovich’s bamboo pieces, which are inherently light, which allows for large-scale earrings without the weight. Buddha Mama’s strands of earthy wooden and chalcedony bead necklaces add an element of style to breezy dresses or simple white t-shirts.

Summer Whites 

Nothing enhances bronzed skin like a splash of shiny white jewelry. Designer Selim Mouzannar creates some of the freshest designs featuring colorful gemstone earrings and rings that are framed in white enamel. And for a super glam look, check out David Webb’s big bold gold and white enamel cuff and ring. Of course, diamonds also sparkle a little brighter on tanned skin.