Top Jewelry Trends for 2026 to Update Your Collection
- Personalized, creative collections, such as initial-engraved jewelry, colorful gemstones and stackable bracelets, will be big this year.
- Organic, sculptural shapes like misshapen pearls are on the rise.
- Yellow gold is making a comeback, though more and more people are experimenting with mixing metals.
With the new year coming up, it’s time to cover the top jewelry trends that will dominate the fashion scene in 2026. Unique and authentic looks are major themes running through each of these trends.
From vintage-inspired brooches to misshapen baroque pearls, we’ll cover all you need to know to update your collection, along with styling tips and examples. Learn more about this year’s trending jewelry below.
Vintage-Inspired Elegance
First on our list is modern jewelry with vintage charm. These pieces have historical details that could pass as family heirlooms or be found in a vintage store. Expect to see Victorian-inspired opulence like cocktail rings, gold chains and intaglio pendants (gemstones engraved with images, often of busts) alongside geometric Art Deco pieces like bezel rings.
Bag charms and body charms have been popular in 2025, and we foresee the next evolution of this trend to include vintage-inspired charm necklaces and bracelets. Brooches have been making a big wave since the 2025 Met Gala, acting as personal charms that add subtle details to an outfit.
To achieve the look of a perfectly accrued, well-loved collection, style your vintage-inspired pieces together. Pin brooches on an oversized blazer or on your handbag. For everyday wear, try balancing historical details with more playful contemporary pieces, like beaded bracelets and T-shirts.
Chunky and Sculptural Shapes
As an evolution of the quiet luxury trend, we’re seeing a growing love for sophisticated wearable art in classic golds and silvers. To complement those understated, luxurious pieces, bolder, organic-shaped jewelry will continue to enter the scene. Think abstract, fluid, asymmetrical, and melted-looking earrings, wide cuff bangles and chunky wedding rings. Plus, we’ll see more unique and misshapen pearl pieces—more on that trend below.
Whichever standout sculptural jewelry you choose, pair it with more delicate pieces to balance your look and keep chunkier pieces from competing for attention. Pair a statement necklace with a large gold pendant, for example, with softer and more delicate gold chains.
Nature-Inspired Themes
Thanks to an increased cultural focus on sustainability and authenticity, we’re expecting pieces with natural themes to dominate this year. People will adorn themselves with flower earrings, vine rings, leaf necklaces, and other whimsical, plant-inspired jewelry. Jewelry that is sustainably sourced and focuses on organic, raw stones and repurposed metals reflects a greater awareness of the environment.
Looking beyond botanical themes, we expect to see more pieces inspired by other areas of the natural world—namely, insects and animals. Playful snake, tiger, spider, and butterfly pendants can be eye-catching and meaningful pieces to add to a collection.
Style natural and organic jewelry with flowing fabrics and natural fibers, like linen, in earthy tones. If your jewelry features strong nature motifs (say, a large animal pendant), pare back on heavy patterns and stick to minimal color palettes.
Personalized and Meaningful Pieces
This year, people are seeking jewelry that’s unique and emotionally resonant rather than generic and mass-produced. We’re embracing jewelry that symbolizes family, memories, connection, faith, milestones, and anything else close to the heart. More people are customizing their jewelry and reaching for pieces with their initials, angel numbers and zodiac signs. There’s also a gravitation toward lockets and engravable rings. All of these personality pieces help tell your story through your look. They also make perfect gifts for special milestones and celebrations for loved ones.
Consider choosing one personalized piece—perhaps a locket or initial necklace—and make it your signature piece. Experiment with incorporating it into different types of outfits, from everyday workwear to evening attire, by layering it with both matching staples and contrasting materials.
Mixed Metals
Once a fashion faux pas, mixing metals is now an art. Today, we’re moving beyond matching sets and embracing complementary contrasts. We’ll see more gold paired with silver in bracelet stacks, mixed metal chains and wrapped rings.
Mixed metal jewelry makes a statement, but also pairs well with both cool- and warm-toned outfits. If you’re unsure where to start, select one statement piece in a cool-toned silver or platinum, and then use smaller gold pieces for accents. Although their colors may contrast, the pieces can tie together in other ways, like shape, texture or finish. For example, choose gold and silver pieces that all share a polished finish instead of mixing polished with matte pieces.
Bold Gold
While cool-toned metals like white gold, platinum and silver have been popular in recent years, yellow gold is making a comeback in jewelry trends for women. Following the dominance of the minimalism trend, we expect to re-embrace bolder gold pieces, like chunky rings and big chain necklaces. Expect to see standout yellow gold statement pieces this year.
Choose one gold focal point, like a chunky gold cuff, and let it be the highlight of your outfit. You can still wear other pieces, but keep them minimal—pair the gold cuff with stud earrings, for example, and leave your opposite wrist bare. Earthy tones, cream and black all look elegant with gold jewelry.
Colored Gemstones
Vivid, unusual gemstones are another trend we expect will satisfy the hunger for individuality this upcoming year. Options like emerald, sapphire, amethyst, and topaz add unique pops of color and provide yet another way to personalize your look. Gemstone jewelry trends point to greens and blues as particularly popular tones. Fancy-colored diamonds, which are unusual diamonds with hues ranging from yellow to pink, are becoming popular choices for engagement rings.
Different gemstone colors have unique meanings. For example, pink tourmaline, which is growing in demand, symbolizes love, care and compassion. Combining your birthstone with those of your loved ones is another way to personalize your jewelry. We may even see a resurgence of vintage gemstone trends like acrostic jewelry, which uses different gemstones to spell out secret messages.
Style colored gemstones with saturated hues. Or dress up your everyday white button-up and jeans with opal earrings or a topaz ring. Mismatched gemstone earrings, like an amethyst stud in one ear and a ruby pendant in the other, add a creative edge to any outfit.
Unique and Misshapen Pearls
Say goodbye to perfectly round strings of pearls, and hello to quirky, misshapen ones. Sported by celebrities like Harry Styles, pearls have skyrocketed in popularity across genders in recent years. Now, instead of uniform, identical strings of pearls, we’ll see statement misshapen pearl pieces paired with different metals and gemstones. Baroque, or asymmetrical, pearls are created due to little disruptions in the formation process inside a mollusk. They fit right in with the growing demand for authenticity.
These unique pearls go hand in hand with various other trends, such as natural and organic motifs, chunky shapes and personalized pieces. Style a baroque pearl as a signature piece, like a drop earring. To keep pearls more modern and less traditional, pair them with mixed metals.
Quiet Luxury and Subtle Details
The quiet luxury trend took over in 2023 and hasn’t slowed down. Minimalist, timeless jewelry with longevity potential will continue to rise in popularity. We’ve moved away from loud pieces showing off brand logos and instead embraced subtle investment pieces. Think high-quality materials like platinum and gold, and refined designs like timeless diamonds, tennis bracelets, knot pendants, bangles, petite necklaces, and stud earrings.
Wear a few of these minimalist pieces every day, trusting their materials and quality to enhance your look. High-quality wardrobe basics, like crisp trousers and blazers in clean, neutral color palettes, pair well with quiet luxury jewelry.
Bracelet Stacking and Necklace Layering
Fashion-forward jewelry wearers will artfully layer necklaces and stack bracelets to build collected, one-of-a-kind looks in 2026. We’re embracing layered looks that have been acquired and curated over time as part of a unique collection. These new bracelet and necklace trends will follow a carefree style of layering and won’t shy away from mixing lengths, textures and metals. Imagine necklaces that aren’t perfectly spaced apart and have a more of a “thrown on” appearance.
Try layering by starting with three necklaces of various lengths that you would have never thought to pair together before. Use a lariat necklace for some variation in shape. For bracelets, don’t cover your whole arm; stick with two or three pieces of various thicknesses and textures.
Step into This Year's Jewelry Trends with Blue Nile
This year’s emerging jewelry trends will focus on artistic ensembles and personal storytelling. When updating your collection, be sure to slow down and pay attention to the pieces that speak to you. Pay attention to your intuition, get creative with your pairings, and before long, you’ll have your own curated assemblage that ties right in with both this year’s themes and your values.
At Blue Nile, we offer timeless heirloom jewelry and bold statement pieces alike. Browse our collection of new jewelry to find the next addition to your collection as you explore your style and evolve your look.
