Fashion Facets

As romanticism replaces minimalism in fashion, embellishments like embroidery and beading are showing up on everything from evening gowns to blue jeans. In fine jewelry, in which trends evolve gradually and blend seamlessly into one another, the ongoing trend for delicate, feminine jewelry has sparked a renewed interest in beads.

Beads of all kinds—diamond, gemstone, precious metal, and pearl—are being used to create sensuous, flowing jewelry that drapes the skin like fine fabric. There’s no end to the creative ways designers are using beads, from classic single-strand necklaces to thick torsades and multi-strand bibs. The beads may be faceted or cabochon, round or long, symmetric or organic, or used in any combination thereof.

Here are some of the newest ways to get with the bead.

David and Sybil Yurman, creators of one of America’s most popular brands of jewelry, have opened their first retail boutique, at 729 Madison Ave. in New York City. It will house the Yurman jewelry collection in its entirety. The flagship store, designed by renowned interior designer Dakota Jackson, has an intimate salon ambiance that reflects the Yurmans’ fascination with the interplay of color, space, and light. Black granite columns at the entrance lead customers to a soaring, double-floor space with Venetian plaster and beechwood walls. A planked cherrywood floor holds tea-stained mahogany and bronze showcases. The walls are lined with hand-etched glass vitrines and handcrafted Italian millwork.

At the rear of the store, a mezzanine-level gallery houses a personal collection of David Yurman’s sculpture and Sybil Yurman’s paintings. The salon upstairs also houses other books and works of art and a place for customers to relax and sip tea.

For the first time in its 216-year history, Waterford’s distinctive seahorse trademark is appearing on precious metal as well as fine lead crystal. Two hundred jewelry designs, crafted in sterling silver and 14k and 18k gold, with precious and semiprecious gemstones, were launched recently via selected jewelry retailers. The jewelry is grouped into six collections, inspired by five Waterford stemware patterns and the heritage of Celtic gold jewelry. The six collections—Carleton, Colleen, Kildare, Lismore, Powerscourt, and Waterford—contain rings, necklaces, bracelets, pendants, lockets, pins, chains, and earrings. Retail prices range from $50 to $650.

The company also has announced a special creation: a sterling silver and crystal quartz necklace inspired by the Times Square 2000 New Year’s Eve ball. The crystal maker created the special Y2K edition of the world-famous ball that drops over New York City’s Times Square at midnight each Dec. 31.

The project began with a design called the “Star of Hope,” a seven-pointed star radiating from a central sphere, symbolizing the world’s continents wrapped in the globe’s embrace. The designers at Waterford saw the faces of children—the living future and hope of the world—reflected in this star. The final creation, seen by a global audience of more than 1 billion, was formed of 504 individual “stars of hope” mounted in triangular and pentagonal shapes to achieve the effect of a geodesic sphere.

The silver commemorative necklace features seven fine sterling silver chains supporting a faceted globe of crystal quartz, suspended from an openwork bail featuring its own interpretation of the Waterford Star of Hope.