2026 Luxury Show Report: The Prices Are Right

By Victoria Gomelsky | May 29, 2026

Just Jules locket — *Love Locks necklace with 0.6 ct. emerald, $5,200; Just Jules*

On the first day of Luxury, which opened to invited guests on Wednesday at the Venetian Expo in Las Vegas (the show opens to all JCK attendees today), Just Jules’ Julie Romanenko teed up her latest line: “It’s the hottest new thing,” said the Scottsdale, Ariz.–based designer.

Ironically, Romanenko was referring to a collection of rather old things: vintage 9k gold lock pendants inspired by a charm from her mother’s Sweet 16 bracelet. The designs, which feature 14k gold bezels and chains, start at $3,000 retail.

“I’m working really hard not to do the $10,000 pieces,” she said.

Romanenko wasn’t the only jeweler committed to offering accessibly priced designs, but for many exhibitors, the definition of affordability at a time when gold continues to hover around $4,500 per ounce was difficult to pinpoint.

Unlike last year’s Luxury show, when gold peaked around $3,200 and buyers largely leaned in, the precious metal’s precipitous rise over the past year has divided the trade into two principal camps: designer-led brands catering to value-conscious self-purchasers; and bigger, diamond-centric brands focused on selling large, natural stones to buyers for whom inflation has barely registered.

Retailer Lisa Vinicur of Diane Glynn Jewelry in Jenkintown, Pa., summed up the former camp: “$4,000 is the new $2,000,” she said as she tried on a pair of gold and diamond earrings at designer Fern Freeman’s booth in NouvelleBox. “The sweet spot customer wants something for $2,500, and that’s really difficult.”

That helps explain why Freeman incorporated a slew of chic alternative materials into her collection, including black-coated stainless steel, white ceramic, and wood. “We’re back to wood—wood is good,” Brett Freeman, Fern’s husband, said as he gazed, wistfully, at his chunky gold ring. “My wife made this for me 30 years ago when gold was $200.”

Tacit swan — *Jumbo Swan Floatie pendant in ceramic-coated silver with 0.005 ct. diamond eye and 14k gold bill, $1,250; Tacit*

At Tacit (also in the NouvelleBox ballroom), a 2-year-old brand from fine jewelry designer Michelle Fantaci, colorful ceramic-coated silver is the main ingredient in a 14k gold and diamond line she created expressly for gift-givers and self-purchasers.

“The core of the brand retails from $1,000 to $2,800,” Fantaci said, pointing to her new Bodega Pool Party collection, which she described as “a surreal mashup” of beach balls, lollipops, and other playful jewels interspersed with an alphabet of puffy letter charms designed to look like miniature helium balloons.

New York–based Maura Green, another NouvelleBox exhibitor, also embraced whimsy with her carved mother-of-pearl and abalone charms, such as a flying pig, which retail from $500 to $1,000.

And yet for every exhibitor promoting fun, affordable jewels, there was a corresponding brand doubling down on luxe designs in 18k gold. High-end pearl brand Yoko London, back at Luxury after a multiyear hiatus, showed new pieces from its Zypp collection of statement pearl and diamond jewels featuring working zippers.

“People are not resistant to prices at all,” said Yoko chief executive Michael Hakimian. “We’re not in that market where $500 up or down makes any difference.”

Yoko Zypp necklace — *Zypp necklace with Australian South Sea and Japanese akoya pearls and diamonds in 18k white gold, price on request; Yoko London*

The number of people crowding the booth at Rahaminov, home to an astonishing array of six-figure natural diamonds—such as a ring set with a 36 ct. cushion-cut diamond the size of a bird’s egg—suggested that the much-talked-about K-shape economy was in full effect.

At Yael Designs, owner and founder Yehouda Saketkhou unveiled Odyssey, the brand’s first-ever high jewelry collection, featuring diamond- and gem-encrusted designs—such as a Great Barrier Reef cuff bracelet centered on a spectacular 9.69 ct. Lightning Ridge opal—starting at $120,000 retail.

“I’ve been collecting stones for many years—really special stones—and I decided to base the collection on all the travels I’ve done over the past 25 years,” Saketkhou said. “It’s also the next step in our company. We’re going more toward high jewelry. We feel there’s really good momentum.”

Indeed, the vibe on the show floor on Day 1 was upbeat and optimistic across the board. At Gumuchian, a returning Luxury exhibitor, co-owner Myriam Gumuchian showed off the New York City–based fine jewelry brand’s best-selling Moonlight collection. “My goal is to get 10 new clients here, people I’ve never heard of, and I think I’m going to do it,” she said.

Susan Klemt Williams, president at the Chicago-based Artistry, called attention to a new range of gem-set pieces featuring saturated purple garnets, “blush-tone” zircon, and “sultry” gray spinels.

“People are buying,” Williams said. “There’s still some, ‘Oof, that’s how much now?’ but we’re seeing a lot of optimism. It was a good year last year despite it all.”

Top: Great Barrier Reef cuff with 9.69 ct. black opal, 1.2 cts. t.w. blue and 0.48 ct. t.w. pink sapphires, 0.42 ct. t.w. paraiba, 0.51 ct. t.w. tsavorite, and 3.69 cts. t.w. diamonds in 18k white gold, $170,565; Yael Designs