5 Trends to Watch From Paris High Jewelry Week

By Karen Dybis | July 21, 2026

Beyond diamonds and gemstones, Laura Inghirami—the Italian jewelry influencer who uses the moniker Donna Jewel—says a key lesson the industry can learn from the collections exhibited during Paris Haute Joaillerie Week is the importance of identity for luxury brands.

During her visits to Buccellati, Chaumet, Damiani, Pomellato, and Van Cleef & Arpels earlier this month in Paris, Inghirami saw how the jewelry houses emphasized and strengthened their own DNA with their latest dazzling creations.

“Each maison chose to express its heritage through distinctive codes, unique techniques, and a coherent creative vision,” she says. “The future of high jewelry lies not only in the rarity of materials but in the ability to transform cultural heritage into a contemporary language.”

Donna Jewel Paris — *Laura Inghirami, aka Donna Jewel, in Paris during the recent High Jewelry Week*

Here are five trends Inghirami is still thinking about from her Paris adventures that she believes will reverberate in the months and years to come.

World-building through high jewelry.

Each brand created a narrative universe, notes Inghirami. Van Cleef & Arpels, for example, took ancient Egypt as a source of inspiration, reinterpreting its iconography, monumental architecture, and symbolism through necklaces, brooches, rings and earrings that evoke the civilization’s allure.

Chaumet dedicated its collection to spices, aromatic plants, and essences—such as mint, coffee, vanilla, cinnamon, pepper and saffron—with jewelry that celebrates the sensory richness of nature.

“Collections are no longer born from a simple aesthetic theme but from complex and layered worlds that guide the design of each individual piece,” Inghirami says. “Jewelry becomes a story to be worn, capable of transporting the wearer to a place, an era, or a landscape.”

Color replaces spectacle.

Compared with high jewelry collections that showcase the size and rarity of their gemstones, this year’s collections focused more on the architecture of colored stone jewels, Inghirami says.

“Maisons work like painters, combining emeralds, rubies, sapphires, spinels, tourmalines, aquamarines, paraibas, and ornamental stones in refined compositions where chromatic harmony takes center stage.

“Shades and nuances become an essential part of the creative vision, giving each jewel an immediately recognizable identity. It is a form of jewelry that celebrates aesthetic sensitivity rather than ostentation,” she adds.

Perhaps the best example of this, according to Inghirami, came from the blue pieces in Van Cleef & Arpels’ collection, as the color had deep significance for ancient Egyptians because of its association with the sky.

Pomellato, meanwhile, debuted a collection called Stile Libero—Italian for free style, as reflected in gemstone settings that create an illusion of movement.

Damiani drew from famous works of art for its colorful new high jewelry line, Arte Maestra. “Each piece is inspired by a painting, from the yellow of Van Gogh’s sunflowers to the blue of Hokusai’s waves,” Inghirami explains.

Savoir faire is the ultimate luxury.

Inghirami considers all the collections she saw in Paris a celebration of craftsmanship. Buccellati continues to showcase its signature engraving and openwork techniques—gold pieces like its tiaras seem as light and airy as lacy fabric—while Damiani uses exceptional settings.

“Each maison highlights the time, precision, and expertise required to create a unique piece. In 2026, luxury increasingly lies in the time devoted to creation and in the heritage of knowledge preserved within the ateliers,” she says.

More volume without sacrificing comfort.

Necklaces, bracelets, and earrings can have a dramatic presence while maintaining lightness and wearability, Inghirami observed in Paris.

Heritage houses have found new technical solutions, including articulated mechanisms and flexible settings, to allow even the most spectacular creations to be worn with ease. The complexity of construction remains hidden; only the natural elegance of the jewel emerges.

Young artisans taking risks with materials.

Inghirami included the Precious Room by Muriel Paiser show on her Paris agenda, and says it was a pleasure to visit with the new and emerging talent there. Many of these young creatives express themselves through gold alternatives like titanium, steel, and silver.

“They love the possibility of different colors and the fact that it is not easy to craft. This for them is a challenge to be won, it’s fun,” she says.

Top: Pomellato’s Eye of Tanzanite necklace, with a 15.3 ct. marquise-cut cabochon on the center link (which can be detached and worn as a pendant), is part of its Stile Libero collection unveiled during Paris Haute Joaillerie Week. (Photo courtesy of Pomellato)