Rebecca Rau Spans Then and Now for NYC Jewelry Week Debut

By Karen Dybis | November 14, 2025

With the quality and history of the components Rebecca Rau brings to her new fine jewelry collection—think ancient amulets, Gothic pendants, and Victorian-style chains—it may be tempting to put her pieces behind museum glass or tuck them into a drawer.

But the founder of Rebecca Rau Jewels says her Then & Now collection is meant to be worn every day—whether to work, out to dinner, or for a special occasion. The historic objects she’s used in the jewelry are survivors, she says, and tell a story of why we adorn ourselves with jewelry.

“While I love people who wear everything the same each day, the world is precarious. We live in interesting times, from the coronavirus pandemic to today. Life is an event. We have to make the most of it,” says Rau. “Don’t be safe. Don’t leave your jewelry in a safe. Don’t wait for the gala. Wear it now.”

Rau, a fourth-generation antiquarian, will debut Then & Now during the upcoming NYC Jewelry Week, with an evening reception Nov. 20 at the Jill Newhouse Gallery on the Upper East Side. The next day, Rau will lead a guided tour of the collection, sharing the history and transformations behind each piece.

Rebecca Rau Protectrice — *Rebecca Rau Jewels’ Protectrice necklace (price on request) centers on a medieval Spanish bronze plaque.*

For Then & Now, Rau added contemporary gemstones and precious metals to rare cultural artifacts, including a Phoenician pendant dating to 400–600 B.C., an Anglo-Saxon fitting more than 1,500 years old, a fede ring (a symbol of fidelity in love in medieval Europe), and a 19th-century Italian micromosaic.

One especially eye-catching piece in the collection is Reimagined Jasper, a Renaissance-inspired statement necklace, according to Rau. Its brown jasper fragment dates to the 1st or 2nd century, and she framed it with unheated orange zircons, Umbalite garnets, and gray Tahitian pearls. The pendant hangs on an 18k yellow gold French book-style chain that dates to around 1865.

Rau says the jasper, her modern design, and the technology used to create this piece represents a conversation among eras—that meeting of the ancient with Victorian elegance and today’s craftsmanship.

Another Then & Now standout is the Glowing Glass necklace, with a ring-shaped pendant of glass and high-karat gold from 14th-century Europe. Rau chose to suspend it from a 18k paper-clip chain, giving the medieval piece a distinctly 21st-century appeal.

Rebecca Rau Glowing Glass — *The Glowing Glass necklace (price on request) features a 14th-century pendant on a modern paper-clip chain.*

For the Protectrice necklace, Rau used a 13th-century Spanish gilt bronze rectangular plaque—likely a harness from a noblewoman’s girdle or a horse’s armor—and added an 11.68 ct. no-heat pink tourmaline and Tahitian baroque pearls to amplify its ceremonial feel.

“These pieces have a sense of immediacy because they’re imperfect. They’re handmade. They’ve been warped by time,” Rau says. “They feel more human because of that.”

Rau—who earned a master’s degree from Sotheby’s Institute of Art in London—has her studio in New York City, but she comes from the family behind New Orleans’ celebrated antiques gallery M.S. Rau. During her time at M.S. Rau, she traveled extensively and worked with respected jewelers worldwide, which she says prepared her for her current career.

It took years to transition from acquiring pieces for M.S. Rau to showcasing her own designs at NYC Jewelry Week, and developing the Then & Now collection also required a significant time investment.

“The technical requirements for this kind of jewelry slowed it down, but that’s okay. I put a lot of care and thought into doing it right,” Rau says. “I like to break the rules. I don’t want things to feel stale in the design process.… I’m so curious to see who will gravitate toward them and appreciate the difference.”

Top: Rebecca Rau’s Cross of the Byzantine (price on request) features a high-karat gold cross circa A.D. 700–1000, accented with an 0.97 ct. old-mine diamond, 0.86 ct. t.w. pear-shape color-change garnets, 0.48 ct. t.w. round pink tourmalines, and an iridescent Tahitian black pearl, on an 18k yellow gold Italian foxtail chain (photos courtesy of Rebecca Rau Jewels)