Trend File: The Lobster Is Summer's Red-Hot Jewelry Motif

Motifs in jewelry design and fashion slip in and out of style, and often it feels like they came out of nowhere.

The desert cactus, for example, is enjoying a nice little heyday—the prickly plant is being widely depicted in jewelry, on kids’ tees, as ceramic shells for lamps, etc. As is the flamingo, which arguably hasn’t been as trendy as it is currently since the 1950s.

But it’s truly a rare and whimsical design era we’re living in when lobsters are the motif of the moment! And, at least in jewelry design, that seems to be the case.

Of course the spindly critters have been in the spotlight before in jewelry—wrought in varied and artistic ways by iconic jewelry designers from the past and present, including Adolf Katz and Stephen Webster.

Dolce & Gabbana, which showed a set of whimsical lobster earrings last season (see below), definitely kicked the lobster trend into high gear.

But I think this under-the-sea moment is really an ode to that playful, more-is-more aesthetic that reigned in mid-century American jewelry. Pour yourself a chilled martini, turn up the hi-fi, and enjoy these artfully wrought crustaceans.