Ruby crane necklace wins top honors in INSTORE awards

A ruby no longer has to sit politely in a four-prong solitaire to feel special. Ethetics Art Limited’s Convertible Dancing In The Clouds necklace turned the stone into the bright red crown of a red-crowned crane, and that dramatic, nature-led composition carried First Place and Retailer’s Choice in the Necklace Over $5,000 category.

Set in 18K white gold and priced at $750,000, the necklace builds its impact through contrast and texture rather than weight alone. White diamonds totaling 10.274 carats and black diamonds totaling 5.605 carats give the piece a graphic edge, while 3.655 carats of ice jadeite shape the bird’s feathers. The 1.38-carat ruby is small by comparison, but it reads as the visual center of gravity, the kind of detail that makes the stone feel less like an accent and more like a signature.

That is the clearest signal in the 2026 INSTORE Design Awards, which marked the competition’s 11th edition and drew 229 entries, matching last year’s total. Colored gemstones stood out strongly across the field, and the judging process, a blind vote by six retailers and three media personalities plus an online Retailer’s Choice vote from hundreds of retailers, rewarded pieces that looked designed for collectors, not just for occasion dressing. Birthstone jewelry in this lane is no longer about a literal month-by-month formula; it is about symbolism translated into high jewelry.

The runner-up offered a different reading of the category. Yael Designs’ Eaux Calmes pendant necklace, also in 18K white gold, pairs a 5.45-carat pear-shape aquamarine with 1.22 carats of diamonds and a 0.35-carat round blue sapphire. Priced at $22,492, it is far closer to the luxury gift sweet spot and shows how blue stones can feel serene, polished, and immediately wearable without losing their sense of occasion. Where the ruby crane is theatrical and artful, the aquamarine-and-sapphire composition is cooler, calmer, and easier to imagine as an heirloom bought for a milestone anniversary, a graduation, or a March or September birthday that calls for understatement.

KABANA’s Coral Grace Flamingo pendant necklace, in 14K yellow gold and priced at $15,425, extended that theme of figurative jewelry into a lighter, more accessible tier. Taken together, the top three showed how birthstone-coded pieces are widening their audience: bold red symbolism for collectors who want an object with presence, and blue gemstone combinations for buyers who want refinement, fluidity, and value without the full spectacle of a six-figure statement jewel.