JCK Awards Spotlight Layered Necklaces, Bold Rings, and Mixed-Metal Looks

Retailers and editors just drew a clear line through 2026 layering: handcrafted gold, charm-driven necklaces, matte-black bracelets, and bold rings are the pieces getting the loudest validation. JCK’s latest Jewelers’ Choice Awards put the range in plain view, from a $695 matte-black ceramic stretch bracelet with gold-plated accents to Rahaminov’s $725,000 Alexandra necklace, a spread that shows stacking is moving between accessible everyday polish and high-jewelry drama.

The awards were voted on by U.S. jewelry retailers, with additional Editors’ Choice and Influencers’ Choice recognition from JCK editors Amy Elliott, Karen Dybis, Brittany Siminitz, Melissa Rose Bernardo, and Victoria Gomelsky, plus Severine Ferrari, Bebe Bakhshi, Agata Jankowiak, and Grant Mobley. The competition ran from September 2 to November 2, 2025, and JCK organized it into 19 categories with subcategories by price. That structure matters because it is less about a single look than a market read, and Victoria Gomelsky put it bluntly: "the brands that win repeatedly are willing to take risks."

The grand prize went to Miami designer Vanessa Fernández for a handcrafted gold Curva necklace set with 32.14 carats of lemon-yellow chrysoberyls. JCK says Fernández makes every piece by hand at her bench, and that labor is the real signal here. This is not delicate filler jewelry; it is a sculptural gold anchor that can carry a chain stack, stand alone over a crisp shirt collar, or sit against smaller layers without disappearing. Fernández’s win also follows her 2025 Couture show first-place finish for a related Curva necklace, a piece described elsewhere as taking more than 120 hours and using a custom 18K yellow-gold alloy, which gives her recent success a rare sense of continuity rather than one-off buzz.

Elsewhere in the winners’ circle, Pompos’s Australian black opal ring at $150,000 and Khepri Jewels’ cartouche charm fancy color diamond necklace at $286,000 pointed to two parallel movements: statement rings are still carrying weight, and charm-driven necklaces are becoming more serious than novelty. The black opal ring turns a stack into a focal point; the cartouche necklace suggests personalization is moving upmarket, with fancy color diamonds lending it enough sparkle to layer with plain gold chains or a matte bracelet without visual clutter. Even Parle Gems’ Twilight Moon blue Yogo sapphire earrings at $17,995 fit the mood, adding color-forward punctuation to a lineup built on bold forms and sharp contrasts.

JCK has already turned the winners and finalists into its Best of the Best digital flip book, with the grand-prize piece on the cover and first-place winners getting print ad space. The message for 2026 is unusually clear: the stack is becoming more sculptural, more mixed in finish, and less afraid of a hero piece that does the heavy lifting.