the brands she represents are continuing to use the gold, diamonds, 
and colored gemstones that are their standards. 
For Future Reference’s brands include Harwell Godfrey, Jade 
Ruzzo, HOWL (Handle Only With Love), Vanessa Fernández 
Studio, Circa 1700, Retrouvaí, Buddha Mama, and For Future 
Reference Vintage. 
Anna Maccieri, founder and creative director of Anna Maccieri 
Rossi, says designers can view the problems created by the rising 
price of gold in one of two ways.
“You can see it as a problem or you can see 
it as an opportunity,” she says. “I think this 
is an opportunity to find a way to share light 
instead of darkness.”
She is not tackling the price of gold from 
the point of view of a sales manager. While she 
thinks more about her use of gold to take care 
of her clients, she has branched out to include 
alternative materials like wood because of its 
design possibilities.
Maccieri says, “I feel that if you are driven 
by the idea of choosing a material just because 
it’s a commercial object, the result could be 
without soul … Every brand needs to find their 
own skill, their own material, their own charac-
teristic. The secret is that when the message is 
authentic, people feel it.” 
Silvia Furmanovich has done this successfully. The Brazilian 
designer uses materials like wood, horse mane, bamboo, and papier 
mâché along with 18-karat gold and diamonds; it is a core element of 
her brand. 
HOWL, the Los Angeles-based jewelry brand headed by designer 
Tini Courtney, has as well, using antique Venetian 
glass set in 18-karat gold. 
This gives the vibe of a 
colored gemstone without 
the price, instead show-
casing a carved image 
that fits into the brand’s 
aesthetic, as Courtney 
takes inspiration from 
history. 
“That’s a really clever 
way to get that look for 
less, if you will, but [it’s] 
still something that’s 
unique and enduring and 
has some history to it,” 
Molofsky says. 
While designers 
are experimenting with 
alternative materials, their 
use doesn’t have to be an 
either-or proposition, trend 
experts noted at a talk at the September 2025 Vicenzaoro show. 
“The future of the jewelry market is about using new materials. It 
can be carbon fiber [or] ceramic but combined with precious metals. 
It can be a new opportunity, it doesn’t have to be a competition with 
precious materials,” said trend forecaster Giorgia Musci, a presenter 
at Paola De Luca’s “Trends for Breakfast” talk. 
Innovation is one trend De Luca highlighted during her presen-
tation, and jewelers like Boucheron have done exactly this with 
alternative materials. 
Its capsule collection, “Quatre Sand,” 
focuses on oversized cuffs created with 
18-karat yellow gold and black sand. 
Through 3D printing technology, sand 
and a polymer binder were built in layers and 
affixed to a gold base to create large pieces 
that would have been heavy and pricey if they 
were all gold.  
“Winning the global competition is mixing 
technology with craftsmanship,” De Luca said. 
THE WARMTH OF WOOD 
Wood is an alternative material rising in 
popularity among designers, chosen for its 
warmth, contrast, and narrative. 
It offers its own nuance of color, with dif-
ferent grain patterns visible on every piece. 
For Maccieri, the addition of wood came from her desire to create 
larger-scale pieces that are not possible in gold because of both the 
price and weight of the metal.
Her “Touch Wood” collection showcases a balance between olive 
tree and walnut wood and precious materials like 18-karat gold, dia-
monds, and sapphires. 
In the “Ora Wood Sunrise” cuff, 
the foundation is walnut wood. 
Accents of precious materials 
showcase that balance while 
tying in reoccurring motifs 
for the brand, like an 18-karat 
gold star that is also seen in 
its “Carpe Diem” pendants. 
“It was challenging because 
I had to find the right 
artisans to work by hand in 
Italy,” Maccieri says. 
“What I love is that it is 
a natural material, warm, 
something that immediately 
arrives to the heart.”
Maccieri’s Touch Wood 
collection, which debuted at 
Couture in 2025, marked the 
first time she has used wood 
for her own brand, though she has 
THE STATE OF
DIAMONDS 
JEWELRY 
DESIGN
COLORED 
STONES
56          STATE OF THE MAJORS 2026
Anna Maccieri Rossi’s “Ora 
Wood Sunrise” cuff uses 
walnut wood accented by a 
diamond-studded 18-karat 
white gold star and a blue 
sapphire set in yellow gold 
(price upon request).
“Every brand 
needs to find their 
own skill, their 
own material, 
their own 
characteristic.”  
—Anna Maccieri,  
Anna Maccieri Rossi
RETAIL

View this content as a flipbook by clicking here.