Antique Magen David Pendant

When Alex Jona joined the Italian jewelry purveyor that his father, Giorgio Jona, had founded in 1961, the Jona brand began to offer elegant bracelets, cufflinks, necklaces and other accessories subdued enough for daily wear yet visually splendid and skillfully handcrafted using precious metals and stones.

Tucked in a 1690 Baroque building on Torino’s Palazzo Balbo di Vinadio is a 3,000-square-foot showroom. This is the headquarters of Jona, home to luxury jewelry designs that are complex, yet often understated. For example, a slender pair of yellow tourmaline drop earrings set into 18-carat gold has a juxtaposition creating just the slightest contrast, which might be noticed only upon close inspection.

Alex travels frequently, and precious stones collected from around the world are a common fixture in Jona jewelry — he personally designs pieces with stones like lapis lazuli shaped into eye-like cufflinks, sapphires caged in 14-carat-gold rings and quartz crystals stacked into modern beaded necklaces. Enamel, which is one of the oldest forms of surface decoration, is often arranged to create graphic, abstract patterns or cheekier winks, like miniature tennis balls on cufflinks. Even sparklier pieces, like diamond-encrusted earrings, bear an organic quality when arranged in the shape of a blooming daisy.

An innovative spirit can also be found in Jona’s collaborations, such as the partnership with Italian architect and jewelry designer Tiziana Redavid that yielded radical bracelets and necklaces made with stainless-steel springs. The result is a brand whose modern shapes and precious stones ride the line between traditional elegance and modern daring.

Find a wide range of Alex Jona jewelry on 1stDibs today.

Whether you’re layering multiple jewelry pieces or opting for a single strand, vintage pendant necklaces are versatile accessories that can elevate your casual wear as easily as they can add a creative flourish to your formal attire.

The earliest jewelry was less about accessorizing than it was about wearers arming themselves with amulets. In Ancient Egypt, some amulets featured a loop so that they could be strung around one’s neck. While rubies have long been one of the few gemstones that can give diamonds a run for their money, members of some ancient civilizations valued the stones from the get-go, donning ruby pendants as well as other stones with the belief that these adornments would bring protection, healing powers or strength. Today, we still wear our charm bracelets and charm pendants around our necks for good luck.

Later, pendant necklaces, like most fine jewelry, were worn strictly by royalty or the upper class and conferred wealth and prestige. This changed over time, thankfully, as wearing jewelry became more widespread, a democratized means of personal expression.

During the 18th and 19th centuries, pendant necklaces evolved from their status as spiritual amulets, but the jewels still carried deep personal significance. Victorian pendants, in particular, were part of the “mourning jewelry” tradition. Wearers would embed their pendants with locks of hair from a deceased loved one as a way of grieving in the wake of a loss. In the case of cameo jewelry, some pendants were even decorated with miniature hand-carved portraits in a detailed raised relief. Today, portraiture is still a characteristic of many of the hand-carved pendant necklaces offered by Italian jewelry house Scala Gioielli.

Luxury fine jewelry brands such as Cartier, BVLGARI and David Yurman offer their own unique interpretations of the cherished accessory, embellishing platinum or gold pendant necklaces with diamonds, sapphires and other stones.

On 1stDibs, find an extraordinary range of vintage pendant necklaces and other necklaces today.