Eva Fehren Line Bracelet

Eva Zuckerman doesn’t need a verdant field or beachside abode to spark ideas. “A lot of designers are inspired by nature,” says the founder of Eva Fehren fine jewelry, “but first and foremost, I am a born-and-raised New Yorker. I’ve always been attracted to the aesthetics of New York City — to things as simple as scaffolding, architectural details and cracks in the sidewalk. It’s my landscape.”

And like a true New Yorker, Zuckerman entered the world of fine jewelry with the intention of shaking things up a bit. When she launched Eva Fehren, in 2011, “there wasn’t a ton of fashion fine jewelry in the market,” she notes. “I thought there was something interesting about being a bit irreverent in that space.” It was a chance to create the kind of work she didn’t see a lot of — a “tougher, more minimal aesthetic.”

Zuckerman studied painting at the Cooper Union, in Manhattan’s East Village, and after graduation, she used her portfolio to interview for jewelry-design work. “When I started making jewelry, something really clicked for me,” she says. “I just soaked everything up like a sponge.”

After a few years working for others, she was ready to express her own creative vision and launch her own company. (“Fehren” is a play on Zuckerman’s mother’s last name “Fehrenbacher,” which is also the designer’s middle name.) It proved to be in tune with the zeitgeist: Her original X-Ring was a design home run. Delicate but not fragile, it evoked the crisscross pattern she saw everywhere in New York, from water towers to the Williamsburg Bridge. It has since been copied extensively. At first, she worried, “What if I don’t come up with anything else?” A decade later, that has clearly not been a problem.

For this committed city dweller, even the worst of times had a touch of urban idyll. During the pandemic lockdown, she recalls, “my husband and I would walk the empty streets. I got wrapped up in how beautiful my city is and nostalgic for its energy and spirit. I fell in love with New York all over again.” Will this fresh enchantment inspire new designs? Time will tell.

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Contemporary jewelry is inextricably linked with the moment in which it is created, frequently reflecting current social, cultural and political issues such as environmental consciousness, identity and sustainability. It’s informed by fashion trends, from the chokers of the 1990s to the large chain necklaces of the early 2000s.

Jewelry is one of the oldest forms of adornment. Lockets made of silver or gold have been treasured gifts for hundreds of years, for example, and charm bracelets, which have existed since prehistoric times, didn’t become especially popular until the 19th-century reign of Queen Victoria. For many centuries, fine jewelry was used primarily to express wealth or status through lavish materials. Then, in the 1960s, a concept known as the “critique of preciousness” emerged, with jewelers creating pieces that did not get their value from gemstones or precious metals. Instead, it was the jeweler’s artistic vision that was prized and elevated.

This shift still informs Contemporary jewelry being made by artists today. Whether they are using cheap, found materials and working with provocative geometric shapes or seeking out the rarest stones, they are imbuing their work with meaning through their skills, techniques and ideas. Innovative designers such as Elsa Peretti, who popularized sculptural sterling-silver jewelry for Tiffany & Co., and David Yurman, who twisted metal into the simple yet striking Cable bracelet, have also influenced the direction of Contemporary jewelry’s forms and aesthetics.

Meanwhile, technological advancements like metal alloys and laser engraving have led to new possibilities in jewelry design. Now, edgy makers and brands as well as minimalist designers are pushing Contemporary jewelry forward into the 21st century.

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Today, antique and vintage bracelets are versatile and universally loved accessories that can add polish and pizzazz to any ensemble.

Bracelets were among the jewels discovered to have been buried with Pharaoh Tutankhamun when his tomb was unearthed in 1922, and wrist and arm bracelets were allegedly worn by Queen Puabi in Sumer, southern Mesopotamia. But preceding the adornments of Ancient Egypt and elsewhere, the people of prehistoric times likely wore the decorative accessory, fashioning it from shells and fish bones. When the Bronze Age allowed for more durable materials and semiprecious stones to be incorporated into jewelry, bracelets became a treasured symbol of wealth.

In the thousands of years following the debut of the world’s first bracelets, the artistry behind this common accessory has only broadened, with designers at popular jewelry houses growing more venturesome over time. David Webb looked to nature for his Animal Kingdom bracelets, and for her best-selling bracelets and more at Tiffany & Co., Elsa Peretti would frequently do the same. From bangles to tennis bracelets, the modern age offers plenty of options.

Internationally acclaimed bracelet designs have on occasion become powerful symbols of status, style and, in the case of Cartier's iconic design, love. The Cartier Love bracelet can be found on the wish list of most jewelry lovers and on the wrist of some of the world’s biggest stars. Its arrangement of mock screwheads and distinctive functionality — it was initially locked and unlocked with an accompanying vermeil screwdriver — is an enduring expression of loyalty, unity and romance. (Do you know how to spot a fake Cartier Love bracelet?)

While the Love bracelet has played a role in the skyrocketing popularity of cuff-style bracelets, they are far from the only glamorous option for collectors. Make a statement with an Art Deco design, a style that sees all kinds of iterations fitted with studded cuffs, one-of-a-kind shapes and dazzling insets. A chunky vintage gold bracelet in the Retro style will prove eye-catching and elevate any outfit.

One of the best things about bracelets, however, is that you never have to choose just one. Style icon Jacqueline Kennedy stacked her Croisillon bracelets — designed by Jean Schlumberger for Tiffany & Co. — with such frequency that the ornate bangles were eventually dubbed “Jackie bracelets” by reporters. Contemporary silver pieces can easily complement each other, rendering a layering of luxury almost a necessity.

Find a diverse collection of bracelets that you can sort by style, stone cut and more on 1stDibs.