Fred Leighton Bombe Studs

For years, countless style-setters around the world — Hollywood starlets among them — have turned to Madison Avenue mainstay Fred Leighton for its exceptional selection of antique and vintage baubles.

Wrapped around its elegant corner of 66th and Madison Avenue in New York, Leighton is a brilliantly glittering star in the jewelry firmament. Since the boutique moved uptown in 1984, Leighton has become known for bringing antique and 20th-century jewels to a discerning international clientele and, perhaps most famously, for contributing to the red carpet looks of countless starlets (including Meryl Streep, Natalie Portman, Amy Adams and Claire Danes, to name but a few). Simply put, over the past few decades, Leighton has helped move antique jewelry out of its dusty, insular ivory tower and into the wider world of fast-moving modern style.

The story of Fred Leighton as we know it began in the 1970s, when Murray Mondschein (now something of a legend in the jewelry industry) took over a Greenwich Village clothing shop called Fred Leighton (after its original owner) and started selling Mexican wedding dresses, hand-crafted accessories and ethnic jewelry. When someone gave him some antique jewelry to sell, he added that to the mix.

A defining moment came in the mid-1990s: “It started with an unexpected call from Miuccia Prada,” relays Greg Kwiat, the jeweler’s CEO. “She had designed a dress for Nicole Kidman to wear to the Oscars, and she had something very specific in mind for the jewelry that should go with it.” Fred Leighton lent a vintage choker of Australian opals (a reference to Kidman’s nationality) that Prada, a client and collector, had seen in the shop. The timing was perfect, as “vintage” in general — clothes, accessories, jewelry, furniture — was being embraced for its charm, individuality and powers of personal expression. “Estate jewelry pushed against the sameness of modern branded culture,” explains Kwiat.

By the mid-2000s Mondschein (who by then had legally changed his name to Fred Leighton) had retired and an unsettled period of interim ownership followed. In 2009, the Kwiats, world-leading diamond traders and jewelers, bought the business, and Greg Kwiat became CEO. Today, the Madison Avenue boutique presents an air of streamlined serenity: taupe carpet warmed by original Art Deco showcases; furniture in rich, glossy Macassar wood; wrought-iron balustrades that recall a luxurious 1930s ocean liner. The jewelry, set out simply but impeccably, covers a 200-year span of styles and eras, from the candlelit romance of Georgian diamond chandelier earrings, through the pomp and grandeur of Victorian jewels, to the modernism of Art Deco masterpieces and seminal 1960s designs by the likes of Van Cleef & Arpels and David Webb.

Leighton’s particular strengths lie in Victorian pieces from the 1800s and Art Deco pieces. She likes the eclecticism and eccentricity of 19th-century jewelry, embodied, for example, by an enameled serpent bangle, with its gem-encrusted head, a favorite motif of Queen Victoria, or a pair of dramatic gold Egyptian-inspired earrings with scarab motifs that tell of the vogue for archaeological revival jewels during the period.

Today, the antique and 20th-century offerings are joined by a contemporary Fred Leighton-branded collection, whose rings, necklaces and other accessories are either inspired by historical precedents or actually incorporate antique elements, such as a pair of earrings composed of vintage diamond wings with appended enamels and fringes that provide an of-the-moment edge.

Find Fred Leighton jewelry on 1stDibs today.

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.

Find a collection of Contemporary rings, earrings, necklaces and other jewelry on 1stDibs.

Stud earrings have a unique and rich cultural history. Though their design has evolved, vintage stud earrings are still a classic jewelry style.

Stud earrings are frequently dated back over 7,000 years to Asia, where they were worn mostly by upper-class men to indicate their wealth and status. Although earrings sometimes fell out of favor over the years — such as when ear piercing was prohibited by the Catholic Church in the 13th century — they’ve remained one of the most enduring forms of body modification.

When diamond jewelry gained prominence in the 19th century, thanks to prosperity in Europe and the United States as well as the greater accessibility of gemstones, studs adorned with fine diamonds became popular. Screw-back earrings debuted in the late 19th century and allowed people without pierced ears to don the embellishment. Stud earrings became especially popular in the 1960s.

Stud earrings are simple and usually small in size, making them lightweight and easy to wear. Unlike other earrings, stud earrings have a floating appearance. They are often made with a single gemstone, such as a sapphire or emerald, and a straight post that goes through the ear, typically with a rubber or metal backing to hold it in place.

Today, stud earrings accentuate outfits with a casual, elegant style, adding a bit of glam to any ensemble. Find an eclectic array of stud earrings on 1stDibs.