Lavender Jade Grape

Family-run fine jewelry brand Dilys’ was established with the goal of creating adornments for modern Asian women that merge distinctive forward-looking style with tradition. To create the company’s bright, colorful and totally dazzling bracelets, rings, necklaces and other accessories, founder Dilys Young draws on Art Deco jewelry and a range of other modes and eras of design (Dilys’ transformable tiara necklace, for example, draws on Qing dynasty-era jewels). Young believes that professional women need to have choices in jewelry, with versatile options and pieces for all kinds of occasions.

Dilys’ began in 1991 as a maker of bespoke jewelry in Hong Kong. The company’s humble start allowed Young and her team of artisans to focus on the quality of design. Young traveled to trade shows in Taipei, Taiwan and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, establishing herself outside of the Hong Kong market and creating venturesome pieces — she designed various accessories that see both Art Deco influences and nods to Chinese culture in their geometrically rich arrangements of diamonds and integration of dragon motifs. Elsewhere, Young was using Paraiba tourmalines in Dilys’ cocktail rings and earrings long before the hypnotizing stone’s current surge of popularity. 

By 2003, Young’s jewelry designs had reached a North American audience, and the founder took her collections to trade shows in Las Vegas and New York. Dilys' soon became known internationally. In 2008 and 2009, Dilys’ continued to reach new markets. The company launched its contemporary Novel and Lady collections and Dilys' acquired a new 4,000-square-foot facility in Sheung Wan, Hong Kong, and operations expanded to meet the growing demand.

Shortly after celebrating 20 years in business, Young would open her Shanghai offices. Eventually, Young brought her daughter, Pearl Li, into the business. The University of the Arts London graduate helms marketing at the company and launched a sister brand, Young by Dilys’, to offer affordable accessories to today’s jewelry lovers. Another brand, D by Dilys', was founded by Li and Young in 2021 — it is focused on creating one-of-a-kind pieces with hand-picked gems for a younger clientele.

On 1stDibs, find Dilys’ rings, earrings, bracelets and other jewelry.

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.