Opal Tie Clip

Through the Australian jewelry brand Opal Minded, Renata Bernard creates contemporary jewelry featuring gorgeous opals sourced from Australia's renowned opal mines. Her pendant necklaces, cocktail rings and dangle earrings showcase the beauty of the multicolored gemstone. She also designs one-of-a-kind opal engagement rings as striking alternatives to classic diamond rings.

Bernard moved to Australia from Eastern Europe in 1994 with only $100 in her wallet. She met and later married John Bernard, who had founded Opal Minded in Sydney in 1989. The brand is dedicated solely to opal jewelry made from stones unearthed from its own Queensland mines. While Australia is not the only source of opals in the world, it provides some of the rarest and most sought-after stones.

An ex-academic with a Ph.D. in cinema, Bernard fell in love with opals after meeting her husband. She became an accredited gemologist and valuer and took up the position of creative director at Opal Minded. She now designs every piece of Opal Minded jewelry in-house at the company’s design studio in the Dymocks Building in Sydney. The pieces are sold in Opal Minded’s chic boutique in The Rocks, a historic Sydney neighborhood.

Bernard reveals the inner beauty of Australian opals with jewelry ranging from understated bracelets that allow the stones to shine to glamorous necklaces with sparkling diamond embellishments. She finds inspiration everywhere, such as the organic forms in nature and the clean lines of modern architecture. By approaching every stone individually, she creates keepsakes made to be passed down through generations.

On 1stDibs, find Renata Bernard necklaces, rings, earrings and more.

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.

Crafted to match every color palette, mood or whim, a luxurious pair of vintage clip-on earrings, like any pair of earrings, goes a long way toward completing a look and contributing to the rich form of self-expression that is accessorizing with your favorite jewelry.

Everyone loves a glamorous pair of earrings, but not everyone wants their ears pierced. That’s where a dazzling pair of clip-ons comes in.

Wearing earrings goes back thousands of years, but ear piercing didn’t really become popular in the United States until the 1950s and ’60s. Over the years, jewelry designers have endeavored to create all kinds of clip-on earrings to provide jewelry lovers with a way to express themselves by wearing their favorite adornments without having to undergo the piercing process.

Whether it’s the extravagant diamond clip-on drop earrings or chandelier earrings that flappers donned during Art Deco’s heyday — short hair was in style during the era, so women favored big, bold earrings — or if subdued pearl earrings, platinum earrings (a particularly versatile choice) or a contemporary variety is your thing, clip-on earrings have been made in all kinds of styles over the years.

Clip-on earrings continue to be a comfortable alternative to the traditional iteration, and these accessories are as stylish and adaptable to both casual and formal wear as they’ve ever been.

Explore a vast range of vintage clip-on earrings on 1stDibs now, and find the perfect pair for any ensemble. Our collection includes striking clip-on earrings by David Webb, Tiffany & Co., Van Cleef & Arpels and others.