Jewelry Highlights of 2025, the Second Half

Back in July, during the dog days of summer, I put together a highly personal list of 10 Jewelry Highlights of 2025, So Far. To put a bow on the year, I’ve compiled a look back at the second half of ‘25 below. It includes things that made it onto Substack, some special moments that I never had a chance to write about, plus behind-the-scenes details of things I did write about.

Before diving in, I want to thank all of you for following along on Substack since I moved here 8 months ago. If you are not a subscriber yet or would like to upgrade your subscription, I have put the little box to do so just below.

1. It was the year of Elizabeth Taylor

In the last six months, Elizabeth Taylor experienced one big and one ginormous media revival moment. The first occurred in July. Kim Kardashian wore the Oscar winner’s famous diamond chandelier earrings when she slow walked in the Balenciaga couture show. I wrote about it and the history of the jewels and so did countless others.

Then in October, when Taylor Swift released Life of a Showgirl with a song simply titled, “Elizabeth Taylor” and proceeded to talk about how much she admired the Hollywood icon, who passed away in 2011, during her press tour. Searches for every aspect of Elizabeth Taylor’s biography spiked 9,000% online.

In celebration of Taylor’s “Elizabeth Taylor,” I wrote about All the Drama Surrounding the Taylor-Burton Diamond Part I and Part II, which I am sure no other outlet covered in as much detail.

2. Jessica McCormack opened a cozy-posh boutique

In September, London-based jewelry designer Jessica McCormack finally officially opened her highly anticipated New York City boutique at 743 Madison Avenue and we all wanted to move in. Spread over a few floors of a Beaux-Arts building constructed in 1879, the 3,200-square-foot space is as cozy as it is posh.

The talented New Zealand-born jewelry designer conceived the interiors, working closely with the restoration architects, Johnston Cave, and the Society of Guilders to conserve the building’s original features. The warmth of Jessica’s personal touch was evident in all kinds of details from the mix of antique and contemporary furniture and art to the little dog bed.

3. Muse brought downtown vibes to Nordstrom’s

In October, a couple months before Chanel stormed into New York City and reminded everyone that the best fashion shows can be in the subway, the West Village boutique Muse announced its shop-in-shop at Nordstrom’s on 57th Street & Broadway with posters in the subway as well as at bus stops.

The high-spirited attitude, which channels through founder and creative director Jennifer Shanker, was a perfect reflection of the Muse set-up and the inventory of 20 designers, including Ten Thousand Things, Francesca Villa and Bea Bongiasca.

I look like I am doing interpretive dance and Neil is posing like someone who knows where Andrew Werner's camera is at the R & R New York party. Reviewing the book with Lynn Yaeger and Frank Everett.

4. Celebrating Radiance and Reverie: Jewels from the Collection of Neil Lane in Toledo and New York

On October 16, a handful of New Yorkers from the jewelry world including yours truly headed off to the Toledo Museum of Art in Ohio for the opening of Radiance and Reverie: Jewels from the Collection of Neil Lane co-curated by Emily Stoehrer and Diane C. Wright.

In November at a celebration for Radiance and Reverie in New York guests included just about every key vintage jewelry dealer in the city, as well as a few from out of town who were here for the vintage show and NYC Jewelry Week. I spoke briefly about Neil’s knowledge of and obsession with jewelry, as well as his Hollywood jewelry collection, which I wrote about in the catalogue.

A photo I took in 2021 of Empress Eugénie’s bow in the Louvre’s Apollo Gallery.

5. The French Crown Jewels were stolen from the Louvre

On Sunday October 19, a day that will live in jewelry history infamy, eight French Crown Jewels were stolen from the Louvre. The treasures must have received an internet bump at least as big as Elizabeth Taylor’s from Taylor Swift. I posted my thoughts on Instagram Stories and had more engagement and views than anything I had done before, even when I correctly guessed who made Mrs. Bezos’s engagement ring in the first half of the year.

My story about it, The Louvre Jewels Have Been Stolen Before, Sold and Bought Back, includes all the messy details.

On May 20, 1968, photographers in Bristol, England captured Ward Landrigan staring at Elizabeth Taylor’s Krupp diamond ring. Photo Getty

6. We lost a jewelry legend: Ward Landrigan

I know of few who have had as storied a career as Ward Landrigan who passed away in November. Over the last 40 years he revived two beloved jewelry companies: Verdura and Belperron.

At the dawn of his professional experience, when he was in his twenties, he became head of Sotheby’s Parke-Bernet jewelry department. This appointment placed him in the extraordinary position of being the auctioneer responsible for selling Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor the 33.19-carat Krupp Diamond, the 69.42-carat Taylor-Burton Diamond, and the historic Peregrina Pearl.

Ward was a great raconteur and told the best stories about those sales and his experiences with Taylor and Burton. I wrote about all of it in Remembering Ward Landrigan. He was a one-of-a-kind special person and we will never see his likes again.

Christopher Young, Kate Hawley and the back of my head in front of Mary Shelly and Charles Lewis Tiffany portraits. Photo by Andrew Werner

7. “The Jewels of Frankenstein” at 92NY

I know there are people who walk onto a stage for a conversation with little or no preparation and just kind of wing it. I am not one of them. Neither is Christopher Young from Tiffany & Co. Believe it or not, we started preparing for the “Jewels of Frankenstein” conversation in July, four months before it took place.

The prep work began with Christopher sharing the story of the jewelry in the film with me. Then, we took the idea of a talk to Jonathan Wahl of the 92NY. He worked to find a date when the stage at the New York institution would be available during NYC Jewelry Week.

Video - The Jewels of Frankenstein

Next, we Zoomed and met with Kate Hawley, the wildly talented costume designer of Frankenstein, who is based in New Zealand, to shape the conversation. Intellectual property, assets and approval had to be obtained from Netflix. Christopher had a couple of animations made. Then, we worked over the run-of-show again and again and again.

Christopher and Kate at the end of the ‘Jewels of Frankenstein’ conversation. Photo Andrew Werner

One of the first of many times the audience gasped during the talk was when Christopher explained the two people in the paintings on screen behind us (in the image above) were Mary Shelley, author of Frankenstein, and Charles Lewis Tiffany, founder of Tiffany & Co. Although they never met, the paintings, which are from around the same year, made them look like a married couple in a diptych. It was as if Tiffany jewelry had been destined for Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein all along.

The photo of Kate and Christopher embracing at the end, during the standing ovation, makes me well up every time I look at it. What a thrill it was to witness the audience appreciate their visionary work from the best seat in the house.

8. The Adventurine Substack was namechecked in The New York Times

After nearly eight months on Substack, The Adventurine newsletter was attached to my name in The New York Times alongside a quote I gave about something else entirely. I can’t help but be excited about it and hopeful for the future.