Fine Jewelry Leans Into the Multiwear Trend

“The ability to dismantle a tiara into a brooch has long been a feature of high jewelry. Now less expensive pieces are showing the same versatility.

 

When is a necklace not just a necklace? When it also can be worn as a bracelet, its center stone as a brooch and some part can become an ear cuff.

 

Such transformability has long been a feature of high jewelry creations, originating in the mid-19th century with tiaras that could be dismantled into pieces such as brooches and bracelets, said Marion Fasel, a jewelry historian and author in New York City.

 

But the current high price of gold has more buyers seeking such multiwear options, even in the kind of fine jewelry designs that are worn every day. “Especially the more expensive it gets, the more it should do,” Ms. Fasel said. “Jewelry needs to perform — and be personal in some way.”

 

Victoria Bain, an art director and fashion stylist in London who specializes in jewelry, said the ability to style a piece in a distinctive way has played a large role in the popularity of transformable jewels. “With all the recent trends — from layered necklaces, multiple chains, to adding a talisman or charm — it’s now more about personality than ever before,” she said.

 

Introductions in two fine jewelry collections late last year underscored the trend.

 

The Cartier Love Unlimited bracelet, a play on the house’s best-selling Love bangle, was designed as an articulated, ribbonlike strip of 200 components. Its clasp can be attached to other Love Unlimited bracelets, potentially creating a necklace or even a belt.

 

Pierre Rainero, Cartier’s image, style and heritage director, said the Unlimited’s design was rooted in the house’s “obsession with comfort, fluidity and elegance,” not a desire to create something transformable. But, in the end, the new design does allow the bracelet to be worn loosely or close to the wrist, and the wearer can remove the bracelet without help (something that was all but impossible with the original design, which required a screwdriver).

 

“We want people to feel at ease with what they wear,” Mr. Rainero said.

 

Van Cleef & Arpels introduced four transformable pieces in its popular Alhambra collection, known for its four-leaf clover motif. The new Magic Alhambra necklaces, offered in mother-of-pearl or chalcedony, feature a mix of clover sizes and may be worn either long or short, or transformed into a bracelet. There also are two reversible rings: A rose gold model with a gray mother-of-pearl clover on one side and the other finished in guilloché topped with a diamond; and a white gold version paired with chalcedony.

 

(The house has a long tradition of transformable jewels, most notably its Zip Necklace, a high jewelry piece introduced in 1951 and still produced today. The design could be worn open as a necklace or zipped closed as a bracelet.)

 

Catherine Rénier, the house’s chief executive, said that introducing transformability into Alhambra “made sense,” especially for a design that since its debut in 1968 had been about flexibility, with the jewel worn in the hair, as a belt or wrapped multiple times around the wrist.

 

“There is an easiness of wearing Alhambra — the style statement it gives to any outfit, and the playfulness and versatility,” Ms. Rénier said. “It’s nice when we see people owning it in their own style and expression.”

 

Zoya Sakr, the Dubai entrepreneur behind the Flower Society florist business, owns more than 20 Alhambra pieces, including necklaces, rings and watches, in various sizes, finishes and colored stones. “Alhambra is the easiest to wear with any watch or jewelry,” she said. “That’s why I wear them more than any others.”

 

Ms. Sakr said she liked to style her pieces, such as dangling an Alhambra bracelet from an Alhambra choker for a statement look, and she welcomed the new transformable designs. “We’re used to seeing transformable pieces in high jewelry, but now Van Cleef are offering it in fine jewelry, which is amazing,” she said. “It’s a great investment.”

 

Also offering fine jewelry options is Perle Adler, the founder and designer behind Macadam, a brand named for the crushed-stone road surface that covers some historic streets in its New York City home.

 

Many of Macadam’s graphic, urban-inspired earrings and necklaces feature detachable pendants that can dress a look up or down. “Whether you’re a mom doing the school drop off, then have a work meeting, then dinner with friends or maybe an event — you’re going to present yourself in different ways throughout the day,” Ms. Adler said.

 

Such adaptable designs in all jewelry categories, she added, “give you the freedom to not overthink your outfit for the day.”

 

In October, the British jewelry brand Annoushka unveiled a silver Knuckle necklace with two clasps enabling it to be transformed from a long necklace to a choker or worn as a lariat style piece.

 

Recent high jewelry collections have continued to explore transformable options, with several introductions in the latter half of 2025 featuring a strong fashion vibe.

 

Pomellato’s rose gold Precious Spring Ring utilized a ring clasp that could transform the piece from a pendant or bracelet to a belt. Dior’s Diorexquis collection was presented with necklaces doubling as belts and anklets, while a bejeweled mother-of-pearl statement necklace came with an additional chain to dangle its central 13.08-carat diamond as a pendant. And Chopard’s Ice Cube collection featured a diamond-set gold hair clip that also worked as tie pins.

 

And at the inaugural Grand Prix de la Haute Joaillerie, an awards event in Monaco, three of the nine winning pieces were transformable.

 

The top prize went to Chanel, whose Sweater necklace could be worn four ways, including as a choker, and its emerald and diamond accents could be detached and worn as earrings. Taking the Gemstone Prize was Louis Vuitton’s Apogée necklace, dangling a 30.75-carat pear-cut emerald, which could be worn three ways. And the Public Prize, which drew more than 20,000 votes online, went to Dolce & Gabbana’s oversize transformable gold necklace with multicolored gems, diamonds and pearls.

 

Boucheron regularly creates transformable jewels, in both high and fine jewelry. As Claire Choisne, the house’s creative director, wrote in an email: “Today’s women are looking for jewelry that evolves with them, that can adapt to their outfits, moods, and surroundings.”

 

Last year, in addition to several versatile high jewelry pieces in its couture collection, the house unveiled Serpent Bohème Vintage, designs inspired by a 1974 sautoir, or long necklace, from its archives.

 

The reworked floral motif necklace could be worn four ways: As a shorter necklace, a choker, a brooch or even a pair of bracelets.” [1]

 

1. Fine Jewelry Leans Into the Multiwear Trend. Liu, Ming.  New York Times (Online) New York Times Company. Jan 25, 2026.