Consumers are seeking more statement-making jewels—a genre that was all but forgotten in the sweatsuit-soaked days of 2020. Smart shoppers want jewels that will stand the test of time without breaking the bank, and sterling silver often allows for that.

Yellow gold is still important: Shoppers aren’t done collecting everyday jewels in the metal. With two-tone silver styles, they can wear both yellow gold and sterling silver simultaneously—the best of both worlds.

Below are some of the latest sterling silver pieces (many of them two-tone) to scout on the floor of the JCK show in Las Vegas this year. Surely these represent only a fraction of what’s in store, with a fantastic array of brands ready to showcase their offerings.

Top: Bracelet in sterling silver and 18k yellow gold, $1,130; Phillip Gavriel

The first clue that I was headed to one helluva shindig came last Tuesday, when my family returned from a weekend visit to Mexico City to find a delivery van parked in our driveway. The driver, who’d been told we’d be pulling in after midnight, was fast asleep in the front seat.

After I awakened him, he grabbed a bag in Tiffany’s unmistakable shade of robin’s-egg blue from the passenger seat. “You must be a very important person,” he said as he handed it to me.

Inside, a personalized invitation spelled out the details: Bernard Arnault, chairman and CEO of LVMH, Tiffany’s parent company (and the richest man in the world, according to Forbes), was inviting me to celebrate the reopening of the Landmark, the jeweler’s New York City flagship, at Fifth Avenue and 57th Street. The party was taking place on the eve of the store’s official reopening on Friday.

When I arrived at the Landmark, throngs of onlookers were pressed against the barricades across the street, quite likely squinting their eyes to see if I was a somebody.

I glided through the revolving doors beneath the Atlas statue clock right on the heels of Paloma Picasso, the immaculately coiffed Tiffany collaborator whose designs are featured in a dedicated display upstairs. She paused near the entrance long enough for me to admire her silk kimono printed with a Japanese-style tableau: birds alighting on branches of cherry blossoms. It was easy to imagine that even the daughter of the 20th century’s most lauded artist was stunned by the opulence of the ground floor, aka “The World of Tiffany.”

Nearly four years in the making, the store’s renovated interior—all 100,000-plus square feet of it—may well be the world’s most glamorous temple to jewelry. JCK news director Rob Bates did a fine job of summarizing the details that went into the brand’s first “holistic renovation” since 1940, including digitized immersive installations, 4,090 light fixtures, and 40 artworks by the likes of Jean-Michel Basquiat, Damien Hirst, Julian Schnabel, and Daniel Arsham.

I, on the other hand, am here to tell you about the scene.

And by scene, I don’t mean the 80-plus celebrities in attendance—though the famous-face spotting was, indeed, epic. Mayor Eric Adams was a guest, as were film director Baz Luhrmann, artist Jeff Koons, designer Marc Jacobs, Martha needs-no-introduction Stewart, and dozens of actors and musicians, including Gal Gadot, Hailey Bieber, Pharrell, Anya Taylor-Joy, Florence Pugh, Zoë Kravitz, Blake Lively, Mark Wahlberg, and Tiffany Haddish.

One of the first guests who caught my eye was a beautifully put-together Asian woman dressed entirely in white. Against the backdrop of her leather vest, crinoline skirt, and Dior handbag, it was impossible to ignore the Patek Philippe Tiffany Blue Nautilus on her left wrist. (When it was introduced in December 2021, the limited-edition timepiece retailed for $52,635; the current secondary-market price hovers around $3 million.)

I turned to take in the lavishness of the room and spotted Michael J. Kowalski, Tiffany’s beloved former CEO, who served in the role from 1999 to 2015. As he posed for photos with the current CEO, Anthony Ledru, I couldn’t help but wonder what Kowalski made of the new (and improved?) Tiffany.

Last November, when I interviewed Ledru over a video call for a New York Times story about the growth of the branded jewelry sector, he was candid, gracious, and undeniably clear about the brand’s repositioning under LVMH, which acquired Tiffany in early 2021 for $16 billion.

“This year has been really focused on product elevation,” Ledru told me. “One reason we’ve been growing fast is we went quite big on high jewelry.”

“When we completed the acquisition, we never thought the high jewelry business at Tiffany in 2022 would be on par with our silver business,” Ledru said. “We multiplied by five the high jewelry activity since we took over. And the focus has been on Jean Schlumberger, the designer who joined Tiffany in the ’60s. He’s a bridge between old world and new world. It is the ultimate signifier of what Tiffany stands for. I believe it is our style.”

If the designer’s iconic Bird on a Rock brooch comes to mind, you’re spot-on. According to Ledru, the piece is at the heart of Tiffany’s high jewelry ambitions.

“It’s incredible the growth we enjoy,” he said, referring to sales of the brooch. “Bird on a Rock was only mounted on Tiffany legacy gemstones: tanzanite, tsavorite, morganite, and kunzite.

“Why would clients not want that on stones that were truly exceptional?” Ledru added. “We’ve done that for this year. We’ve had it on sapphires, on a very big morganite. This year we did it on white diamonds. Today we have close to six months of waiting time on that specific piece.”

As I wandered the floors of the reimagined Landmark, the focus on high-end clientele was palpable. Starting on the seventh floor—home to a Patek Philippe salon as well as a wide selection of Tiffany “Masterpieces,” including a $1.95 million Bird on a Rock brooch with a 7.91 ct. no-oil Colombian emerald and a $1.45 million diamond necklace centered on a 14.42 ct. oval Paraiba tourmaline from Brazil—I made my way down the sweeping curvilinear staircase to the themed floors beneath.

Lifestyle and home goods plus the Blue Box Café dominate floor 6. Here I spotted deluxe table tennis rackets, throw pillows, and plates, all decked out in Tiffany Blue. Throughout the room, re-creations of window displays designed by Gene Moore, Tiffany’s former artistic director, evoked the feeling of visiting a museum.

Silver designs occupy level 5, alongside a small but delightful “Audrey Experience,” featuring a replica of Audrey Hepburn’s black Givenchy dress from the opening scene of Breakfast at Tiffany’s. (Speaking of Givenchy, which LVMH acquired in 1988, the Tiffany salespeople are all outfitted, right down to their shiny black loafers, in custom black Givenchy clothing embroidered with a blue Tiffany logo.)

The silver offerings still open at a relatively affordable $250, for a Return to Tiffany bracelet, but when I spoke to Ledru last year, he made clear that the old Tiffany, with its wide selection of accessibly priced silver jewels, was a thing of the past.

“We’re not discarding silver, but we wanted to start with first things first, which was all about the brand elevation and having a very clear message for our clients,” he told me.

When I arrived on floor 4, dedicated to “Gold & Diamond Icons,” including works by Picasso, Schlumberger, and Elsa Peretti, I got a very clear vision of the kind of clients Ledru had in mind. At a showcase of watches created specifically for the Landmark, I came across a well-heeled couple who appeared to be in their 70s. The husband was trying on a square-faced Union Square timepiece, while his wife, who wore her silvery hair in a shoulder-length straight bob, admired the accompanying bangles.

“Do you need another watch?” she asked him.

Later on, at the party space next door (the former Niketown site that became Tiffany’s temporary home in 2019), I spotted the woman and approached her to say hello. “Where do you live?” I asked her, practically screaming so she could hear me above the crowd.

“Here in New York, but we have four other homes,” she said.

“Where are you from?” I persisted.

“I’m from Hamburg,” she replied. “Where are you from?”

When she learned I was born in St. Petersburg, Russia, it was clear from her reaction that she knew the city of the White Nights. “We have been there five or six times,” she said. “With Gergiev.”

She meant Valery Gergiev, “Russia’s most powerful classical musician,” as The New Yorker once described him. He was the longtime artistic and general director of St. Petersburg’s famed Mariinsky Theatre, and served as chief conductor of the Munich Philharmonic until his post was rescinded in 2022 when he refused to condemn the war against Ukraine.

Later, the Rockettes took the stage, followed in short order by Katy Perry, who delivered a spectacular performance that had the entire room singing along. And yet all I could think about was the privilege that surrounded me.

I glanced around, only to find a pretty blond woman in a short pink tweed dress standing to my right. On her left lapel, she wore a Bird on a Rock brooch, the bird perched on the biggest pink stone I had ever seen.

Top: A scene from Tiffany & Co.’s grand reopening party on April 27 taken at the entrance to the ground-floor “World of Tiffany” room (all photos courtesy of Tiffany & Co.)

As you think about how to merchandise your gold and silver showcases this fall, you may want to keep this in mind: The pandemic-era craze for layering smaller pendants, bracelets, and earrings into a maximalist whole is finally giving way to a look that favors singular statement styles—in particular, those in trending silver or two-tone executions.

This was a takeaway from our recent conversation with Kate Lagos, brand stylist at Lagos, the Philadelphia-based jewelry company founded by her father, Steven Lagos, in 1977.

“We’ve been pushing light and layerable because it’s been happening for so long, and we’ve explored that a lot, but it’s shifting back to bolder styles, such as big cuffs,” Kate tells JCK. “Also, it’s very interesting that silver is coming back. We’ve been working on our gold pieces for the last 10 years, but silver is our core.”

To hear Kate tell it, so is two-tone jewelry. “Steve was a pioneer when it came to two-tone,” she says. “When he started 45 years ago, people were wearing silver or they were wearing gold. He gave the wearer that confidence to feel as though they can mix and match what they already have and not feel like it’s clashing.”

The Lagos fall 2023 lineup incorporates these trends and more—just look to the brand’s bold new Embrace collection, which combines its classic X motif with diamond-circled O’s, and its iconic Caviar pieces bearing the brand’s signature beading, often dusted with diamonds.

“The fall focus is on the best of Lagos, on what makes us distinctive,” says Kate.

Top: Embrace Caviar bracelet in sterling silver with diamonds and 18k gold, $9,500 (available in August)

National Beer Day is an unofficial holiday every April 7, though Virginia officially recognized the holiday in 2018 and started celebrating—likely with a cold one—in 2019. The date was chosen because April 7 was when the Cullen-Harrison Act was enacted in 1933, reversing the U.S. prohibition on selling beer.

In honor of National Beer Day, here is a look at three jewelry makers for whom beer serves as inspiration or subject—and maybe even the reason for becoming a jewelry designer.

Sterling Echoes

Denise Harrison (no relation to Harrison of the Cullen-Harrison Act) says beer is a driving force behind the jewelry she designs for her Bend, Ore., company Sterling Echoes. The textures and patterns on her fine jewelry come from beer bubbles and the foam that results from pouring beer into a glass.

To create her jewelry, Harrison starts with a photograph she has taken, one of her drawings, or a computer-generated piece of art. For example, she’ll take a photo of the foam on the side of a glass that looks like a tree or other organic shape, then manipulate it in a software program. The first step is to strip away any color so you can see the pure form.

Next, that image is printed onto press-and-peel paper used in etching. Harrison etches images onto copper, and she creates wax pieces with those copper etch plates. Harrison uses the lost-wax method to cast jewelry from these plates onto sterling silver and gold. Each piece is hand-patinated and polished, ready for the beer-loving wearer.

Harrison says she also does custom work. So whether you prefer an IPA or an amber, you’ll know that your piece of jewelry is a reflection of the beer you love. “You can send me a picture or you can send me the beer. I’m happy to drink it for you,” Harrison says with a laugh.

Her jewelry journey started when she was making pieces at home as a hobby. Harrison needed a ring mandrel, and someone suggested she look at the local college bookstore. It turned out the college held metal classes, and Harrison signed up for one.

Harrison, who was working in information technology at the time, ended up taking multiple jewelry classes to learn the techniques. Her hobby had developed into a business as she took her work to art fairs and local stores and sold it through her website.

She occasionally receives some odd inquires because her jewelry business shows up when you search “beer jewelry” on the internet. Some people will ask if her work is made from beer tabs or old cans; she answers politely that she works only in precious metals, not tin or aluminum.

She came up with the business name because at the time she used to work mostly in sterling silver and “echoes” referred to how Harrison likes to work in abstract, making the jewelry reflective of its inspiration without being a direct reproduction of it.

“It has a story—you have to dig a little bit deeper to know what it is,” Harrison says.

Delicacies 

Wheat is a key ingredient in many beers, and a fun ingredient that the whimsical jewelry brand Delicacies loves to represent in its work. The St. Paul, Minn.-based jeweler is committed to fighting hunger, so you give to good causes with every purchase of its wheat-shaped jewelry.

The brand, co-founded by Nicolle R. Nelson and John Peter Larson, donates 10% of profits to help provide meals to the underserved. They choose local organizations so they can donate both money and time.

According to the Delicacies team, wheat is an ideal symbol in jewelry because it is believed to promote prosperity, renewal, fertility, and that all-important quality for makers like themselves: creativity.

Hopped Up Jewelry

When Hopped Up Jewelry creator and designer Kimberly Markley moved from Ohio to Bend, Ore., she found a great part-time job at a small pub, “pouring tasty Pacific Northwest beer for thirsty, craft-beer-loving folk,” as she says. She created a pair of beer-themed earrings to wear to work.

“I made a pair of hop flower earrings to celebrate my appreciation of their mighty flavor—and to spice up the boring beer swag T-shirts I was required to wear to work at the bar,” Markley says. “Many of the ladies who spotted them wanted a pair for themselves and for their friends, and that’s how Hopped Up Jewelry was born.”

After taking some time off to travel, Markley moved back to central Oregon and invested time in growing her jewelry hobby into a full-time job.

“I never meant to start a line of jewelry dedicated to my love of the beer community. I did not mean to spend my weekends obsessively tinkering with designs in my tiny studio or years building a small business,” Markley says. “It just happened because I love creating well-made objects for people to wear and feel beautiful.

“It gives me immense joy to spot women wearing their hop earrings while raising pints of their favorite craft beverages with their friends in the sunshine on the patios of my local breweries. That’s the good life here in the Pacific Northwest,” she says.

Top: Sterling Echoes’ Beer Speak Tree necklace ($375) features an image that company founder Denise Harrison says she found in a glass of beer. (Photo courtesy of Sterling Echoes)

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Basei is currently Pandora’s general manager for southern Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.

Martino Pessina, who has served as chief commercial officer for the past three years, is stepping down from that position.

In his new role, Basei will be responsible for Pandora’s global retail network—which comprises 6,500 points of sale across 100 markets. His job will include overseeing network expansion, franchise relations, the omnichannel experience, store development, and global merchandising.

An Italian national, Basei joined Pandora as country manager for Italy in 2010. Since then, he has also led Pandora’s commercial operations in southern Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. He will be based out of Copenhagen and report to CEO Alexander Lacik.

Sara Bergiotti, currently sales director of Pandora’s southern Europe, Middle East, and Africa cluster, will take over as its general manager.

(Photo courtesy of Pandora)

As I mentioned in this panel discussion at the recent MJSA show, I have been feeling the whisper of a silver jewelry trend for a while and the fact that my personal taste is pointing me in that direction—especially after being a gold girl for most of my life—tells me something. I’m not off on gold or anything but oh how my heart sank when Lisa Kramer Vintage posted these Niels Erik earrings on Instagram and I was too late to snatch them up. Now they’re all I think about.

I always appreciate a gut check when I am getting a whiff of a simmering trend, and the good news is that you don’t have to take my word for it. Quite a few of the experts we consulted for our 2023 Trend Forecast predicted a silver revival, one informed by 1990s-era nostalgia and a Southwestern jewelry microtrend but also the tech-forward, futuristic moment that the culture (see: NFTs) seems to be embracing.

Interestingly, the current silver jewelry trend also meets at the intersection of maximalism and minimalism. As such, to some collectors, vintage jewels by the likes of Elsa Peretti and Georg Jensen embody the trend at its absolute chicest.

“From a style perspective, minimalism is back, in stark contrast to the bright, bold statement jewelry that has been popular in recent years,” says Jill Heller, a New York–based stylist and vintage fine jewelry specialist. “Vintage sculptural silver pieces are back in higher demand for collectors who are leaning toward a more pared-down jewelry look, which we’re also seeing on recent runways ranging from Jil Sander to Alexander McQueen.”

She adds, “Yellow gold jewelry still reigns supreme when it comes to vintage, but collectors are starting to consider silver in a way that they hadn’t necessarily in the past. There is an ongoing fascination with Elsa Peretti and her legacy, which is now being embraced by a wider generation since Ryan Murphy’s Halston debuted on Netflix in 2021. Elsa was one of the largest proponents for silver at the time—managing to influence Tiffany to bring the medium back into their offering after they stopped using it in the 1930s—and this was very intentional. She wanted her pieces to be accessible to the average woman.”

Beyond appreciating Peretti’s timeless aesthetic, Heller says the idea of impeccably designed yet affordable jewelry resonates with a growing younger generation of jewelry collectors. To them, silver jewelry holds the promise of being the first of many conquests.

In addition to Peretti, Heller reports an uptick in interest in Georg Jensen. “It is strongly connected both to the resurgence of minimal fashion, as well as a bohemian look that has resurfaced,” she says. “This is due to the vast range of work created by Jensen himself and other designers at the helm of the brand in later years. More recent designs lean toward sculptural, while original Jensen works from the 1920s were heavily influenced by the art nouveau and Arts and Crafts movement.”

The uninitiated might start their Jensen journey with “the floral-inspired pieces from Jensen’s early days—like his tulips and moonlight blossoms—which are evocative of southwestern squash blossom pieces, but more minimalistic and with fewer embellishments,” says Heller. “For something more sculptural, the Amoeba and Amorphic pieces from Henning Koppel’s era at the brand are great examples of midcentury modernism’s influence on jewelry. The designs are simultaneously of-the-time and futuristic.”

The takeaway for retail jewelers? Well, if you’re sitting on a bunch of unsigned silver jewelry from decades ago, it might be time to resurface some of those pieces in your estate case. Curate thoughtfully and keep Heller’s advice in mind: “Because cuffs and stacked bracelet looks are also trending, a group of great sculptural silver bracelets that can be layered is a great way to add to your collection. I also love the look of a cool silver medallion on a black cord.”

And naturally I’d like to be first in line to take a look.

Top: Jill Heller (left) a New York–based stylist and vintage fine jewelry specialist says young collectors are drawn to vintage silver pieces for many reasons including “a feeling of nostalgia associated with silver that makes it appealing.” This sterling silver and enamel heart charm bracelet sold five minutes after she posted it on Instagram. 

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Not that such a creation from artful jeweler Renisis needed an upward swinging trend for it to be alluring. But the Skywalk bracelet, part of the brand’s Evidence of the Future collection, is the statement we’ve all been waiting to make.

“As the pandemic fades, I feel we need a renaissance of meaningful bold statement jewelry to rebuild our confidence and step out and that is what our brand, Renisis, is all about,” says Renisis founder and designer Sardwell.

“The Skywalk cuff was inspired by graphic elements of Japanese armor during the Edo period as well as the common chevron motif,” she continues. “The Samurai wore molded plates to protect their forearm, wrist, and hand, and with this influence, felt the collection needed a bold wrist element to protect, encourage, and invigorate us with its sharp design to go the distance. We worked on many renditions of this design to reach the correct visual weight and comfort. The clasp is also custom-designed for this piece.”

Despite its bygone inspirations, the cuff has more recent vibes to offer as well. “Customers have responded that they love large silver cuffs and felt it reminded them of artisanal silver jewelry pieces from the ’60s or ’70s,” Sardwell says.

We can’t say for sure how long it will take for warmer weather to officially arrive—March came in like a lion, as they say—but just the sight of this cuff might have jewelry lovers reaching for less sleeve and more statement silver.

“Soon with the spring and summer season arriving, there is nothing more striking, chic, and polished than a large silver cuff adorning our wrist or arm,” Sardwell says. “Wearing the Skywalker cuff, with a renewed confidence and protection to go after our dreams.”

Top: Skywalker cuff bracelet in sterling silver, price on request; Renisis

In his new role, Wielemans will become a member of Swarovski’s executive committee and will report to Alexis Nasard, the company’s first CEO from outside its founding family, who was appointed in June 2022. Wielemans will be based in Männedorf, Switzerland.

Wielemans replaces Frederik Westring, who is currently interim CFO. Westring will leave Swarovski at the end of June “to pursue other interests,” the company said, but until then will work on special projects.

Wielemans joins Swarvoski from EssilorLuxottica, where he served as co-CFO for EssilorLuxottica Group as well as group CFO for Essilor International. He holds a finance and accounting degree from CNAM Paris (Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers).

In a statement, Nasard said that Wielemans will be “a key asset as we continue our luxurization journey toward sustainable profitable growth.”

(Photo courtesy of Swarovski)

“From about 7 to 14, I was pretty much living at the go-kart track,” he says.

It helped that racing ran in his family. His father—Chris Lux, founder and head of the Buffalo, N.Y.-based charm company—raced as an amateur. So did his mother. His father’s cousin Ron Lux raced on a pro level (and was killed in a track accident).

Racing became such an obsession for Eric that during high school he was homeschooled so he could focus on it. In 2003, at age 14, he was the youngest licensed racing driver in the United States. In 2005, he became one of the first 16-year-old drivers to compete and finish 24 Hours of Daytona.

Lux spent six years as a full-time professional racer during and after college. But eventually the family business beckoned.

“I had just accepted a pretty big NASCAR contract when I got a call—my father was ill,” Lux says. “I put everything on hold.”

Chris Lux was soon back as Rembrandt’s chairman and CEO. Eric stayed with the company and became its president in December. But he still runs about seven professional races a year. In February, he participated in Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona, where his team came in sixth. (In 2022, it was first.) In March, he’ll compete in another endurance race, 12 Hours of Sebring.

“I have been able to keep a foot in both worlds,” he says. It helps he’s occasionally able to merge the two.

“One of the things that I’ve always negotiated with the race teams is, in lieu of prize money, you have ‘Rembrandt Charms’ on the car,” he says. “We always invite our jewelers to the races, and we usually have 40 or 50 jewelers come and watch.”

Still, the sport requires quite a bit of training, including time at the gym, and regular practice on a racing simulator in his basement. While the simulator doesn’t come close to what it’s really like on the track, it helps Lux maintain the proper mindset.

“The main benefit is just developing the mental consistency, lap over lap, making good time, without making mistakes. A big part of racing is the mental focus you need every time you get in the car. The level of competition these days [means] everyone’s pushing to the limit every single lap, every corner. You have to be able to do that without making mistakes.”

Racing, he says, is really about “focus and being able to think ahead as far as strategy, where you are going to be on the track. That always evolves as the race goes on, as there’s issues with your car or other cars. Those that can piece it together fastest, in support of their engineers and the pit lane, usually have the best result.”

But that hyper-focus is what Lux enjoys.

“It’s one of the few things in life that allows you to shut off and disconnect from every other concern or thought in life,” he says. “It’s such a release to be able to park all your thoughts about business, or family, or whatever might be bothering you or consuming you, and focus on the task at hand and complete it. I find that really challenging and also refreshing.

“There’s a lot more lows in racing than there are highs, but every one of those highs makes it worth it,” he adds. “You can have a rough stretch, and the second you get back on the podium and win a race, nothing else matters.”

Which is why he hopes to never give up the sport completely. “I have been doing this 19 seasons and probably been with about 50 different teams and 50 different cars,” he says. “I don’t know how much longer I’ll be able to keep doing it, as I’m turning 35 next month. I happen to be fast enough that they keep calling me back. As long as I keep getting a call to come back, I’ll be there. I love it and would like to keep doing it as long as I can.”

(Photo courtesy of Rembrandt Charms)

I am not an Aerosmith connoisseur but have a borderline-indiscriminate affection for bands that ascended in the 1970s, the decade in which I was born. Toys in the Attic may not have gotten rave reviews when it came out (yikes!), but here we are almost 50 years later and the opening strains of “Sweet Emotion” still make me want to lower the windows and crank the volume. Or roll my hips in a certain way if no one’s watching.

Now there’s a new jewelry collection inspired by the seminal album cover (pictured below) and developed in collaboration with the band. With New York City jewelry designer Donna Distefano and Aerosmith lead guitarist Joe Perry at the helm of the project, Toys by Aerosmith x Distefano reimagines the cast of characters featured on the Toys in the Attic album cover as a group of seven mix-and-match charms available in bronze, sterling silver, 18k, or 22k gold.

Toys marks the latest installment of Distefano’s and Perry’s ongoing creative collaboration.

“I think it was about 12 or so years ago that Joe Perry randomly called me because he was interested in some of my 22k gold pieces, as he and his wife, Billie, collect high-karat gold,” says Distefano, whom I interviewed in her studio during NYC Jewelry Week. “And he really responded to the high-karat gold color and the handmade aspect of it. In getting to know him over the years, he’s become both a client and a friend.”

Distefano, a former senior goldsmith for the Metropolitan Museum of Art, has a thriving eponymous line inspired by Old World–Italian craft traditions infused with a distinctive rock ’n’ roll edge—a natural fit for any and all things Aerosmith (and also Hollywood Vampires, the band Perry performs in with Alice Cooper and Johnny Depp).

Once Distefano and Perry decided to focus on a tribute to Toys in the Attic, she tapped artist Tom Zimmerman, a former Met colleague, to create renderings that imagined each of the little characters on the album cover as fully developed creatures, each with a unique persona and an inferred narrative arc. Then Distefano and her team of artisans set about bringing the renderings to life, but not before assigning  them names (clockwise from bottom left on the cover): Baby Face, Goblin, Mr. Trunk, Hopscotch, Dandy Cat, Teddy Bear, and Rocking Horse.

“Tom is an Aerosmith fan too,” explains the designer. “So I think that’s a huge part of why this collaboration worked—that creative artists that are also Aerosmith fans are making this—otherwise, I don’t know what it would be if it was just some commercial house doing it.”

Toys is a special component of Aerosmith’s 50th anniversary, a multiarmed event that the Rock & Roll Hall of Famers planned to celebrate in 2020 with great fanfare and special performances. Since those plans got derailed by COVID, this year marked the formal launch of the Distefano x Aerosmith brand, with Toys as the headline act, as well as limited-edition jewels featuring the Aerosmith wings motif and new versions of Distefano’s famous mechanical poison rings that Perry has been wearing for years.

While the Toys collection was first unveiled to the press and public in November during NYC Jewelry Week, fans had a first look in Las Vegas, where Aerosmith had been performing as part of a residency at the Park MGM that wrapped this month.

Perry tells JCK that is he is partial to the Rocking Horse charm because of his great love of horses:

“I was introduced to horses through my wife, Billie, who has ridden since she was a child. I also fell in love with the sport. Being around horses, riding and caring for them helped to ground me. Both of us became involved in promoting the Friesian horse when it was on the rare-breeds list and was considered endangered. In 1990, we were one of the first people in New England who owned the baroque style of Friesian horses and owned many throughout the years. I have a Friesian horse tattoo on my arm and a tattoo of my horse, Franz, who died last year at the age of 20, on my wrist.”

Then there’s Baby Face. “No one has ever seen the baby’s face before because you only see the back of the baby on the album cover,” says Distefano. As such, Zimmerman had to imagine what the front of the baby icon would look like. Each rendering needed a front and back view in order to transform it into a three-dimensional charm that faithfully encapsulated the essence of each character.

“The fans are the ones that I work the hardest for,” says Distefano. “I don’t want to disappoint them.”

The response has already been something akin to pure joy, no doubt evinced by the nostalgia of these images as well as the humor and irreverence of them: “We had one guy come into the studio to see our main Aerosmith line and when he saw the Toy renderings on display—I didn’t have the pieces finished yet—his face changed into something like a teenager’s face.”

Who wouldn’t want to frolic in the sweet emotions of this very specific, very ’70s moment? It’s never too late to take a big chance at the high school dance. Or get the band back together, leaving the things that are real behind to play a little longer.

Top: Toys by Aerosmith x Distefano has collect-them-all appeal and is perfectly priced for holiday gifts. All seven charms are shown here in sterling silver, $150 each, on the Cammino chain bracelet, $175.

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