Most celebrities opted to use jewel tones as inspiration for their dress hues, tiffany jewelry but many kept their necks jewel-free at the 59th Primetime Emmy Awards.
Instead, television’s leading ladies wore jewelry in moderation, choosing cuff bracelets, bangles, bold rings and dangling earrings as their red carpet accessories du jour at the Sept. 16 Hollywood bash.
To no one’s surprise, gold and diamond pieces abounded, providing the perfect foil for the many long, form-fitting gowns, often in berry hues.
Ugly Betty star America Ferrera was one of the ringleaders of the bare-neck movement, though she went for a more classic look that included blackened platinum and diamond dangling earrings and rings by Lorraine Schwartz to set off her strapless, cobalt blue gown. Minnie Driver, similarly sans neckwear, jazzed up her chartreuse satin dress with diamond, ruby and pearl earrings and a black bakelite cuff with diamonds and rubies set in 22-karat gold, both by Bochic. Even with a plunging neckline, Queen Latifah kept her neck bare too, choosing a serpentine bracelet, pendant earrings and a right-hand ring, all featuring rough and pav茅 diamonds, by Diamond in the Rough.
Amanda Gizzi, the Jewelry Information Center’s associate director for public relations, says silver cufflinks dangly earrings, often paired with bangles or a cuff, were a red-carpet focal point.
“When it comes to earrings, they tend to make women feel more dressed up because attention is brought to their faces,” Gizzi says.
Emmy Awards attendee Michael O’Connor, senior vice president of marketing communications and public relations for Platinum Guild International USA, says earrings, predominantly stopping at jaw levels, were abundant. He also observed that Emmys attendees did, in fact, wear necklaces, but those without them received more coverage.
He noted a pins trend, seen on actresses such as Hayden Panettiere and Helen Mirren, and a stacked bangle trend, spotted on actress Katherine Heigl and TV hostess Lara Spencer. Hollywood men chose to accessorize too, especially with platinum.
Mark Wahlberg, executive producer of Entourage, wore Kwiat diamond and platinum cuff links with sapphire accents, plus platinum shirt studs with diamond and onyx.
“Leslie [David] Baker was probably the most blinged out,” O’Connor says. The Office actor shone in silver money clips platinum and diamond cuff links with a shirt studs set by Neil Lane, a platinum and diamond watch by Pierre Kunz and a platinum and diamond ring by Karo Vartanian.
At a pre-show event, Entertainment Tonight host Mark Steines wore an Arnold Brant tuxedo, valued at $25,000. It was custom tailored and hand-sewn with 10 yards of platinum thread inlaid in the fabric.