It’s practically 2025 and if you’re still hesitating about jewelry, don’t. Over the past few months, we at Revolution have spoken to designers, craftspeople and experts from all around the jewelry industry and one thing is certain: There’s never been a better moment to get into high jewelry for men. Just take a look at some of the most stylish and best dressed gentlemen in the world.

Timothée Chalamet was selected to be the face of Cartier jewelry. Michael B Jordan was appointed global ambassador for American jeweler David Yurman, fronting the brand’s first men’s exclusive high jewelry collection. Harry Styles cannot keep his hands off pearl jewelry. Rap stars like Saint Jhn, Lil Uzi Vert, The-Dream and more are sporting legacy icons like the Van Cleef & Arpels Alhambra and the Bvlgari Serpenti.

Colman Domingo keeps on slaying at red carpet events all over the world — often mixing ethnic pieces with modern jewelry. Sharing an appreciation for vintage, Saltburn star Barry Keoghan tastefully paired a gem-set Omega timepiece with vintage Boucheron at the 2024 Oscars. And excuse me, let’s not forget Pharrell, the coolest multi-hyphenate to ever walk this earth, whose love for jewelry coined the phrase: “Jewelry is the punctuation mark of a person.” Honestly, how perfect is that?

As with watches, there is a jewelry piece for every emotion and every occasion. The trick is in knowing your Cartiers from your Tiffanys, and your Boucherons from your Bvlgaris. Read on for a high jewelry crash course if you’re ever so inclined to bringing a little holiday sparkle to your festive wardrobe.

Cartier

As with its timepieces, it’s never easy defining the style and history of Cartier jewelry in one short sentence so we’re not even going to try. This is the King of Jewelers and Jeweler of Kings, never forget that. So what makes Cartier jewelry, specifically its high jewelry, far and away the best that money can buy? Three key fundamentals. The first one is gemstones which Cartier ensures top quality stuff both in terms of investment and artistic value. The second is craftsmanship, which has been carefully honed over a hundred years ever since Louis Cartier helmed the workshop on 13 Rue de la Paix. And the third, which is the most elusive of all, is a distinctive house style.

Cartier is probably the only jeweler who can turn an idea that sounds completely absurd in theory into an eye-wateringly elegant piece of jewelry. Think of the Maria Felix crocodile necklaces, everything in the Cartier Indomptables collection, and every other animal themed high jewelry piece you’ve ever seen. One obscure but unforgettable piece I’ve come across at a Sotheby’s sale was a necklace featuring a herd of elephants crossing the African savannah. It was the most captivating jewelry piece I’ve seen in a long time.

The maison’s high jewelry collections are always a spectacle of immense creativity. This year’s theme was Nature Sauvage and so the majesty of the animal kingdom writs large. Every creation stirs and ignites the imagination, particularly the ones inspired by the big cats, but many other creatures from the maison’s lively menagerie also rose to the occasion.

Crocodiles and caimans frolic amid verdant emeralds; tigers and panthers prowl along rows of vividly colored gemstones; zebras and elephants ebb and flow with diamonds; a flamingo nestles among riveting blue and green stones, perched atop a single 38.5-carat emerald-cut aquamarine, instantly recalling the iconic Duchess of Windsor brooch of 1940; and a cockatoo interpreted as a symbol of freedom, stands atop a crystal bell, subtly recalling the iconic Freedom brooch of 1944.

As always, vintage Cartier aficionados will immediately discern the continuous red thread linking some of the maison’s most memorable creations of the past with a number of key highlights from this year’s lineup, and marvel ceaselessly at Cartier’s brilliant portrayal of nature at its finest.

Bvlgari

Jewelry connoisseurs will all agree, it is so easy to identify a Bvlgari jewelry piece. The brand’s Roman identity is palpable across every creation, large or small, and it is simply not possible for the Italian maison to suppress its boisterous nature. Like the Eternal City itself, the high jewelry collections are perpetually monumental in size as well as in symbolism. Viewing the designs feels like you’re all but completely transported to the spiritual home of Bvlgari. Imagine what it feels to be actually wearing the pieces.

Italian jewelry design is all about volumes. Expressing emotions through sumptuous volumes. And Bvlgari does it with a combination of sculptural forms in gold as well as extremely large and incredibly colorful gemstones. Yes, the maison has a strong penchant for colored gemstones, often mixing them up within a single statement piece à la the Infinity Gauntlet but with decidedly more style and infinitely more panache. These stones are also frequently shaped in a cabochon cut which emphasizes the color saturation to the maximum. This style is not unique to this maison, but it is most strongly associated with Bvlgari.

Also typical of Bvlgari high jewelry is the Serpenti in all forms, shapes and colors. Lending its gorgeous sinuous form to necklaces, bracelets and rings, it is without any doubt the most recognizable icon of the maison. Next to the Serpenti, the Tubogas also ranks high among Bvlgari jewelry collectors, evoking a mystical allure reminiscent of Egyptian royalty. When interpreted in a high jewelry collection, Bvlgari often enhances the Tubogas design with exceptional gemstones or antique coins as seen in the Monete collection.

The Monete collection is unique in the high jewelry world to Bvlgari and an intrinsic part of its Greco-Roman heritage. All things considered, one could say that Bvlgari is the ultimate connoisseur of top-notch gemstones and an absolute magician in conjuring emotional expressions of the high jewelry fine arts, all of which are patently evident in the maison’s 2024 Aeterna collection.

Named Aeterna as a tribute to Rome, the collection comprises over 500 unique creations, most of which are jewelry pieces along with an unprecedented focus on jewelry timepieces, high-end handbags and high-end fragrances as well. Indeed, Bvlgari is foremost a jewelry maison, but over the years it has come to assert its dominance in numerous other fields, yet this would be the first time all of its competencies have converged within a high jewelry collection. Think watches, fragrances and handbags enhanced with gemstones, precious skins and olfactive emotions, and no wonder, since the collection also marks the 140th anniversary of Bvlgari’s founding.

Boucheron

If there were just one word to describe Boucheron high jewelry, it would certainly be innovation. Because innovation is the notion that drives the Parisian maison’s every creation and every decision. Since its founding years, Boucheron has been at the forefront of the jewelry world. It was and still is the jeweler who dares. Founder Frédéric Boucheron was the first in his time to combine rock crystal with diamonds, which was a seminal move that showed the world how artful it is to combine these two completely dichotomous and yet entirely compatible materials. That move opened up a world of possibilities in jewelry design for generations of jewelry designers to come.

Another iconic piece introduced by Boucheron was the Point d’Interrogation necklace, literally meaning Question Mark necklace, which we could only imagine described the look on people’s faces when they first saw it in 1879. So named because it resembled the curvature of the eponymous punctuation mark, the Point d’Interrogation necklace elegantly meanders around the neck and more importantly can be worn or taken off without a clasp. Indeed it was the first necklace in the world that required no clasp at all, demonstrating a truly progressive approach to jewelry design, not to mention insane craftsmanship levels.

Guided by the innovative spirit of its brand founder, the maison today pushes high jewelry to the final frontiers but without losing sight of its identity. Boucheron creates high jewelry with a two-pronged strategy each year, one themed on a modern vision to its rich heritage and another themed on a no-holds-barred approach to high jewelry creation. It is this latter collection that truly pushes the envelope in high jewelry design, adding a much needed breath of fresh air as the industry moves to appeal to a younger, more vibrant audience.

In conceptualizing the maison’s high-jewelry collections year after year, Boucheron’s creative director Claire Choisne often finds herself asking one question: “What is the most precious?” The maison deeply believes that high jewelry should always reflect contemporary values, and so in answering her question, Choisne arrived at a most paradoxical answer: water.

Leading the vision board for Boucheron’s 2024 Carte Blanche high-jewelry collection, water takes a plethora of forms and expresses a multitude of emotions. Crashing waves, rushing rivers, trickling streams and more, coalesced to define the meditative beauty of Boucheron’s Carte Blanche High Jewelry, named Or Bleu.

Once again, the maison succeeded in pushing the creative boundaries of jewelry crafting, resulting in unique pieces that are deceptively naturalistic. See water in different interpretations, through different perspectives, in various subliminal states and against a range of backdrops. Comprising a total of 26 unique creations, Boucheron Or Bleu is an ode to the memory of water, witnessed in reality and captured for eternity.

Chanel

The maison Chanel’s ethos in high jewelry is always the same as with its couture — designing pieces that enable absolute ease of wear through an inventive and expressive approach to materials. That was how Gabrielle Chanel eventually arrived at her most seminal creations, from the tweed jacket to the 2.55 handbag. To fully understand Chanel high jewelry, we must remember her inaugural collection from 1932, Bijoux de Diamants, which broke with tradition in the most meaningful way yet. Up until that moment, high jewelry designers were predominantly men and, up until that moment, high jewelry was conceived and crafted as works of art but always from a second person’s perspective.

However, Gabrielle Chanel understood jewelry from a first person’s perspective. Wishing to express the many ways in which jewelry should interact with the human body, she designed her pieces to perfectly match our silhouettes and adapt to our movements. Since Bijoux de Diamants, Chanel high jewelry has always been presented on a mannequin so that viewers can easily imagine the pieces on themselves, seeing how they interact with the human body. The maison continues to uphold this tradition today, as it presents high jewelry pieces inspired by rich symbolisms of the House.

From the camelia to the number five, the lion to the comet, the ruban and the plume, high jewelry collections from Chanel embrace all that is precious and dear to its storied origins. In particular, the maison has been known to source for very, very specific gemstones such as the phenomenal 55.55-carat D-IF Type IIa diamond which is the star of Chanel’s show-stopping 55.55 necklace crafted as a tribute to the No. 5 perfume bottle, itself an homage to Place Vendôme, the heart of Parisian luxury.

Leaving no stone unturned, pun fully intended, the maison revealed its 2024 High Jewelry Sport collection which brings a fresh, athletic vibe to the high jewelry world. Indeed, never before had athleticism been seriously considered in high jewelry design and then explored with such audacity.

Maison FRED

An undeniable sense of exuberance permeates the jewelry designs of Maison FRED and this same vibrant spirit rings true in its high jewelry collections. Comparatively young versus those of the aforementioned Parisian legacy jewelers, Maison FRED’s creations blaze a completely different path, inasmuch as the maison was founded in Paris in 1936. So, not that young if you really think about it. But that only goes to show how well its colorful persona has evolved through the decades.

Deeply inspired by the French Mediterranean, Maison FRED is completely in its element when the sunlight is shining at its brightest. Indeed, light and color are completely inseparable, such that to best see the color of something, one must first seek the best light. There is in fact no color without light. Likewise, to appreciate the real beauty of a watch or a piece of fine jewelry, one instinctively holds it up against natural sunlight, and this was the bedrock of Maison Fred’s latest high-jewelry collection, Ideal Light.

A continuation of the previous year’s collection named Inner Light, which was a tribute to maison founder Fred Samuel, Ideal Light takes us on a whirlwind tour around Buenos Aires, his birth city that’s sometimes affectionately called the Paris of South America for its cosmopolitan atmosphere.

With its sprawling panoramas bursting with bright colors, scenic alleyways and lush tropical greenery, the beautiful city inspired the creation of four high-jewelry sets, each with a signature aesthetic and distinctive color palette derived from a plethora of precious stones. Australian opals, Tanzanian spinels, Colombian emeralds and Sri Lankan sapphires, to name but a few, juxtaposed with colorless diamonds, rock crystal, and even ornamental stones such as lapis lazuli which is native to South America. The Maison FRED signature Hero Cut diamond makes a stylish reappearance in this collection, set in a dazzling diamond and blue sapphire pavé ring.

Louis Vuitton

Even though it is primarily a fashion house, Louis Vuitton’s high jewelry prowess could well rival some of the best legacy jewelers out there today. You might think success always comes easy to the maison, given the fact that it is owned by the mighty LVMH group, and yes of course that provides a certain leverage. But judging by pure merit alone, what Louis Vuitton has created in high jewelry over the last five years was nothing short of astounding. From a technical standpoint and a creativity standpoint, the maison continually punches above its class, with extra marks due for sheer audacity in concept, and the person behind it all is none other than Artistic Director of Jewelry and Watches, Francesca Amfitheatrof.

Since joining Louis Vuitton, Amfitheatrof has injected a clear sense of artistic vision to the high and fine jewelry collections. We see a strong graphic aesthetic and storytelling depth as each collection relates to a razor-sharp perspective cultivated from the long and rich heritage of the maison. Equal parts relatable and fantastical, her pieces are intended as conduits between the real and the imagined, past and present. She reinterprets cherished symbols of the maison with a modern eye and puts a luxurious spin on quotidian objects such as the clasps and locks of vintage Louis Vuitton trunks — an unmistakable hallmark of Amfitheatrof’s unique style.

Most importantly, she takes her time with the collections. Rather than trying to squeeze all that is Louis Vuitton within a single collection, Amfitheatrof is selective with the stories she wants to tell, and that is immensely helpful in allowing the Louis Vuitton customer to truly understand what the maison brings to the high jewelry scene.

So for the 2024 high-jewelry collection, named Awakened Hands, Awakened Minds, Louis Vuittonn takes us back to the definitive moment when French craftsmanship came to lead the way in global luxury. It is a pilgrimage to the Golden Age of French artisanship and craftsmanship. Comprising 220 unique creations, all sequestered across 13 different themes, the collection pays close tribute to imperial references drawn from royal courts and palaces.

Van Cleef & Arpels

We really couldn’t talk about high jewelry without including Van Cleef & Arpels, the fabled jeweler behind such magnificent creations as the Zip necklace and such beloved designs as the Alhambra. Perpetually inspired by notions of love, luck and joy, the maison’s universe is filled with nature, poetry and fairy tales. Its inextinguishable appreciation for and knowledge of botanicals enables Van Cleef & Arpels to craft some of the most legendary floral-themed jewels of all time, many of which feature Mystery Set gemstones, a signature of this maison.

Since introducing the Mystery Setting in 1933, Van Cleef & Arpels has continuously evolved this technique and now counts four new variations in its repertoire: Individual, Hexagonal, Navette and Vitrail Mystery Set. The maison is also deeply passionate about the performing arts, specifically ballet, which inspired the iconic ballerina brooches since the 1940s.

These artfully sculpted miniatures perfectly evoke the fluidity of dance movements, with a single rose-cut diamond face that almost perfectly expresses the precise emotions to go along. That is truly exemplary of Van Cleef & Arpels’ ingenuity with jewelry crafting yet which is merely the tip of a very big iceberg.

Other than these signature creations, Van Cleef & Arpels has accomplished an innumerable range of styles which you could always identify when there is the skillful overlapping of emotive quality and flawless craftsmanship. Metal prongs are always perfectly concealed, gemstones perfectly aligned, gentle contours, delicate curves and of course stones of such impeccable quality that they seem to smile right back at you.

Tiffany & Co.

As an American jeweler, Tiffany & Co. brings a completely different energy to the high jewelry space. With a fascinating heritage going back to the late 1800s, Tiffany & Co. was a jeweler and luxury goods retailer curating some of the most beautiful objects for its customers. Promoting them through what is known as The Blue Book, the maison famously known for its robin-egg blue boxes has unmatched gemstone legacy in the United States, known affectionately as the King of Diamonds. This is the maison that owns the famous Tiffany Diamond, a massive 128.54-carat cushion-shaped yellow diamond, and the very one that discovered and popularized other colored stones such as tanzanite, kunzite, morganite and tsavorite.

Since 2021 the brand has been owned by the LVMH Group and much has evolved since then, from the revitalized brand identity and the many high-profile celebrity endorsements to introduction of new fine jewelry collections and a much sharper take on its high jewelry themes.

While Tiffany & Co.’s New York spirit comes through in all its contemporary pieces, the maison has also demonstrated immense creativity in taking its storied icons into the 21^st century. Tiffany & Co. is known to have collaborated with numerous gifted jewelry designers throughout the 20^th century till today, and they include the likes of Angela Cummings, Donald Claflin, Elsa Peretti, Paloma Picasso and Pharrell Williams but perhaps none more eminent than the maison’s journey with the talented Mr Jean Michel Schlumberger.

Throughout his tenure with Tiffany & Co., Schlumberger brought a transformative approach to high jewelry, introducing some of the most enduring designs of all time. His playful, nature-inspired aesthetic exuded sophistication while breaking away from jewelry norms of the time.

Featuring a little cockatoo atop a gemstone usually of sizeable proportions, the Tiffany & Co. Bird on a Rock is his most famous work to date, adored by legions of jewelry collectors, while other signature designs featured whimsical motifs either derived from nature or completely imaginary. In recent years, Tiffany & Co. has massively evolve Bird on the Rock, introducing Bird on a Pearl in 2023 and the insanely adorable Owl on a Rock collection in 2024. Other timeless designs by Schlumberger include the Croisillon bracelet, the Sixteen Stone rings, the Rosette brooches, the Rope rings, the Fringe necklaces and countless more.

For the 2024 Blue Book Collection titled Tiffany Céleste, the maison draws inspiration from Schlumberger’s fascination with celestial themes with pieces that reimagine his iconic motifs, featuring custom-cut diamonds and colored gemstones arranged in designs reminiscent of stars, constellations, and cosmic phenomena.