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Good morning from New York where I am up insanely early thanks to post-Milan jet lag (will tell you everything I loved below)—but where I did manage to stay up to watch what we will likely always call the SAG Awards (they’re the Actor Awards now but let’s see how that goes).
The minute I saw Gwyneth Paltrow pop up on my Instagram feed I began furiously texting and messaging to confirm what I thought I knew. “Is she wearing Belperron?!” Paltrow’s longtime stylist—and one of my style idols—Elizabeth Saltzman answered almost immediately: “Yes. Belperron, 1930s.” If you follow me, or know me, or have ever wondered who designed the gold and pearl earrings I wear almost every day, you understand what that reply did to my mood and overall outlook on red carpet jewelry.
To choose Belperron is to embrace jewelry ambition, it is to declare you know. Belperron, one of the very few women designers of the early twentieth century is also one of its boldest, daring the craftsmen in her atelier to sculpt rock crystal and smoky topaz into large and undulating cuffs and to stud them with rare and important stones. Paltrow’s earrings are black enamel and turquoise, part of a larger set that can be seen in the Belperron salon on 57th and Fifth (one of the prettiest places in New York).
Stellene Volandes/Getty
Dinner (at J Sheekey) and a show (Burberry) in London. Me and Gwyneth in our Belperron earrings.
The use of turquoise is indicative of a larger trend of the Art Deco period, influenced by the discovery of King Tut’s tomb in 1922—the diamonds and platinum that dominated so much of jewelry were now joined by turquoise, lapis, coral, and carnelian, stones that announced what it now called the Egyptian Revival. But here is what I learned: there was some really excellent diamond jewelry last night—Teyana Taylor in that showstopping Schlumberger, Demi Moore in Harry Winston, Viola Davis in the Pasquale Bruni, Kate Hudson in Emily Wheeler, and those were just the necklaces.
I’ll get to the earrings in a bit—but Paltrow’s embrace of jewelry ambition, and perhaps her willingness to join arms in my mission to assert that turquoise need not be relegated to summer, made her a standout. It’s what I often refer to, in life as in jewelry, as the power of the pivot. (Also, for those concerned that she lost an earring when she went on stage without it, she had both on by the end of the night. Perhaps she took an earring off to make a phone call? It’s a grand and elegant gesture I always love and also, Belperron earrings are mainly clips). But wait, there is more.
The Best I Have Seen
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The SAG jewelry winners: Keri Russell, Michele Monaghan, Calista Flockhart, Chase Infiniti.
-We told you this in T&C and even gave you a picture of Phyllis Diller to prove it (see: our December/January 2026 issue), but the shoulder duster is your friend. (Part of my carry-on secret is a pair of long Lalaounis earrings that can make any black blazer black-tie adjacent). More evidence of the impact of very long earrings at the SAGs: Keri Russell in Buccellati, Calista Flockhart in Leviev, Chase Infiniti in De Beers, Rose Byrne in Messika, Michele Monaghan in Sabyasachi.
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Connor Storrie on Sunday night.
-Men and jewelry. You know I support it but there is clearly an evolution happening on the red carpet. Connor Storrie’s diamond necklace—no shirt, stones on skin—made me think that there is some thought about how to move past the reflex to stop just at a brooch on the lapel (or if you are going to do that, how to take it to Colman-Domingo-in-Boucheron level). I do also love a fresh flower on the lapel, like Adam Scott last night or Matthew Broderick, when he presented SJP with her special Golden Globe at an event in January. Let’s pay attention to this at the Oscars.
Stellene Volandes
There are always new treasures—and stories—to be found at Pennisi.
-So about Milan. Yes I was just there for the Olympics and will be back in a few weeks for the Bulgari High Jewelry event, but the great thing about visiting a city so often is that you establish routines. Mine include morning walks to Cova or Cracco Galleria for coffee (and for last minute souvenirs for home); a veal Milanese and broccoli dinner at Bice; double espresso macchiatos and cut fruit on those Ginori plates at the Bulgari Hotel (where I’ve stayed since I worked at Departures!); stolen afternoons at the Palazzo Reale (where the Kiefer show is unmissable and up through September); pizza at Le Specialità; pasta vongole at Giacomo and Torre di Pisa; the fish salad at Langosteria; lunch at Sant Ambroeus and a moment with the enormous princess cake in the window; and always a visit to Pennisi, the jewelry treasure right on Via Manzoni. This time we spent almost an hour talking about the impact the excavations at Pompeii had on jewelry design. A volcanic eruption reenters the conversation, lava cameos become a thing. Lava is in the air in the 18th century. It’s the cerulean of its time.
Stellene Volandes
Milan musts: breakfast (and a stay) at the Bulgari Hotel, veal Milanese at Bice, daily morning walks.
A Perfect NYC Night
I like to say this is why we live here because otherwise, even I have to admit, it can get hard. My plans this month.
I missed the snowstorm in New York because I had made the lucky (and wise) decision to take the day flight to London that Sunday, but now that I’m back I can really begin to feel spring fighting to get here to save us all. It also means the spring seasons of ABT at Lincoln Center and the Metropolitan Opera have begun.
I’m going to see Othello at ABT on Sunday afternoon and am excited to sit down to Tristan and Isolde at the Met (especially to see our friend Clint Ramos’s costumes, his inspiration is intriguing!). I will also book Turandot and Madame Butterfly because although I am excited about new productions there is nothing quite like sitting in the middle of Manhattan and witnessing the set of Zeffirelli’s Turandot before you. It’s an antidote to everything. Your eyes (and insides) will thank you.
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An evening at the Met Opera always begins at P.J. Clarke’s. As for matinees, dinner at Shun Lee.
If I’m coming from the office I do the bar at P.J. Clarke’s, as I’ve told you before. If I’m doing a matinee I’ve started to go to Shun Lee right after (a little T&C Holiday Party nostalgia in there, too). Also since you asked: the Raphael show at the Met, up from March 29-June 28, will be worth planning a trip around. Pair it with the Gainsborough at the Frick and then maybe Death of a Salesman at night (Joe Allen in between?) and there you have it.
Sticks and Stones
How a jewelry person organizes the random thoughts in her head.
-I love our March cover story so much but am especially partial to the image of Sandra B. in the Dries caftan and Margot McKinney necklace taken in my office. I’d wear all of it, wouldn’t you?
Stellene Volandes/HUNTER ABRAMS + SAM LEE
Sandra Bernhard, right at home in my office.
-I was in London for the Burberry show, which made me actually hope for a few more weeks of winter so I could pile on those scarves and wear those great coats. Of course I snuck in a cultural field trip—the National Gallery and the V&A (where yes, I caught the last few weeks of Marie Antoinette—it closes March 22). I loved All My Sons with Bryan Cranston, and, though it closes March 7, this feels like an especially strong Miller moment: ideas around success, the sacrifices we make for it, the American Dream, etc. (See note on Salesman on Broadway above).
Stellene Volandes
Highlights from recent visits to the V&A and National Gallery in London.
I’ll be back in London as soon as possible to try and catch Lesley Manville in Dangerous Liaisons (if you saw Oedipus you know) and also to see the Zurbarán show at the National Gallery (May 2-August 23). I’ve been waiting for this since the Frick hosted the exhibit of his Jacob and His Twelve Sons exhibit several years ago. Another show to plan a trip around.
-Speaking of trips. Jet lag? Yes, I get it, though my general philosophy is denial. Several cups of Starbucks Verona blend, Goop under eye masks in the fridge, Masque Vivant daily, a facial at Aida Bicaj scheduled for Saturday, extra sessions at Core Burn Pilates on 72nd and Lex, a massage with Jona at Sommet Beauty, and a full day catching up on The Pitt on my sofa with this scent burning and I should be good to go.
-My next trip is to Charleston where I’ll be interviewing photographer Douglas Friedman, introducing design lectures throughout the weekend, and signing my book. Send me your Charleston favorites!
P.S. If you want to chat about any of the above, email me at [email protected].
X Stellene
Editor-in-Chief Stellene Volandes is a jewelry expert, and the author of Jeweler: Masters and Mavericks of Modern Design (Rizzoli).
