News Briefing
NEWS BRIEFING: 8 May 2026
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A curated edit of the week's global jewellery news - national and international - compiled for industry insight and trend monitoring.
💰 'Gold and silver's historic rally could resume 'as fog of war lifts''
Lee Ying Shan, 7 May 2026, CNBC
Analysts at OCBC and other Asian banks suggest precious metals could recover their record-setting trajectory once Middle East tensions ease, with bullion having paused near $4,700 an ounce after a tumultuous start to the year.
💰 'Current price of gold for May 7, 2026'
Aly Yale, 7 May 2026, Fortune
Spot gold sat at approximately $4,739 an ounce on Thursday, around $1,350 higher than this time last year despite cooling from January's all-time peak above $5,400, with safe-haven flows still elevated by geopolitical uncertainty.
💰 'Discover the current price of silver for May 5, 2026'
Aly Yale, 5 May 2026, Fortune
Silver continues to trade at decade-high levels after gaining roughly 150% over the past year, with industrial demand from solar and electronics manufacturers and inflation hedging both contributing to the structural rally.
💰 'Pandora beats Q1 revenue estimates despite US sales drop'
Helen Reid, 6 May 2026, Reuters
The Danish jewellery group reported 2% organic growth and shares jumped sharply, even as North American like-for-like sales fell on weak consumer sentiment, with new chief executive Berta de Pablos-Barbier accelerating a pivot to platinum-plated pieces to offset volatile silver costs.
💰 ‘Diamond Prices Plunge 50% as Lab-Grown Surge’
Adam Hardy, 17 April 2026, Money
Money reports that natural diamond prices have halved since 2022 to a record low even as gold-driven jewellery inflation runs at around 10% year on year, with The Knot's 2026 Real Weddings Study confirming that more than half of US engagement rings sold last year contained a lab-grown stone.
💰 'De Beers's first-quarter output up 17% year-on-year, despite ongoing challenging trading conditions'
Donna Slater, 28 April 2026, Mining Weekly
Anglo American's diamond unit lifted production to 7.1 million carats in the opening quarter, but average realised prices slipped 19% to $101 per carat amid persistent industry, geopolitical and tariff headwinds, while parent Anglo American reaffirmed its commitment to divesting the business during 2026.
💰 'Pandora Q1 2026: growth stalls as platinum pivot accelerates'
Investing.com Staff, 7 May 2026, Investing.com
Shares in Pandora surged nearly 14% after the company reaffirmed full-year guidance, with management framing 2026 as a transition year while the world's largest jewellery brand by volume rolls out platinum-plated bracelets and a Bridgerton tie-in to broaden its consumer base.
💰 'Mother's Day spending expected to reach $34.1 billion in 2026'
National Retail Federation, 5 May 2026, National Retail Federation
Americans plan to spend an average of $254 per person on Mother's Day gifts this year, with jewellery cited as the most-wanted category and projected industry-wide outlay on jewels reaching nearly $7 billion ahead of the 10 May holiday.
💰 'Tiffany & Co. opens redesigned Royalmount flagship as luxury jewellery brands deepen Canadian presence'
Craig Patterson, 6 May 2026, Retail Insider
A first-quarter sector review notes that Tiffany, Omega and Tudor are continuing aggressive store-opening programmes in Canada, with Pandora simultaneously opening a Mississauga distribution centre and overall jewellery and watch sales up 10.5% year-on-year, well ahead of the broader retail market.
💰 'Anglo American 'committed' to divesting De Beers but mum on date'
Lenore Fedow, 29 April 2026, JCK
The mining group passed its 16 April deadline for bids without naming a buyer, instead saying the formal sale process would conclude during the course of 2026 as De Beers continues to grapple with lab-grown competition and uneven demand for smaller goods.
💎'Hermès announces reopening of Hong Kong's Elements mall flagship'
RUSSH Staff, 30 April 2026, RUSSH
The French maison has unveiled a refurbished store at Elements timed to a wider Asian retail push, with adjacent jewellery cabinets given expanded space as Hermès continues to grow its fine jewellery business under creative director Pierre Hardy.
https://www.russh.com/hermes-hong-kong-elements-flagship-reopening/
💎 'The most fabulous, decadent jewellery at the Met Gala 2026'
Charlie Boyd, 5 May 2026, Vogue Singapore
A round-up of the standout jewels worn at fashion's biggest night, where Beyoncé wore Chopard's Garden of Kalahari diamonds with a young Blue Ivy in Cartier, Anne Hathaway returned to Bvlgari's Vimini high jewellery, and Lisa from Blackpink draped a Bvlgari Serpenti necklace across her four-armed Robert Wun gown.
💎 '10 Best Jewelry Moments from the 2026 Met Gala'
Galerie Magazine Staff, 5 May 2026, Galerie Magazine
Editors single out Rihanna in archival Mughal Golconda diamonds from Glenn Spiro, Amanda Seyfried in a custom Tiffany Blue Book necklace, and Suki Waterhouse in a diamond-dusted Boucheron leaf tiara as definitive looks from a night where jewellery rivalled couture for headlines.
💎 '10 Best Jewelry Moments from the 2026 Met Gala'
Galerie Magazine Staff, 5 May 2026, Galerie Magazine
Editors single out Rihanna in archival Mughal Golconda diamonds from Glenn Spiro, Amanda Seyfried in a custom Tiffany Blue Book necklace, and Suki Waterhouse in a diamond-dusted Boucheron leaf tiara as definitive looks from a night where jewellery rivalled couture for headlines.
💎 'Look of the Week: Beyoncé brings Blue Ivy for her Met Gala debut'
Leah Dolan, 5 May 2026, CNN
The pop megastar's co-chair appearance broke a Met Gala record for jewels on display, with reports of around 370 carats of Chopard diamonds across the necklace, ear cuffs and crown, while her 13-year-old daughter wore a delicate Cartier suite for her first appearance on the steps.
👗 'Isha Ambani wore a 'blouse full of my mother's jewellery' to the Met Gala 2026'
Hannah Coates, 5 May 2026, British Vogue
The Indian heiress closed the carpet in a Gaurav Gupta couture ensemble featuring more than 1,800 carats of diamonds, emeralds, polki and kundan from her mother Nita Ambani's collection, paired with a custom Lorraine Schwartz choker anchored by a 50-carat Colombian emerald.
👗'Kate Middleton honours Princess Diana's memory in choice of jewellery for ANZAC Day ceremony'
Niamh Riordan, 25 April 2026, The Royal Observer
The Princess of Wales paired a tanzanite pendant by British house G. Collins & Sons with the late Princess Diana's sapphire and diamond cluster earrings for the Australia and New Zealand Memorial service in London, an understated tribute that royal observers read as a deliberate dynastic statement.
👗'The 9 biggest jewelry trends for 2026 that celebrity stylists are fawning over'
Korin Miller, 22 April 2026, Parade
Hollywood stylists working with Sydney Sweeney, Zendaya and Hailey Bieber name maximalist chokers, statement single earrings, layered diamond riviera necklaces and the return of the brooch as the looks dominating red carpets and editorial shoots this season.
👗 '5 jewellery trends straight from the SS26 runways that I'll be wearing this spring'
Katie Withington, 28 April 2026, Who What Wear UK
From sculptural chokers at Bottega Veneta to playful brooches at Prada and oversized ear cuffs at Mugler, the writer maps spring's most wearable jewellery directions to high-street pieces from COS, Mejuri and Daisy London for everyday styling.
👗 'Best Mother's Day gifts 2026: The jewellery pieces moms actually want'
Stacy Last, 6 May 2026, Rolling Stone
A curated list of fine jewellery suitable for Mother's Day spans Mejuri pearl studs, Catbird heirloom-style rings and David Yurman cable bracelets, reflecting an ongoing shift away from generic gifting toward pieces designed for daily wear.
💍 'Why coloured gemstones are the must-have addition to any 2026 jewellery collection'
Ana Escalante, 30 April 2026, Glamour
Following auction records for sapphires and rubies and rising consumer interest in coloured stones as alternatives to traditional white diamonds, jewellery editors point to padparadscha, paraiba and unheated Burmese ruby as the spring-summer obsessions for collectors and casual buyers alike.
💍'Tiffany & Co.'s Blue Book 2026 Hidden Garden high jewelry is here'
Nicole Hoey, 30 April 2026, Robb Report
Chief artistic officer Nathalie Verdeille has reinterpreted Jean Schlumberger's archival butterfly, Bird on a Rock and Jasmine motifs through more than 100 sculptural pieces, including a necklace anchored by a 22-carat Santa Maria aquamarine and an internally flawless 18-carat Type IIa diamond.
💍'Chopard's 'Miracles' high jewellery collection brings a fresh take to the Cannes red carpet'
Lifestyle Asia Staff, 23 April 2026, Lifestyle Asia
Caroline Scheufele's 88-piece collection, created for the maison's role as official partner of the 78th Cannes Film Festival, includes an 88-carat Royal Blue sapphire necklace and a colour-shifting alexandrite ring designed to be worn by ambassadors during the May festival.
💍 'Boucheron unveils Histoire de Style, Untamed Nature high jewellery collection'
Bibby Sowray, 28 April 2026, Harper's Bazaar UK
Creative director Claire Choisne has revisited founder Frédéric Boucheron's botanical archives in a 39-piece collection that includes the maison's signature Question Mark necklace reworked with an 8-carat unheated emerald, alongside transformable Laurier earrings worn by Daisy Edgar-Jones at the Met Gala.
💍 'Bvlgari's Polychroma high jewellery returns to colour saturation'
Rachel Garrahan, 2 May 2026, Financial Times How To Spend It
Creative director Lucia Silvestri has produced a vivid new collection paired with a museum exhibition in Rome, in which spinels, Paraiba tourmalines and unheated rubies are arranged in graphic settings that mark a deliberate departure from the muted palettes that have dominated high jewellery for the past two seasons.
🏛️ 'Cartier Crash: The surreal 'dripping' watch that became a celebrity favourite sets new auction record'
Oscar Holland, 30 April 2026, CNN Style
A 1987 yellow gold London-made Cartier Crash sold for HK$15.5 million (US$1.99 million) at Sotheby's Hong Kong, setting a record for any Cartier wristwatch and capping a stand-alone 'Shapes of Cartier' sale that totalled HK$414 million across 132 lots.
🏛️ ''Costume Art' review: The Met makes a case for making fashion diverse again'
Laura Hawkins, 5 May 2026, Wallpaper*
Andrew Bolton's exhibition opens the new 12,000 sq ft Condé M. Nast Galleries with garments paired against fine art across centuries, with a dedicated jewellery section showing Cartier, Tiffany and Verdura pieces alongside the painted and sculpted bodies that inspired their creators.
🏛️ 'Inside the 2026 Met exhibition on fashion as art'
Hetty Mahlich, 5 May 2026, 10 Magazine
Behind-the-scenes coverage of the curatorial process explains how garments and jewels from Schiaparelli, Cartier and Mughal court ateliers were arranged in dialogue with paintings by Singer Sargent and sculptures by Brâncuși across the Costume Institute's largest installation to date.
🏛️ 'Sotheby's 'Shapes of Cartier' sale achieves HK$414 million in Hong Kong'
Andre Wee, 28 April 2026, Hypebeast
Demand for vintage Cartier shaped watches and jewels drove the dedicated single-owner sale to a 132-lot total well above pre-sale estimates, signalling a continuing flight to provenance among Asian collectors despite a softer broader luxury market.
🏛️ 'John Jacob Astor IV's Titanic pocket watch fetches $1.65 million at auction'
Sarah Cascone, 25 April 2026, Artnet News
A Patek Philippe-made Tiffany & Co. pocket watch recovered from the body of the Titanic's wealthiest passenger doubled its high estimate at a Henry Aldridge & Son sale in Devizes, the latest in a series of headline results that have reanimated interest in historically attributed timepieces.
