Culture & Style
Who’s Who in Diamond Jewelry: Brent Neale
Designer Brent Neale on her playful Instagram, favorite diamonds, and why she stopped selling her mushroom jewels.
Written by: Jill Newman
Brent Neale Winston’s Instagram explains everything. She takes us on a journey, from showing initial jewelry sketches to workshop visits, and selfies in the final pieces. The girlish-looking 45-year-old also gives glimpses of her daily life, from her vacation jewelry looks to dressing for a night out while her twin 9-year-old daughters play dress-up in the background.
Winston’s design aesthetic is aligned with her lifestyle. She creates contemporary, often playful jewelry, inspired by art, fairytales, and 60s and 70s counterculture, using exceptional diamonds and gems, and made to endure an active lifestyle. She’s known for colorful jewels, like her signature carved stone mushrooms, and her bold gold signature rings with diamonds and gemstones. Like most women, she struggles to manage the work-life balance yet appears to cope with ease and a smile, and good jewels.
Meet the Author
- Jill Newman is a jewelry authority, editor, and storyteller with over 25 years of experience, having reported from diamond mines in Africa, cutting workshops in India and Belgium, and ateliers around the world.
- She serves as Editor-at-Large for the Natural Diamond Council, with additional bylines in The New York Times, Town & Country, Elle Décor, and Robb Report.
Only Natural Diamonds: Your Instagram is so personal and engaging. Do you do it all?
Brent Neale: Yes, it’s all me. I think people can feel intimidated by jewelry, and I never want anyone to feel that way. I enjoy sharing the stories behind my pieces, and these stories are relatable to anyone.
OND: What was your first piece of fine jewelry?
BN: When I was eight, my mother gave me a gold heart pinky ring as sort of a bribe to stop biting my nails. I still have it.
OND: Your most meaningful jewel?
BN: My engagement ring. My husband surprised me with a three-stone diamond ring on a simple platinum band, knowing that one day I’d redesign it. It’s a beautiful Asscher cut diamond center stone with diamonds on either side. After my son was born, the prong settings could easily scratch him, so I reset the diamonds in my signature wide gold dome ring, which sort of envelops the diamonds without prongs.
OND: Do you prefer old diamonds or new?
BN: I like both. I’ve seen some new diamonds that are so beautiful and cool. And I really like unique old diamonds that feel different and have a past life.
OND: What’s one of your recent favorite diamond designs?
BN: The Pillow collection. We named it Pillow because it looks like the stones were dropped on puffy gold pillows. I had spent a year sourcing around 400 stones, from the 1800s to around 1920, all juicy old mine and old European cuts with high crowns. Once I explain to people the history of the diamonds, they love the idea that they lived these other lives and will have lives after them. We sold them all.
OND: How do your custom commissions inspire you?
BN: I love to meet clients, hear their stories, and sketch jewelry just for them, because you’re making this extremely meaningful piece for a person. I don’t want to create just to create; I want to create something that someone will love, know they will wear, and pass down.
OND: What were your most meaningful commissions?
BN: A client brought me a diamond ring from her Polish grandmother who survived the Holocaust. She had been in a labor camp and after the war, while in a German internment camp, she met a young boy who lost his immediate family. She helped him get to Toronto, where he had family in the diamond trade. Years later, he gave her a diamond ring as a thank you. My client chose to reset the diamond next to an aquamarine because everyone in her family was born in March.
Another client brought me a diamond that belonged to her great-great-grandmother, who had sold it during the Great Depression. Her four sons later tracked it down and bought it back. When my client inherited it, we set the diamond with custom cut velvety blue sapphires on either side. These are crazy stories of resilience and endurance, and everyone can appreciate them, which is why I share them on Instagram.
OND: Which jewelers do you admire?
BN: I think Suzanne Belperron has inspired nearly every female jewelry designer. She was so innovative for her time. She never signed any of her pieces, and yet you could recognize them right away.
I love Jean Schlumberger’s color and joy in jewelry. It’s amazing that Tiffany & Co. has shown a spotlight on him in a way that really wasn’t happening. I also love David Webb’s scale and color; it’s spectacular.
OND: You are known for joyful jewelry. Is that your goal?
BN: I love color, and love to incorporate a memory or a story in my jewelry. Last year, I thought of the ‘70s when I created Hopscotch, a collection featuring colorful, carved stones. It was technically challenging, specific, and expensive to make. I thought, is this a smart decision? But I need to make things that are interesting to me; that’s what drives me.
OND: You stopped making the mushroom motif jewelry, why?
BN: We stopped making them because we were copied by so many people. There was nothing I could do, other than stop making them.
OND: Are you building jewelry collections for your daughters?
BN: I make them a piece of jewelry every year on their birthday. I made them gold heart signet rings with little pink sapphires and diamonds, but I keep their jewelry with my things. I let them wear the jewelry only on special occasions.
OND: You are involved in every single design and the making of every piece from start to finish. Do you ever think about scaling the business and making it larger?
BN: People have asked me if I want an investor or if I want to open stores, and I don’t want any of that. I love how personal it is. I think having all that might crush me, or I might lose some creativity.
