Pump Up The Volume With Maximalist Jewelry

By Josh Peskowitz, June 26, 2025

In opposition to trends like “Stealth Wealth” and “Quiet Luxury,” maximalist jewelry is more joyful and louder than ever before.

Kelvin Harrison Jr. wears maximalist Cartier High Jewelry for Only Natural Diamonds

Kelvin Harrison Jr. wearing Cartier High Jewelry (Photographed by Micaiah Carter)

There’s been an orthodoxy in style for the last few years that’s told us to be quietly luxurious – that standing out is in bad taste. Colors have been muted, fabrics have been soft and matte, and jewelry has been understated. Style will always be personal, but taste has very much been dictated.

In 2025, if the options are keeping Stealth Wealth or the Marie Antoinette treatment, the choice is clear. That is a big, bejeweled maximalist middle finger “fuck you” to convention. What does the ring on that middle finger look like? The bigger and weirder, the better. Think Boucheron’s Glacier Ring, which looks like a diamond-encrusted Tuscan Column, or a diamond spider a la Samira 13. Hell, it doesn’t even need to be a ring flicking you off; it could be a jeweled claw, as seen on Cynthia Erivo’s epic red carpet run this awards season.

Meet the Author

Pump Up The Volume With Maximalist Jewelry

Josh Peskowitz‘s experience spans both editorial and retail.
After serving as Bloomingdale’s men’s fashion director, Peskowitz opened his own menswear shop, Magasin.
His writing has appeared in The New York Times, GQ Style, Esquire’s Big Black Book, GQ Style Germany, and Fantastic Man, and more.

Adrien Brody wears a maximalist diamond brooch at the 2025 Oscars, where he won Best Actor in a Leading Role for “The Brutalist." — Adrien Brody, winner of the Best Actor in a Leading Role for “The Brutalist”, during the Oscars on March 02, 2025. (Getty Images)

Diamonds should make you smile, and the more stones, the bigger the grin.

The shapes range from amorphous to anthropomorphic, but all have one thing in common: These pieces cannot be ignored. In a moment when many seem to be averting their eyes, adornment with a muscularity reminiscent of circa-2000s peak bling and imbued with a hand-wrought feel is particularly potent. Jewels with this attitude are best applied liberally across the body – ears, nose, and even teeth. There’s joy in being transgressive, maximalist, and unapologetic. And we could all use a dose of fun.

Maximalist Jewelry on The Red Carpet

Colman Domingo wears maximalist diamond jewelry — Colman Domingo attends the Golden Globe Awards on January 07, 2024. (Getty Images)

Colman Domingo wears maximalist diamond jewelry on the red carpet — Colman Domingo attends the EE BAFTA Film Awards on February 16, 2025. (Getty Images)

Diamonds should make you smile, and the more stones, the bigger the grin. Look no further than Colman Domingo, our patron saint of the red carpet, whose appearances wearing rings, bracelets, cluster studs, and brooches, dripping in diamonds as bright as his pearly whites.

Maximalist Jewelry Across Genders

A confluence of trends in both men’s and women’s jewelry has brought us to this gender agnostic “fuck you” inflection point. In men’s, it started with the brooch. The now near-universal red carpet adoption of an accessory, whose chic was more estate sale than black tie just two years ago, has upended the perception of what’s appropriate for men.

Brooches arrived at the time when Quiet Luxury was ascendant and functioned as a little crank to the volume of a look. The fact that they look good on the peak lapel of a midnight tuxedo didn’t hurt.

'Wicked' star Cynthia Erivo wears maximalist diamond jewelry — Cynthia Erivo attends the premiere of “Wicked” on November 09, 2024. (Getty Images)

On the women’s side, statement necklaces have steadily drifted north to become big, maximalist earrings (and cuffs) and south in the form of mega rings and stacks of bracelets. Erivo’s talons feel like a revelation, but even they were preceded by downtown legend Bijules; nail tip rings have been championed by Beyoncé, among others. Add in the resurgence of gem cuts not seen in decades with a free-form, wabi-sabi-inflected celebration of craftsmanship, and you have all the ingredients needed to break tradition.

Quiet Luxury vs. Maximalist Style

Understated, timeless, and classic are words marketers rely on to convey a sense of permanence in jewelry. It can be an expensive investment, and they want the wearer to feel confident that their purchases will remain relevant forever. This restraint in design is important for many customers to feel comfortable, which is understandable, but the consensus as to what is “timeless” changes over time. Outré ideas like being transgressive, unusual, funny, and above all, unapologetic have come back around to be the bleeding edge of style. This time, though, the materials, the technical skill displayed, and the polish of the presentation turn something that could easily be gaudy into something exquisite.

They say living out loud is worth the time, tears, and treasure expended to make it happen. Dressing outside the box at a time when regressive policies are noisily trying to stuff us all back into them couldn’t feel timelier. And as Bette Midler once said, “Fuck ‘em if they can’t take a joke.”