'Gatsby' Is Back, and So Is Its Jewelry for 2012

BOSTON (MainStreet) -- The fine-jewelry market is going back to the future in 2012, with 1920s-style Art Deco pieces and 1960s-like bangles poised to take the industry by storm.

"The same woman who wants a very high-end platinum ring also often wants some really cool bakelite bangles to give her a sense of style of personality," says Victoria Gomelsky, editor-in-chief of jewelry trade magazine JCK. "Classic, elegant fine jewelry sells year in and year out, but there are also fine pieces available this year for the more fashion-minded buyer."

Art Deco jewelry is poised to be big in 2012, although moviegoers will have to wait until December to see it on display in Warner Bros.' "The Great Gatsby" with Tobey Maguire, Leonardo DiCaprio, Carey Mulligan and Joel Edgerton. The film features authentic 1920s-style Art Deco pieces provided Tiffany.

Gomelsky expects the tough economy to partly drive upscale-jewelry fashions this year, with silver often trumping gold and semi-precious stones stealing some thunder from diamonds.

"A lot of designers who normally work with platinum or 18-karat gold have launched less-expensive, secondary lines -- which is why you're seeing innovations like oxidized silver," she says.

The expert also expects a planned Dec. 25 release of a big-budget "Great Gatsby" remake to be part of a renaissance in modern interpretations of 1920s Art Deco jewelry.

Tiffany(TIF) created all of the jewelry for the film, which stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Tobey Maguire and which Warner Bros. hopes will become its Christmas Day blockbuster.

"The fashion world has really celebrated the 1920s flapper and the 'Gibson Girl' look in recent years, and that's a look that lends itself very well to diamond jewelry that's very clean and geometric," Gomelsky says.