Jewelry is Having a Moment in the Fox Cities
All that glitters is gold—but it’s also high-end gemstones, marquise-cut sparklers, lab-grown stunners, custom-made adornments and even herringbone chains for Fox Cities jewelry enthusiasts in 2026.
Jewelry has long held a place of prominence all around the world, from the appearance of the brilliant cut and its multiple facets at the end of the 17th century, to the establishment of those esteemed names in high-end jewelry, like Cartier, Tiffany, Van Cleef & Arpels and Bulgari in the 19th century.
Jewelry is also part of our pop culture consciousness. Poll any number of people who stay “in the know,” and they can likely tell you what style of engagement ring Prince William gave to Princess Catherine, and they’ll know the bangle bracelets worn by nearly every reality starlet are from the Cartier brand.
Whatever a shopper’s personal preference, jewelers right here in the Fox Cities are eager to help everyone celebrate life’s momentous occasions.
“Working with the people—that’s my favorite [part],” Rebecca Frisch-Juedes, owner of Tennie’s Jewelry, says. “And hearing people’s different stories… most of the time, it’s a happy reason people are in the store and you’re celebrating their wedding with them, or their fifth anniversary, or they just had a baby. You get to know people and get to know their families. It’s just a nice feeling.
Grab Your Herringbone Necklaces: Gold Is Back!
When it comes to trending jewelry styles here in the Fox Cities, what’s old is new again. Jewelers say yellow gold, which was as synonymous with the 1980s as Aqua Net, is back in a big way.
“Yellow gold is coming back,” Juedes says. “Gold fashion jewelry in general, like a chunky, layered gold necklace, or the gold bracelets or gold rings… with that being said, gold [prices are] at an all-time high. So, some people are going toward gold-plated [jewelry], or sterling silver and gold-plated to be more in [their] price point.”
In the diamond department, the door to the 1980s has been reopened, just as it has been for gold’s rising popularity.
“Right now, round diamonds are always the most popular, [and] elongated radiant cuts and elongated cushion cuts are [also] very popular,” Jason Druxman, co-owner and president of Avenue Jewelers, says. “We’re seeing ovals are still very popular. Emerald cut [is] very classic also. Your square-cut diamonds are just not as popular anymore, [and] princess shape is probably one of the least popular.
“Making a comeback right now is the marquise shape. Yellow gold is coming back, big time, and marquise-shaped [diamonds]. So, yes, everything old is becoming new again.”
The increase in marquise-cut requests is also something Craig and Lezlie Slavens, owners of
Luxe Fine Jewelry and GIA graduate gemologists, have experienced.
“I wouldn’t stock a marquise for years, and now I have two large ones, because … they’re selling again,” Craig says. “For years, you couldn’t give them away, so nobody would stock them, and they were highly discounted. But today, the younger generation is starting to appreciate them again.”
“Diamonds are always popular,” Juedes adds. “They’ll never go out of style.”
In addition to the gold chain styles that were so popular in the 1980s—like herringbone—making a comeback, Juedes says she’s also seeing an increase in people purchasing big, gold hoops.
“I’m seeing an upswing, too, in colored stones again,” she says. “Colored stones weren’t popular for a while, but there are more people buying colored stone jewelry again as well.”
Druxman said he’s seeing an increase in people looking for gemstones that no one else has.
The choices are also typically personal in nature. “[Gems like] a Paraiba, which is a tourmaline; [it’s] a very interesting-colored tourmaline: a bluish green. You’ll see aquamarines are fairly popular also. The spinels, different colored spinels, gray spinel, [they’re] very, very pretty. And spinels come in a range of colors, so it’s always beautiful to see them because they’re very vibrant when they’re cut well.
“Colored gemstones, like I said, are very personal,” he adds. “You’ve got your big three, your sapphire, ruby, emerald—but when we do a custom piece, often it’s with something unusual.”
Craig and Lezlie Slavens have seen a large increase in the popularity of lab-grown diamonds, but as for other trends, their clientele is more apt to request a custom-made piece, not one that follows the latest fad.
That said, Craig said that becoming the chosen jeweler for several members of a family has developed into its own trend in the Fox Cities.
“We do a lot of engagement clients, but we [also] do a lot of 50th anniversaries, 40th anniversaries,” he says. “And then we end up getting all those people [returning to us] when their children get married or engaged. What we see as a trend is that referral in the family; I think I see this trend of them wanting to work with an independent [jeweler] and have that family relationship.
“We’re a community. We see we’ve made things for five or six members of a family—the whole family comes to us over time—and I think that’s kind of a neat trend that we see in this type of community.”
Bridal Gems and Trends
When it comes to nuptial jewelry, Druxman says he’s starting to see trends emerge there as well.
Though it used to be common for a couple to pick out an engagement ring and wedding band at the same time, he’s now seeing one partner of the soon-to-be betrothed pick out the engagement ring first, and then the couple returns to the store to pick out the wedding bands for each partner together.
He’s also observed an uptick in gentlemen purchasing jewelry for the wedding day, as a wedding gift for their bride-to-be.
“Oftentimes, the [groom] will come in before the wedding and pick out a present, a wedding present, and that might be earrings that will go well with her wedding dress, or a pendant that might go well with her wedding dress,” he explains. “[The choice] really depends a lot upon the dress itself, where the neckline is, so that is often just before the wedding, when he has a little bit more knowledge of what she’s going to be wearing.”
Though platinum reigned supreme when it came to wedding bands and engagement ring settings for the longest time in the 2000s, yellow gold is a big hit once again for wedding rings.
Brides-to-be are also going big for oval-shaped stones, Juedes explains.
“Oval is really, really popular right now,” she furthers. “I would say a lot of our engagement rings are oval, and then a lot of them are just solitaires, where it’s just a simple gold band with the oval diamond. And then a lot of people are doing ‘mix-match’ wedding bands. So, they do kind of a stacker look, where they’ll have… one to two or three different bands on their engagement ring finger. [They are] different diamond bands or plain bands, but usually they don’t match.”
What To Know Before Heading To A Jeweler
In a world where our instant gratification has become a prerequisite for nearly every retail interaction we have, local jewelers want their clients to understand that custom jewelry does not work in that timeframe. Custom work is nuanced and takes weeks, but it’s well worth the patience.
As Craig Slavens explains, there are many professionals involved in each custom ring design, from expert goldsmiths and stone setters to polishers, hand-engravers and enamel specialists—dependent on the design of the ring.
Druxman agrees. He says it’s important to be patient because custom jewelry making is a process. While his store also has ready-to-purchase pieces on hand, he said custom work takes time to refine to the clients’ preferences, from the first CAD rendering and 3D model of the piece of jewelry to the final product on their hand, wrist, neck or ears.
“Enjoying the process is what I really would want people to do,” he says. “Yes, the end product is what we’re trying to achieve. But let’s have some fun while we’re doing it, too, because it is going to be a unique piece for you.”
Juedes says it’s important for potential clientele to find a place they can trust.
“Go to a place where [the client will] feel educated,” she adds, “so that they know what they’re buying, and they know that they’re making a smart, informative purchase.”
Honoring Life’s Special Moments
Many times, jewelers have front-row seats to life’s most memorable moments, by creating keepsake and heirloom pieces that play an integral role in the life stories of couples and families.
“It’s not cliche to say I honestly enjoy watching people get excited about a piece of jewelry, something they’re going to have for the rest of their lives,” Druxman says. “It’s absolutely awesome.”
For Lezlie Slavens, it’s finding joy in the creative process.
“You’re creating something,” she says. “To make something and make something beautiful with precious materials is a bonus. You know, things that the Earth created, whether it be metal, gold, platinum, the gemstones—fun, beautiful gemstones. I mean, that’s pretty amazing to be able to make beautiful [jewelry] out of things that are coming from the earth.”
“You’re helping someone you know celebrate their union, their wedding, you’re helping someone celebrate the birth of a child, a storied moment in their life, and it’s pretty cool, because the only [things] we’re guaranteed [are] death and taxes,” Craig Slavens adds. “When we’re no longer here, I’m no longer here, these things that I’ve created may be around for 300, for 500 years, and I think that’s really cool.”
