Pink Jewellery, and the I-Hate-Pink Phase: A Reclamation

In 2023, the same year the Barbie film became the highest-grossing film of the year and saw the world briefly painted Pantone 219, pink jewellery sales at Net-a-Porter, Selfridges, and Liberty began to climb sharply. The trend was not, on closer inspection, a Barbie phenomenon. It had been building for several years before the film and continued building after the film's cultural moment passed. The broader story was that pink jewellery, having been quietly out of fashion in serious fine jewellery for most of the previous twenty years, was returning to the mainstream. The return is more interesting than the trend, because pink jewellery's previous absence from the serious fine jewellery conversation was itself, in retrospect, less about taste than about something else.

The phrase that has been circulating for the last year or two, on Pinterest and Instagram and the more thoughtful corners of where women talk to each other about how they got dressed today, is some version of: the I-hate-pink phase was never about the colour. The phase in question is the period, beginning around age eleven and ending some time in the late twenties or early thirties, during which the women I know systematically refused to wear pink anything. The refusal was, the phrase argues, not aesthetic. It was a defensive response to the assumption that a woman in pink was a woman to be patronised: dainty, frivolous, not serious about her work or her ideas, available to be talked over. The pink phase ended when the patronising assumption stopped affecting the wearer's interior weather, which for most women is around the age at which other people's reading of her stops mattering as much as her own.

This is the cultural frame the contemporary pink jewellery revival is operating inside. The piece is, I think, worth writing carefully because the jewellery aspect is the easier part of it, and the easier part is, in this case, the part most worth taking seriously.

The pink phase

I had my I-hate-pink phase from approximately twelve to twenty-eight, with a brief intermission during a teenage Schiaparelli moment that lasted about a month. The phase was not, as a teenager, identified by me as defensive or political. It was identified by me as taste. I thought black was serious and pink was unserious. I thought wearing black would signal that I was competent and wearing pink would signal that I was not. I was not entirely wrong about how those signals would be read, which is the part of the experience that, looking back, is the part worth taking seriously.

The cultural argument the "pink phase was never about the colour" sentiment is making is, broadly, that the rejection of pink by young women is a learned defensive response to a pattern of being underestimated, patronised, and dismissed when seen wearing pink as adolescents and young adults. The argument is psychologically credible, supported by some sociological research on colour-coding of gender, and recognised, anecdotally, by virtually every woman who has been through the cycle and reflected on it afterward.

The corollary the sentiment makes, which is the part that matters here, is that returning to pink in adulthood is not a return to the colour itself. It is a return to the colour having been depoliticised, internally, by the wearer. The pink jewellery a woman buys at thirty-five is not the same as the pink barrette she refused to wear at fourteen. The barrette refusal was protective. The pink jewellery is the protection no longer being needed. This is not a small distinction. It is, I would argue, why the current pink jewellery moment is unlike previous pink moments and is going to last longer than they did.

A short history of pink

Pink jewellery has cycled through several substantial cultural moments over the past century, each of which has shaped, in different ways, how the colour is understood now.

The Schiaparelli pink (1937). Elsa Schiaparelli, the Italian-born Paris couturier, introduced what she called "shocking pink" as her signature colour in the mid-1930s. The pink was a fluorescent magenta-pink, more saturated and more aggressive than any earlier fashion pink. Schiaparelli's intent was explicitly subversive: the colour was meant to be slightly aggressive, slightly disturbing, the visual equivalent of an exclamation mark. Shocking pink became one of the most-recognised fashion colours of the twentieth century and remained part of Schiaparelli's brand identity through the contemporary Daniel Roseberry-led revival.

Mamie pink (1953 onwards). Mamie Eisenhower, wife of US President Dwight D. Eisenhower, wore a pale pink dress to the 1953 inauguration and was photographed in pink frequently throughout her time as First Lady. The colour became identified with American 1950s suburban femininity (the pink bathroom suites, the pink Cadillacs, the pink-and-white kitchens). Mamie pink has been substantially mocked in cultural memory as the visual signature of the most-criticised aspects of mid-century female domesticity. It has also, more recently, been partially reclaimed as a stylistic register in its own right.

Princess Diana's pink (1981 to 1996). Diana wore substantial pink throughout her tenure as Princess of Wales, particularly the pink ruffled blouses of the early 1980s (the Emanuel-designed engagement-photograph blouse, the pink Bellville Sassoon dresses) and the pink Catherine Walker tailoring of the early 1990s. The Diana pink moment was the most-photographed pink in fashion history and helped to position pink as a colour compatible with formal public life. For more on Diana's broader jewellery and dress, see our piece on her jewellery and where it is now.

Y2K pink (1998 to 2008). The pink moment of the late 1990s and early 2000s, associated with Paris Hilton, Juicy Couture, the Legally Blonde film, the Mean Girls "on Wednesdays we wear pink," and various televised expressions of mid-2000s American girl culture. Y2K pink is the pink most directly responsible for the I-hate-pink phase of the women who were teenagers during the period. The cultural anxiety around the colour reached its peak in this decade. The reaction against it, in the late 2000s and 2010s, produced the years of pink absence from serious fine jewellery.

Barbie pink (2023). The Greta Gerwig film and its marketing campaign produced approximately eighteen months of intense cultural attention to pink, with substantial commercial spillover into fashion, beauty, and jewellery. The Barbie moment is often cited as the start of the contemporary pink revival, although the revival predated the film. The film functioned more as confirmation than cause.

Each of these moments shaped how pink is understood culturally. The cumulative effect, across nearly a century, is that pink is one of the few colours that carries substantial historical baggage in fashion contexts. The contemporary pink jewellery wearer is making a choice with all of this in the background.

The actual stones

Pink jewellery in 2026 is, mercifully, no longer limited to a small selection of corundum and a great deal of glass. The contemporary market offers a substantial range of pink gemstones at every price point, each with its own character.

Pink sapphire is the workhorse of the category. Corundum (the same mineral as ruby and blue sapphire) coloured by chromium or manganese, available in everything from pale pink to vivid magenta. Mohs 9, which makes it suitable for daily wear including engagement rings without significant durability concerns. Sources include Madagascar (the dominant modern source), Sri Lanka (the classical source, producing the finest pale pinks), Tanzania, and Myanmar. Price range: £200 per carat for commercial-grade pieces, £4,000 per carat for fine pieces, with the rarest material substantially higher.

Morganite is pink beryl, the same mineral family as emerald and aquamarine, coloured by manganese. Named in 1911 by the Tiffany gemologist George Frederick Kunz after J. P. Morgan, who was a major Tiffany client. Mohs 7.5 to 8, suitable for jewellery but slightly softer than sapphire. Particularly popular as an alternative engagement ring stone, where its pale pink with peach undertones works well in rose gold settings. Price range: £200 to £2,000 per carat depending on size and saturation.

Pink tourmaline is the chemically complex tourmaline family in its pink-to-red range. Pale pink tourmalines are common and affordable; the deepest red-pink variety, called rubellite, can reach prices comparable to fine pink sapphire. Mohs 7 to 7.5. Sources include Brazil, Madagascar, Afghanistan, and the United States. Price range varies enormously: £50 per carat for pale commercial material to £2,500 per carat for fine rubellite.

Padparadscha sapphire is the rarest of the corundum colour varieties. The orange-pink variety, named from the Sinhalese padmaraga meaning lotus blossom, is found principally in Sri Lanka with some Madagascar production. Extreme rarity in fine grades produces extreme prices: £5,000 to £25,000 per carat for fine material, with the largest and most saturated examples substantially higher. See our discussion of precious vs semi-precious stones for how padparadscha sits in the broader sapphire hierarchy.

Kunzite is pink spodumene, also named by George Frederick Kunz (who had a productive run of stone-naming in the early twentieth century). Pale pink to lilac. Mohs 6.5 to 7, soft for daily-wear settings and prone to chipping if cut into the wrong shape. Strongly pleochroic (different colour from different angles). The stone also fades in sunlight if exposed for extended periods, which limits its practical use to evening wear or pieces that are not worn daily. Price range: £50 to £500 per carat.

Rose quartz is the pale pink variety of quartz, Mohs 7, used principally as a cabochon-cut decorative stone rather than as a faceted gemstone. Extremely affordable: £5 to £50 per carat for fine material. Aesthetically beautiful, particularly in larger sculptural pieces, but commercially modest.

Rhodochrosite is manganese carbonate, deep rose-red to pink. Mohs 3.5 to 4, too soft for ring use but suitable for pendants and earrings. Sources include Argentina (the major commercial supplier) and the Sweet Home Mine in Colorado (which produces the most-collected fine crystal specimens). Reasonably affordable as a jewellery stone, more valuable as a mineral specimen.

Pink diamonds and the Argyle closure

Pink diamonds are the most-discussed pink category at the high end of the market and the category most affected by recent supply changes.

Pink diamonds are coloured by lattice deformation in the crystal structure rather than by trace elements. This is unusual among coloured diamonds (most coloured varieties get their colour from specific trace impurities) and the mechanism produces the characteristic pink-to-red range of saturation that distinguishes fancy pink diamonds.

The Argyle diamond mine in Western Australia, operated by Rio Tinto from 1983 to November 2020, produced approximately ninety per cent of the world supply of pink diamonds during its operation. The mine closed in November 2020 after thirty-seven years of production. The closure eliminated, in a single business decision, the dominant world supply of pink diamonds. The market reaction was substantial and continues to develop.

In the five years since the Argyle closure, pink diamond prices have appreciated approximately three to four times for the fine grades and substantially more for the rarest material. The annual Argyle Pink Diamonds Tender, which had been the primary mechanism for selling the mine's most valuable production, conducted its final tender in 2021 with stones held in inventory at the time of closure. The 2021 tender produced record prices for individual stones, and subsequent secondary-market trading has continued the appreciation.

The 2017 sale of the Pink Star (59.60 carats, fancy vivid pink, internally flawless) at Sotheby's Hong Kong for $71.2 million remains the world record for any gemstone sold at auction. Other major pink diamond sales in the post-2020 period include the Williamson Pink Star (11.15 carats, sold at Sotheby's Hong Kong in October 2022 for $57.7 million) and the Eternal Pink (10.57 carats, sold at Sotheby's New York in June 2023 for $34.8 million).

The investment-grade pink diamond market in 2026 is among the most active categories in fine jewellery, and the supply constraints from Argyle's closure suggest the appreciation trajectory will continue. For the strategic case on this category, see our guide on jewellery that holds value.

How to wear pink jewellery

The styling principles for pink jewellery, after the cultural argument is set aside and the question becomes practical, are reasonably straightforward.

Pink works against most skin tones, but the specific shade matters. Cool pinks (with blue undertones) sit better against cooler skin; warm pinks (with peach or orange undertones) sit better against warmer skin. The morganite/peach-pink register tends to work with warmer skin; the magenta/cool-pink register tends to work with cooler skin. Padparadscha sits in the middle and works across most skin tones because of its orange-pink tonal range.

Rose gold is the natural partner. Pink stones in rose gold settings produce a more saturated overall pink effect than the same stones in yellow gold (which warms them) or white gold (which cools them). For most pink stones, rose gold is the default best choice. Yellow gold with pink stones works well for warmer pinks (morganite, peach pink sapphire). White gold and platinum work best for the cooler pinks (magenta sapphires, certain pink tourmalines) and for pink diamonds (where the white metal preserves the diamond's brilliance).

Pair with red and burgundy, not with more pink. This is the styling move that distinguishes the contemporary pink jewellery moment from earlier pink moments. The y2k pink-on-pink stack reads as juvenile; pink jewellery worn with a red dress, a burgundy coat, or a deep wine sweater reads as confident and adult. The colour theory works because red and pink are related but distinct (red is fully saturated where pink is desaturated red), and the contrast produces visual richness rather than visual confusion.

Single focal stone, not pink-on-pink. A single significant pink stone (a pink sapphire ring, a morganite pendant, a pink tourmaline earring set) reads better than a pink-on-pink layered look. The contemporary pink moment is about pink as accent, not pink as theme.

Vintage pink works particularly well. Edwardian and Art Deco jewellery used substantial pink stones (morganite was especially fashionable in the 1910s and 1920s, pink topaz in Georgian work, pink sapphire across most twentieth-century periods). Vintage pink pieces from these eras read as serious and have the additional benefit of being well below the contemporary new-retail price for equivalent stones. For sourcing, see our vintage jewellery guide.

The contemporary makers worth knowing

The makers producing the most-discussed pink jewellery in 2026 include:

Suzanne Kalan (Los Angeles), whose baguette-set pink sapphire pieces have been one of the dominant looks of the past three years. Kalan's work tends to mix pink sapphire with white diamonds in delicate band-style settings. Price range: £1,500 to £15,000 per piece, with high jewellery pieces substantially higher.

Anita Ko (Los Angeles), who produces fine pink tourmaline and pink sapphire pieces in clean, contemporary settings. The Ko approach favours single-stone focal pieces rather than pavé work. Price range: £2,000 to £20,000 per piece.

Spinelli Kilcollin (Los Angeles), whose interlinked-ring designs have included pink sapphire variants since approximately 2020. The pink Spinelli Kilcollin pieces have become a recognisable signature on the layered-jewellery circuit.

Sophie Bille Brahe (Copenhagen) produces occasional pink pearl pieces (the freshwater pink pearl, distinct from the Akoya white pearl tradition) in her signature delicate settings. Limited production but particularly collectible.

Jessica McCormack (London) produces pink diamond pieces at the upper fine tier, often setting Argyle pink diamonds in her signature button-back settings. Prices on commission, typically £25,000 and substantially higher for pink diamond pieces.

At the entry tier, Mejuri, Missoma, and Astley Clarke all produce pink sapphire and morganite pieces in 14k gold at the £200 to £800 price range, suitable for buyers wanting to engage with the colour without the fine-tier commitment.

The reclamation

The thing I think is worth saying at the end of a piece like this, having walked through the cultural history and the stones and the styling principles, is that the contemporary pink jewellery moment is genuinely different from the previous ones. The Schiaparelli pink of 1937 was confrontational. The Mamie pink of 1953 was prescriptive. The y2k pink of 2003 was infantilising. The Barbie pink of 2023 was self-aware.

The pink of 2026, which is the pink the contemporary fine jewellery market is producing, is, I would argue, the first pink in living memory that is not making a cultural argument on behalf of the wearer. It is simply a colour, available to women who have stopped needing to justify their colour choices to anyone. The reclaiming has happened. The colour has been returned to itself. What is left is the question of which pink stone you actually like, set how, against what.

This is, in jewellery as in most other things, a substantially better question than the one we were asked to answer at fourteen.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best pink gemstone for jewellery?

Pink sapphire is the most-recommended pink stone for daily-wear jewellery, including engagement rings, due to its Mohs 9 hardness and broad availability. Morganite is the most popular alternative engagement stone in the pink-to-peach range, offering a softer pink at substantially lower cost. Pink tourmaline (with rubellite as its deepest red-pink variety) works well for statement pieces. Padparadscha sapphire is the rarest and most expensive pink corundum, with prices regularly exceeding fine ruby per carat at the highest grades.

Why have pink diamond prices increased so much?

Pink diamond prices have appreciated approximately three to four times since 2020 because the Argyle mine in Western Australia, which produced approximately ninety per cent of world pink diamond supply, closed in November 2020 after thirty-seven years of operation. The closure eliminated the dominant supply source in a single business decision, and remaining pink diamonds (held by collectors, in inventory, and in occasional new production from minor sources) have continued to appreciate as supply contracts further. The 2017 sale of the Pink Star at Sotheby's Hong Kong for $71.2 million remains the record price for any gemstone at auction.

Is morganite a good engagement ring stone?

Morganite is a popular and reasonable choice for an alternative engagement ring stone. Mohs 7.5 to 8 hardness is sufficient for daily wear (although less hard than sapphire or ruby and significantly less hard than diamond). The pink-to-peach colour works particularly well in rose gold settings. Prices are substantially lower than equivalent pink sapphire, with fine morganite at £200 to £2,000 per carat. The principal limitations are vulnerability to chipping in poor settings and slight susceptibility to colour change from prolonged sunlight exposure. For broader engagement ring stone options, see our engagement ring stones guide.

What's the difference between pink sapphire and ruby?

Pink sapphire and ruby are both corundum (aluminium oxide). The traditional industry distinction draws a line at a specific saturation of red: any corundum of sufficient red saturation is called ruby; anything paler, even if recognisably red-toned, is called pink sapphire. The line is, in practice, somewhat subjective and varies slightly between gemmological laboratories. The pricing implication is substantial: a stone classified as a fine ruby commands significantly higher prices than the same stone classified as a fine pink sapphire. The Black Prince's Ruby in the British crown jewels (which is in fact a spinel, not a ruby at all) sits at the most famous edge of this naming question, discussed in our piece on it.

Is rose quartz worth buying as fine jewellery?

Rose quartz is an aesthetically beautiful pink stone, principally used as a cabochon-cut decorative element rather than as a faceted gemstone. It is very affordable (£5 to £50 per carat for fine material) and works well in costume jewellery and in larger sculptural pieces. It is not generally considered fine jewellery and does not retain value in the way that fine pink sapphire or fine pink tourmaline does. For a piece you want to wear and enjoy without significant investment, rose quartz is a sensible choice. For a piece intended to hold value, the other pink stones are more appropriate.

Why did pink go out of fashion in serious jewellery?

Pink jewellery had a substantial absence from serious fine jewellery between approximately 2008 and 2020, broadly tracking the cultural backlash against the y2k pink moment associated with mid-2000s celebrity culture. The colour was, during that period, associated with a particular kind of overstated femininity that the broader fashion conversation was actively distancing from. The return of pink to serious jewellery from approximately 2020 onwards has accompanied the broader cultural reclamation of femininity-coded aesthetics by women who have moved past the defensive rejection of them.

How do I style pink jewellery?

The contemporary styling principles for pink jewellery favour single focal pieces over pink-on-pink layering, rose gold settings for warmer pink tones, white gold for cooler pinks and pink diamonds, and unexpected colour pairings (pink with red, burgundy, wine) rather than the obvious pink-on-pink combinations. Vintage pink jewellery from Edwardian and Art Deco periods works particularly well and offers significantly better value than new equivalents. The general principle is restraint: a single significant pink piece reads as deliberate, while multiple pink pieces in a single outfit reads as juvenile.