Natural diamond girlies will instantly clock these signature motifs

We live in the age of hyper-visibility, yet the jewellery that feels most relevant right now operates like a filter for cultural literacy. Passed between stylists, spotted on the coolest of the cool girls and carefully saved within countless wishlists. The new guard of fine jewellery designers is building authorship as opposed to chasing virality. Instead of seasonal resets and constant transformations, they return obsessively to a single form, refining it until it becomes unmistakable. A dagger. An arch. A safety pin. These are visual signatures—motifs that evolve slowly, accrue meaning, and eventually become shorthand. If you recognise them, you’re already inside the conversation.

What unites these designers is a shared rejection of unnecessary spectacle and their love for natural diamonds. Their pieces are meant to become a part of the wearer’s identity and, oftentimes, absorb their energy. These diamond-based designs are heirlooms that are about repetition, wear, and most importantly, intent.

Hanut: The dagger

For Hanut Singh, this talismanic symbol is a declaration of personal sovereignty. Rendered in natural diamonds and gold, his dagger jewels hover somewhere between protection and provocation. The motif carries centuries of cultural weight, but Singh strips it of theatrics, allowing it to exist in a quieter, more intimate register.

Natural diamonds are central to that philosophy. “A natural diamond is not interchangeable; it has lived a singular journey before it ever reaches the hand,” he says. “That sense of inevitability and soul is something I find impossible to replicate. In a culture obsessed with speed and replication, they allow me to express depth, rarity, and irreversibility.”

And the It girls can’t get enough. Everyone from Isha Ambani to Miley Cyrus is a fan. Legacy, for him, is more about continuity and less about preservation. These pieces are meant to be worn daily, absorbing memory without losing integrity. Ultimately, what makes the motif compelling is its duality. “I don’t see masculinity and intimacy as opposites,” he says. “In fact, when strength is distilled and refined, it becomes incredibly intimate.”

Messika: The chainlink

French jewellery designer Valérie Messika did something deceptively radical: she took the humble chainlink—industrial, assertive—and made it sensual. By adding natural diamonds to the form, her studded chain necklaces and bracelets reframe strength as elegance, turning hardware into high jewellery without sanding off its edge.

The result is jewellery that feels fashion-forward and deeply wearable. Messika’s chains are often layered, oversized, and styled with insouciance—worn by celebrities like Rihanna and Jennifer Lopez in ways that feel instinctive. The motif has become a visual shorthand for a certain kind of modern woman: confident, self-directed, and uninterested in waiting for an occasion to pull out her big-girl jewels.

Ananya Fine Jewellery: The Chakra bracelet

“Energy is tangible, so the design process has to be intuitive,” says designer Ananya Malhotra. This conviction forms the core of Malhotra’s London- and Chennai-based label Ananya Fine Jewellery, which has been spotted on women like Dua Lipa, Lily Allen, and more. This belief finds its most distilled expression in the brand’s iconic Chakra bracelets, which are characterised by a bar element linked by two natural-diamond-encrusted loops. “My pieces are built around balance, proportion, and carefully chosen gemstones that carry emotional and symbolic resonance,” says Malhotra. For her, combining sacred symbols inspired by Hindu and Buddhist mythology with stones like natural diamonds requires treating the materials and forms with respect. The diamonds, in particular, embody endurance and the ability to hold memory, absorbing touch and experience until they become meaningful. Her pieces are meant to resist the pressures of trend cycles, to hold their own in a cluttered world, and natural diamonds allow each piece to be a witness to life rather than a marker of occasion.

Stephanie Gottlieb: The two-stone ring

Stephanie Gottlieb’s toi-et-moi rings (that’s French for ‘you and me’), where two stones are set side by side, rewrite the language of romance. Traditionally symbolic of union, this style has often felt overly formal, even nostalgic in a saccharine way. Yet Gottlieb brings it into the present by pairing natural diamonds in unexpected cuts and proportions. Think: a round-cut and an emerald-cut or a heart-shape and cushion-cut—all graphically different shapes—paired together to make the designs feel playful, expressive, and deeply personal. The designer’s diamond rings have become favourites among brides (and pop stars like Taylor Swift), as well as collectors who appreciate natural diamond jewellery for its heirloom value but want designs that retain that same sentiment without the stiffness.

VAK Jewels: The arch

Inspired by Mumbai’s Indo-Saracenic gateways, VAK Jewels’ signature arch motif functions as a framework that holds diamonds in balance. “Natural diamonds carry time within them,” says Vishal Kothari, founder and third-generation jeweller. “That sense of permanence aligns deeply with how I think about legacy and heirloom jewellery.”

The arch, evolving from a literal architectural reference to an abstract form, becomes a passage between movement and stillness. Kothari adapts the signature shape to be worn on everything from earrings to rings or even as a pendant on a jewelled bolo tie. Clients today, Kothari notes, are buying natural diamonds for their beauty, symbolism, and permanence—but with intention. The arch holds all three. “When designing with natural diamonds for daily pieces, I focus on balance—durability without heaviness, presence without excess. The diamond becomes the emotional anchor, while the design ensures the piece lives comfortably in the present,” he adds.

Netali Nissim: The Evil Eye

We’re in the post Tumblr-core era where the Evil Eye symbol has been overexposed to the point of dilution. Italian designer Netali Nissim restores its gravity. Her versions are minimal, elegant, and intentionally restrained. Inspired by her gemologist father, Nissim’s pieces treat protection as something personal rather than performative. She often works with natural diamonds—stones formed over billions of years—which lends the Evil Eye motif a sense of permanence and intrinsic value. The motif is deeply spiritual, and by crafting it out of diamonds she’s doubling down on the symbolism, reinforcing it as truly timeless.

Anita Ko: The safety pin

Punk in origin, glamorous in execution, Ko’s safety pin jewellery translates an entire era of rebellion into something far more polished—without ever losing the attitude. Loved by Hailey Bieber, Kendall Jenner, and several fashion girls known for pioneering Gen Z style, these natural-diamond-studded safety pin earrings feel immediate and iconic. Ko understands pop culture instinctively and knows how to crystallise it into jewellery that feels current.

Diamond Safety pin earring, Anita Ko

Jessica McCormack: The diamond drop earrings

McCormack recently went viral for designing Zendaya’s East-West diamond engagement ring but her gypset earrings are as ubiquitous as the little black dress—unless you’ve been living under a rock. Inspired by Georgian-era silhouettes yet stripped of formality, the natural diamond danglers are designed to be worn daily with an air of je ne sais quoi. Seen on Charlize Theron, Zoë Kravitz, and other proponents of undone elegance, McCormack’s earrings move with the body. They swing, catch light, and feel responsive rather than fixed. The timeless design resists preciousness; natural diamonds here are lifelong companions.