David Webb Rings*Wave Ring, Black Enamel, Emerald, Ruby

Cabochon emeralds and rubies, black enamel, and 18K gold

STUD COLLECTION

The David Webb Stud Collection consists of many designs from the early 1970s, mainly starting in 1971 with the introduction of the Wave Ring. These pieces are all defined by brilliant-cut diamonds collet-set in 18K yellow gold and sunken down into a field of perfectly smooth black enamel. Of course, as time went on, enamel colors changed, and brilliant-cut diamonds became cabochon rubies, emeralds, or sapphires. These multi-colored polka-dots became a graphic design expression of modernism in a jeweled form.

David Webb jewelry consistently pushes boundaries for what jewelry can be and how it can be worn as a means of self-expression. Whether the collet-set studs evoke an industrial rivet or a more playful polka-dot is the wearer’s privilege to judge. 

The collection is vast, and runs the gamut of rings, earrings, necklaces, and bracelets, all with the indicative diamond collets or cabochon gem and enamelled surface. The pieces in this grouping feel light-hearted and funky, but also bring the bold David Webb musculature of their unique silhouettes to the ear, wrist, or neck. 

In the original jewelry renderings, you can tell David Webb was having fun designing. The colored dollops of paint that stand in for cabochon rubies or emeralds or sapphires look like they could be a modernist painting that hangs aside a high design piece of furniture.