01 SCULPTURAL FLORALS
The floral brooch is becoming less botanical illustration and more three-dimensional sculpture. Petals are layered, folded and given volume. The look echoes the oversized corsages seen across recent runways, while high jewellery brings the idea into precious materials. Romantic, certainly, but considerably more substantial than the traditional flower pin.
02 BUTTERFLY BROOCHES
Butterflies are having a particularly strong moment in high jewellery. Graff’s 2026 Artistry in Motion collection puts the motif at its centre with 12 unique butterfly brooches, each interpreting a different artistic influence. Diamonds give the wings their characteristic sense of movement, while tremblant construction can make them appear almost alive. The result is a familiar motif treated less as ornament and more as a miniature work of art.
03 ANIMAL MOTIFS
The brooch has always been a natural home for animals, but contemporary versions are becoming more expressive and sculptural. The appeal is partly emotional: an animal can give a jewel personality, movement and an unmistakable point of view, turning the brooch into something closer to a signature.
04 BOWS & RIBBONS
The bow brings a softer vocabulary to the brooch. Diamond-set ribbons can be sculptural, fluid and almost weightless, creating the impression of fabric frozen in motion. In jewellery, the motif works particularly well as a brooch because its loops and tails naturally create movement across a lapel or neckline.
05 ART DECO GEOMETRY
The brooch remains one of the most effective formats for Art Deco’s vocabulary. Step cuts, calibrated arrangements and architectural silhouettes give diamonds a distinctly graphic quality. The current revival is less about reproducing period jewellery and more about borrowing its visual language, resulting in pieces that feel crisp, structured and contemporary rather than overtly vintage.
06 BIRDS & WINGS
Birds bring movement to a category that can otherwise feel static. The appeal lies in the combination of structure and flight — a brooch that looks poised to move rather than simply sit on the wearer.
07 STARS & SUNBURSTS
Radiating designs have long suited the brooch, allowing diamonds to perform at maximum brilliance. Stars, rays and sunbursts create a natural focal point, whether rendered as a compact pin or an oversized statement. Their graphic quality also makes them particularly easy to style with contemporary clothing.
08 VINTAGE-CUT DIAMONDS
The softer brilliance of Old Mine, Old European and rose-cut diamonds gives brooches an entirely different character from precision-cut contemporary pieces. These cuts retain irregularities and variations that make each stone feel individual, particularly when set into antique or vintage-inspired designs.
09 TRANSFORMABLE BROOCHES
The brooch is increasingly being designed with more than one life in mind. Detachable elements, pendants, jabot pins and convertible constructions allow a single jewel to move between different forms and placements. It makes the brooch less occasional and considerably more versatile.
10 BROOCH CLUSTERS
Styling multiple pins together is bringing a more maximalist sensibility to the category, with different shapes, scales and motifs arranged across a lapel, shoulder or neckline. Current runway styling has embraced the idea of wearing brooches in unexpected places, reinforcing the notion that the jewel is no longer tied to one traditional position.
THE THREAD TYING THEM TOGETHER:
Whether it is a butterfly caught mid-flight, a flower built like sculpture, a geometric Deco form, or a cluster of smaller pins, the diamond brooch is being designed to be noticed. It can move from lapel to neckline, jacket to dress, or even transform into another jewel altogether. The brooch is no longer simply an accessory pinned onto an outfit; it is becoming part of the outfit’s architecture — and, increasingly, part of the wearer’s identity.