Gretchen Koback Pursel is the new chief people officer at the company formerly known as Saks Global.
Tiaras and Yellow Gold: Here Are the Oscars’ Best Jewels
And our awards for best jewelry go to … Oh, sorry, wrong envelope.

Los Angeles--The 89th annual Academy Awards might have ended in a major gaffe last night when the wrong film was announced as the winner of Best Picture, but there is no question as to who was sporting the most impressive jewelry.
For National Jeweler, Best Actress nominee Ruth Negga (“Loving”) comes in first. She wore an exquisite Irene Neuwirth head piece, earrings and ring featuring Gemfields’ Mozambican rubies.
Neuwirth is arguably the independent designer most likely to show up at major awards shows alongside the larger brands that dominate the world of celebrity placements.
But even for Neuwirth, Sunday’s appearance was a spectacular once-in-a-career moment, facilitated by Negga’s partnership with Gemfields this awards season.
Neuwirth’s head piece alone utilized 146 carats of Mozambican rubies and was the perfect topper for Negga’s red Valentino gown.
The entire suite was set in blackened white gold, and the earrings and ring were adorned with white diamonds.
Jessica Biel was technically off-duty on Sunday night attending the Oscars on the arm of husband (and one of the evening’s performers) Justin Timberlake, but she played a leading role in the jewelry department.
Tiffany & Co. was responsible for Biel’s 18-karat gold and baguette diamond spiked bib necklace from the Blue Book 2017 collection, a design that is reminiscent of tribal jewelry. Worn atop a long-sleeve gold sequin dress by Kaufmanfranco, Biel proved that there’s no such thing as too much gold.
Speaking of gold, “La Land’s” Emma Stone was channeling the Oscar statuette in her Tiffany & Co. gold and diamond earrings and gold beaded fringe Givenchy dress.
The actress was clearly on to something, as she took home her first Oscar, winning Best Actress.
It was an Armani and Repossi repeat for French actress Isabelle Huppert, nominated for Best Actress for her role in “Elle.” This time around, Huppert’s Repossi ear cuff was a custom piece. Leave it to the French to deliver the most fashion-forward jewel moment of the night.
If there’s been one breakout jewelry star of the 2017 awards season, it’s Nirav Modi.
After gracing the neckline of Viola Davis at the SAG Awards (where Davis won for her role in “Fences”), Modi showed up at last night’s awards ceremony on “Hidden Figures” star Taraji P. Henson.
She sported Modi’s Luminance white diamond necklace and Evergreen Emerald ring.
Designer
It was a fitting final awards season moment for Teigen, who made impressive sartorial and jewelry moves throughout, courtesy of stylist Monica Rose.
Actress Kirsten Dunst took a vintage Hollywood glamour approach to her Oscar night look, donning a classic black Dior dress that would have been just as appropriate in the 1940s as it is today.
Dunst’s Niwaka jewels were equally timeless. She wore an off-center, scroll motif diamond choker and paired it with simple diamond earrings.
A recipient of an Oscar last year, no one is able to combine glamour and effortlessness quite like actress Alicia Vikander.
Case in point: Vikander rocked a mega-watt diamond bib necklace from Bulgari with a black Louis Vuitton dress, but the actress still looked every inch herself, young and fresh, with her easy messy bun and natural makeup.
While awards shows are traditionally about playing dress-up and enacting fantasies, Vikander is the rare actress who can wear serious bling without the jewels wearing her.
Gold dresses at the Oscars were a trend and Best Actress nominee Nicole Kidman (“Lion”) chose to add a pop of color to her metallic Armani frock with Harry Winston diamond and spinel drop earrings.
It’s not too often that one sees a colored gemstone outside of the “big three” at the Academy Awards, but with spinel’s popularity on the rise, perhaps the stone will make a repeat appearance next year.
In addition to Negga’s Neuwirth moment, there were a few fine jewelry head pieces on the red carpet.
Presenter Salma Hayek was one of the ones who got it right. She wore a 19th century laurel leaf diamond headband and chandelier earrings from Fred Leighton.
Charlize Theron shined in major diamond Chopard earrings, from the brand’s Garden of Kalahari collection.
The jewels could be seen from a mile away but, upon closer inspection, they were slightly mismatched: one featured a massive 25-carat pear diamond drop while its mate was a 26-carat heart-shaped diamond.
Nominated for her role in “Moonlight,” actress Naomie Harris took a sartorial risk in her high-low Calvin Klein by Appointment dress. It’s the first red carpet look from the brand since designer Raf Simons took the reins.
Harris kept her jewels much more classic by comparison, with a diamond cuff and earrings by Bulgari.
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