The sighting: The glorious Beyoncé recently posted photos of herself from the REFORM Alliance’s Casino Night & Gala. She wore a form-fitting chocolatey brown gown, a glamorous blowout, and an utterly jaw-dropping necklace.
The jewels: Beyoncé’s spectacular necklace is by British jewelry house Glenn Spiro’s Old World Materials collection.
The piece features two rows of chunky golden citrines accented with diamonds and suspending one enormous citrine pendant – as well as one truly unusual element, a pair of 17th century African Baoulé gold discs engraved with tribal motifs.
I wasn’t familiar with the Baoulé, so I did some Googling and learned that, according to Britannica, the Baoulé are an African people inhabiting Côte d’Ivoire between the Comoé and Bandama rivers. An Akan group, the Baoulé speak a Tano language of the Kwa branch of the Niger-Congo language family.
Jewelry journalist Jill Newman said on her Instagram account in June that Spiro has been collecting 17th century fragments of gold artwork made by the Baoulé tribe for years.
This necklace isn’t Beyoncé’s only Glenn Spiro jewel; she also owns one of the brand’s iconic Papillon butterfly rings.
The trends: We’ve been seeing a lot of shorter, more colorful necklaces lately. I’m interested to see if the appearance of this piece gives citrine a boost. It’s not the trendiest stone, but Beyoncé’s trend power is nearly unparalleled.
The inclusion of ancient and antique elements in modern pieces has also been popular in recent years.
What do we think? This is beyond spectacular. I love the color, the drama, the silhouette! I do wish Bey’s hair weren’t covering the most interesting part of the design, the Baoulé discs on the sides. But you can see that element clearly if you flip to the second slide of the Instagram carousel.
The glow of the citrines, the texture of the engraved gold, the sparkle of the diamonds! It’s all glorious.
I do have to say that while I have great admiration for Spiro’s oeuvre of work, I’m not sure I believe that a white British man is the best person to be collecting African tribal elements to repurpose for high jewelry. The design is still exquisite, but the whiff of cultural appropriation and colonialism makes me even happier that this extraordinary jewel (and the artifacts it contains) ended up in the collection of a Black woman.
This jewel on Beyoncé is perfection. The honey tone of the citrines with Bey’s lush brown Roberto Cavalli gown is a match made in heaven.
Judgment: 100/10 for an exquisite piece on just the right person.
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