6 Jewelry Pieces Every Stylish Woman Over 60 Owns

It’s time for Kim (Norther California Style) and my monthly Signature Style series and we are chatting about jewelry this month. I used to think good jewelry meant matching. A necklace that went with the earrings that went with the bracelet, all bought together, all telling the same one-note story. It took me a few decades and a lot of flea markets to figure out that the jewelry I actually reach for tells a completely different story, mine, and it’s collected the same way I collect everything else: slowly, with intention, and usually with a story attached.

This is not a list of trends. Trends are exhausting and, frankly, none of my business anymore. This is the jewelry that has earned a permanent spot in my rotation, the pieces I put on when I want to look like myself and not like I raided a display case at the mall. Let’s chat about 6 Jewelry Pieces Every Stylish Woman Over 60 Owns.

1. A Statement Necklace

Every collected wardrobe needs one piece that does the talking so nothing else has to. A statement necklace is that piece. Chunky resin, carved bone, an oversized chain, something with real presence, worn over a plain black turtleneck or a simple linen shirt. This isn’t subtle jewelry and it is not meant to be. At this stage of life I’ve made peace with the fact that I like my jewelry to tell my story, and a great statement necklace does exactly that without a single word from me.

The trick is restraint everywhere else. One statement piece, minimal everything else.

2. Vintage & Modern Tortoise Pieces

If you have been following me you know that I am a big fan of tortoise anything.Tortoise is one of those materials that photographs beautifully and can look both preppy and worldly at the same time.I love Machete for modern tortoise piece. Most of my favorite vintage pieces I have found on ebay or Etsy for practically nothing.

Shop my Favorite Modern Tortoise Accessories

Real vintage tortoise, the kind made before it was regulated, is genuine tortoiseshell and increasingly hard to find, which is part of the appeal. Most of what you’ll find now is faux, and honestly, the good faux pieces are nearly indistinguishable and a lot easier to sleep at night about. Either way, tortoise has warmth that gold and silver simply don’t, and it works with everything from denim to your favorite dress.

Shop My Favorite Vintage Tortoise Pieces

3. Native American Jewelry

This is jewelry with actual weight to it, literally and otherwise. Squash blossom necklaces, concho belts, turquoise and silver cuffs, the kind of pieces that were made by hand, by an artist, with a technique that’s been passed down. I have collected native American jewelry for decades.

If you’re building a collection like this, buy from Native artists and galleries directly when you can, and learn the maker’s name if you’re able to. This is not costume jewelry, and it shouldn’t be treated like it. It’s art you wear, and it deserves the same respect you’d give a piece on your wall. I have purchased many pieces on ebay through the years. You can find my current favorites on eBay here.

4. Vintage Brooches

The brooch had a bad decade or two, relegated to grandmother-adjacent territory, and I am delighted to report it is fully back even though I never actually stopped wearing mine. A great vintage brooch pinned on the lapel of a blazer, at the neckline of a plain sweater, or even clustered, three or four together, on a coat is one of the most effortlessly chic things you can do and it costs almost nothing to find one at an estate sale.

I look for native American brooches, vintage sterling silver, tortoise, stone and rhinestones. To me they feel less costumey and more like a small piece of someone else’s history that’s now part of yours. Which, if you think about it, is exactly what they are. You can find many beautiful vintage sterling silver brooches on eBay here, and on Etsy here.

You might enjoy my post 11 Fresh Unexpected Ways to Wear Brooches here.

5. Vintage Rhinestone Pieces

Rhinestones get dismissed as costume jewelry, and technically they are, but the good vintage pieces, the 1950s and prior work in particular, have a sparkle and a craftsmanship that a lot of fine jewelry can’t touch. I have a rhinestone bracelet that catches every bit of light in a room and I wear it with jeans as often as I wear it dressed up, because rules about when rhinestones are “allowed” are exactly the kind of rules I’ve stopped following.

Look for pieces with good clasps and settings where the stones are prong set rather than glued, that’s usually your signal for quality. And don’t be precious about it. Rhinestones are meant to be a little bit of fun, worn with a sense of humor about themselves. You can find vintage rhinestone brooches on ebay here., and on Etsy here.

J Crew has crafted some beautiful rhinestone pieces over the years that can be found on eBay here. I have several in my collection

6. Simple Pearl Pieces

I want to be clear about which pearls I mean, because pearls have an image problem that has nothing to do with pearls and everything to do with how they’ve been styled. Not the tight, prim strand your grandmother wore with a twin set. I mean a single strand worn with a white button-down and the top few buttons open, or pearl studs with a leather jacket, or a single, slightly irregular baroque pearl on a fine chain.

I purchased this pear necklace from Parham and Company Studio at Roundtop several years ago and she kindly gifted me the beautiful pearl bracelet a few years later.

Pearls are the most versatile thing in my jewelry box because they read as polished without trying, and they’re the one piece on this list that goes from the garden to dinner without a costume change. Simple is the operative word. One strand, one earring style, done well, beats a pearl-encrusted anything every time.

This pearl necklace if from Paula Carvalho. She still crafts similar pieces that you can find on her Instagram account here.

Shop my collection of bespoke jewelry items (many one of a kind)

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None of these pieces match each other, and that’s rather the point. My jewelry box doesn’t look like a matched set from a department store counter, it looks like forty years of paying attention, of buying something because it stopped me in my tracks rather than because it completed an outfit. That’s what makes it feel like mine and not like a costume.

The women I admire most at this stage of life aren’t wearing jewelry that matches. They’re wearing jewelry that tells their own story. Do you have some pieces in your own collection that tell yours? I would love to hear about them.

Now let’s pop over and visit Kim to see what she is sharing.

Northern California Style