Nancy Newberg’s New Bridal Collection is a Valentine To Her Daughter-in-Law

The bride complaining about her mother-in-law is at this point a well-worn trope. But it doesn’t apply to Los Angeles-based jewelry designer, Nancy Newberg, who was a welcome participant in her new daughter-in-law, Mai’s, and son, Brandon’s, wedding plans.

“Mai’s mom lives in Tokyo, so I got to step in with the wedding dress shopping and everything,” Newberg tells The Zing Report. “And as a mother of three boys, I can’t even begin to tell you how much fun this was for me. It was a dream come true.”

Newberg even hosted the couple’s wedding at her home in Los Angeles in October 2022. Since then, she’s been hard at work on a bridal collection—as in, jewels to be worn on the big occasion—for her eponymous fine jewelry line, all inspired by her daughter-in-law’s wedding day look. The series of clean-lined diamond necklaces, bracelets, earrings, and non-bridal rings originated on various levels with the engagement ring Newberg created for Mai.

“She wasn’t one of the brides who have a Pinterest page of styles she likes or tells her best friend. ‘I want this, this and this,’” says Newberg. “So it was a little bit of a challenge. I took the lead based on her personal aesthetic. Mai is very minimalist in her taste. So I immediately was thinking of an Asscher or an emerald cut [diamond]. I brought in some stones for my son Brandon to take a look at, and he quickly gravitated towards the emerald-cut diamond. And I personally love an emerald cut. That’s the cut of my engagement ring, and my mother wore an emerald cut. So I was thrilled when he chose that.”

A minimalist setting—a simple, slightly rounded platinum band—was all that was needed to allow the design to shine. “I really let the stone take the center stage, and it did, and Mai was thrilled,” recalls Newberg.

Mai’s Newberg-designed diamond engagement ring was just a little over 2.5 cts.: “It was a perfect color, and a really stunning, sparkly stone,” notes Newberg. All wedding photos by M.K. Sadler

Newberg with Mai on her wedding day: “She was really going for a very elegant, timeless look, and did not want to look back on her photos ten years from now and feel that it was outdated,” says Newberg who let that vision inspire her to create a pair of long diamond dangle earrings.

Because the bride’s Monique Llhuillier gown had a gorgeous off-the-shoulder neckline and Mai decided to wear her hair a in bun, Newberg decided that a pair of earrings “were really going to be the most important accessory.” She adds, “I took that crisp look of the emerald-cut diamond in her engagement ring and created this modern ‘tennis’  look where these stones were all set individually. And there was movement in between the stones and the earrings, creating a long, beautiful line of diamonds that highlighted the long, lean line of her neck. I knew we needed something super-long and stunning.”

They briefly considered the addition of a necklace and bracelet but ultimately decided the earrings should be the main event. “When I laid something around her neck during the fitting, it was very clear that it was just too much,” she says. “She has this gorgeous skin and these beautiful hands and this idea of her rings plus earrings with the elegant silhouette of her gown was spectacular. It was really about just ‘less is more.’”

As Mai’s earrings incorporate the design codes of Newberg’s signature work, the designer saw an opportunity to expand the concept into a collection for brides (and family members who may be gifting her in honor of her nuptials). She imagined a client who wasn’t into the idea of fast fashion accessories, preferring instead to invest in something modern—and meaningful—to wear on the wedding day and beyond.

From left: Tiny Diamond Drops in 14k yellow gold, $2,400. Extra Long Bar Drops in 14k gold with bezel-set emerald-cut, round and princess cut diamonds, $8,200. Little Diamond Drops in platinum with emerald-cut, round and princess-cut diamonds, $5,600

With Mai’s three-and-a-half-inch long earrings serving as a “couture or runway” inspiration piece, the collection spun out from there: “We’re offering three different earring lengths and there’s a version that offers a bar between the stones, so the style uses fewer stones. It was really a matter of keeping that modern, elegant design, but bringing down the price point.”

There are also a pair of ear climbers (shown below) that Newberg says, “point to the idea of the general direction brides are going with their jewelry.” As in, weddings are no longer a one-day affair, but instead “a whole weekend requiring a full wardrobe for all the different parties…that allows space for pieces that are a little bit more design focused and on trend.”

14k white gold and diamond earrings, $4,000

Diamond and 18k yellow gold tennis necklace, $19,000, and platinum and diamond bracelet, $12,500—looks in Nancy Newberg’s new wedding-day collection

Pearl and diamond earrings in 14k white gold, $4,000

As Newberg sees it, upscale brides are shifting their attitudes about wedding jewelry altogether. “In the beginning, a lot of these clients used to be the ones that would borrow the jewelry from their mothers. And now they’re going off and having their own life of going to parties. So it’s nice to have a jewelry box filled with a couple of important statement earrings. I think these brides really do want something that is rooted in tradition, but has a modern twist. And that way, they feel like they do have their own modern heirloom…something that they will keep and cherish and pass down to their daughters and daughters-in-law.

Top: Nancy Newberg stiletto earrings inspired by a pair she custom-designed for her daughter-in-law that became the inspiration for an entire collection of wedding-day jewels.

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