Unlike humanity, jewellery has had a pretty good 2020. The share price of gold, buoyed by economic turmoil and uncertainty, has risen nearly 25 per cent this year so far. At the end of April, Sotheby’s managed to flog a Cartier 1930s Art Deco bracelet on its website for $1.34m, setting a record for the highest price ever paid online for a jewel. That was quickly beaten, in June, however, after Christie’s sold an emerald-cut diamond online for $2.1m. So yeah, not a shabby few months at all if you’re in the luxury jewellery business (and not, say, airlines).

It wasn’t just the gilded upper crust, either: jewellery also hit some decidedly more down-to-earth high notes this year. Despite somehow not having watched Normal People starring Mr Paul Mescal (you can read his interview with MR PORTER here), I’m still all too familiar with his notorious chain that, months later, has still managed to retain over 180k followers on a dedicated Instagram account.

Perhaps it’s the fact that when we’re all grasping for something to hold on to, the tangible timelessness of a well-chosen ring, necklace or bracelet is reassuring. And whether that means following a piece of jewellery online, or clicking “add to basket” and dropping an incomprehensible amount of money on something that will inevitably end up in the dark of a safe somewhere, the point is: good jewellery has never been more important than it is right now. With that in mind, allow us to introduce you to some of our favourite contemporary jewellery designers.

Founded by jewellery designer Ms Beth Bugdaycay and her husband Mr Murat Bugdaycay, Foundrae’s jewellery hits the sweet spot of designs that feel both up-to-the-minute and timeless. Named after “Rae”, Ms Bugdaycay’s late grandmother, the fine jewellery brand creates “modern heirlooms”, ie, the kinds of pieces that are imbued with a sense of history that you can hand down to your own kids. The rings pictured above are enamelled using a Champlevé technique, an ancient jewellery practice that dates back to the third or second century BC, which we find particularly charming.

Ms Martine Ali is a Chicago-born, New York-based silversmith who lends an inherent breezy cool to her jewellery. The proposition of hefty chains, chokers and bracelets reads like a refined take on hip-hop bling, but that doesn’t mean these won’t make for great keepsakes, too. The Cuban bracelets and wallet chains in particular carry a streetwise gravitas and will look best when teamed with streetwear.

Ms Maria Black’s breakout jewellery brand makes artful gold and silver pieces that have proven to be popular with fashion and art insiders over the past few years – scroll through any set of street-style pictures from fashion week, and you’ll usually see one of the brand’s statement earrings on a well-dressed showgoer. The finely crafted chains are worth a punt, too, and will look good with, well, pretty much anything you want to wear with them, which is exactly the point.

Borne out of 1990s Los Angeles, GOOD ART HLYWD’s design philosophy is rooted in carefree living, decent design and a swashbuckling Angeleno attitude courtesy of the brand’s refreshingly unpretentious founder, Mr Josh Warner. Featuring trademark rosettes on chunky silver hardware, the brand’s pieces come straight out of Mr Warner’s foundry, and have been worn by everyone from Mr LeBron James to Mr John Legend.

Mr Bleue Burnham’s designs push the boundaries of what we expect from fine jewellery and takes it somewhere new entirely. The London-based craftsman combines precious stones and metals in a way that’s refreshingly unexpected – see the variegated signet rings where the gems appear as though they’re melting into the metal. Paying homage to the British practice of hallmarking – which is traditionally tiny and thus difficult to see – Bleue Burnham subverts this by supersizing it, which is why you’ll find hallmarks of numbers, animals and icons in clear view on all of its jewellery. The crown, for instance, means gold, while the jaguar means the piece has been hallmarked in London.