Last week was jewellery’s biggest week of the year. The Met Gala landed on May 4th and the feeds haven’t really recovered since. In a good way. Our editorial team at Something About Rocks called it right in their preview, predicting that the “Fashion Is Art” theme would push jewellery front and centre — expecting sculptural one-off pieces over volume, craft over scale, jewellery as wearable art. That’s exactly what happened, and TikTok, Instagram, and Google have been digesting it ever since.
If you’re a jewellery brand trying to make sense of what this week means for your content and strategy, or a jewellery lover, you’re in the right place. Here’s what we’re seeing across the platforms, and the business read behind it.
The Met Gala Lit Up Search — and Stayed There
Monday’s red carpet didn’t just generate a night of social content. It generated a week of it. Our full roundup on Something About Rocks documented a carpet that spanned Jon Batiste’s archival 1951 Cartier platinum brooch, Emily Blunt’s half-a-million-dollar Mikimoto pearl-and-diamond body jewel, and Beyoncé arriving in a full Chopard suite anchored by the extraordinary ‘Queen of Kalahari’ necklace. Over 200 old mine cut diamonds were woven into Isha Ambani’s couture bodice, with a further 250 carats in graduated necklaces around her throat.
But here’s the strategic read behind all of that spectacle. The looks still circulating most actively on TikTok and Instagram this week aren’t necessarily the most expensive ones. They’re the ones that told the clearest story. Jisoo’s vintage 1905 Cartier choker, which she had altered from its original black velvet to pale pink to match her gown became a talking point. Not because of its carat count, but because of the personalisation behind it. That’s the algorithmic lesson worth holding onto this week. Story travels further than spectacle.
On Google This Week: The Numbers Are Telling You Something
The Google data is concrete enough to act on. Silver jewellery is running at approximately 9,900 monthly searches and up 22% in the last quarter — moving in lockstep with SS26’s cooler-toned styling direction that we’ve been covering across our recent fashion week content. Mixed-metal jewellery is growing right alongside it, with Google searches up 22% year-on-year, which is the platform’s way of confirming what the runways have been showing us: rigid metal rules are genuinely over in how consumers think and shop. On the flip side, rose gold is in real decline. It’s down 33% over three months and 45% year-on-year according to Google Trends. If your content or paid search is still leaning heavily into rose gold, that’s a conversation worth having now rather than later.
On the vintage and heritage front, Google’s trajectory is striking. Search interest in old mine cut diamonds is up 236% year-on-year, and interest in antique and distinctive cuts more broadly is accelerating. The Met Gala’s abundance of archival pieces landed in a week where that appetite was already quietly building in search before Monday even arrived. When cultural moment and consumer intent line up like that, it’s worth moving quickly.
On TikTok This Week: Identity Is the Dominant Format
TikTok’s #jewelry tag now carries 14 million posts. The content dominating that space this week isn’t product showcase. It’s autobiography. Jewellery tours, “what I always wear” videos, charm necklace builds. They all share the same underlying format: the wearer explaining what each piece means to them. The charm necklace in particular remains TikTok’s most commercially potent jewellery format right now, with creators loading chains with personal symbols, initials, and objects that represent moments rather than aesthetics. It feels participatory rather than aspirational, which is exactly why it works.
The stacking story is equally consistent. The mood on TikTok this week is maximalist — chunky layers, mixed metals, bold textures, stacking everything. One thread worth flagging: with gold prices where they are right now, chunky gold pieces are being framed by creators not as excess but as aspiration. The high price of the underlying material is making bold gold feel more exclusive, not less desirable. That’s a content angle any brand can pick up and run with directly, and it’s landing well.
On Instagram This Week: The Brooch Is Having Its Best Week in Years
One of the quieter but genuinely exciting signals this week on Instagram has been the brooch. It’s a trend Something About Rocks has been tracking carefully across several seasons. Men’s brooches in particular have been climbing the red carpet steadily, and the Met Gala gave it a fresh and highly visible surge. Jon Batiste’s 1951 Cartier archive piece, A$AP Rocky’s enamelled designs, and Hugh Jackman’s transformable diamond brooch all generated sustained Instagram reach well beyond Monday night.
What’s encouraging is how this is now filtering into the non-celebrity feed too. Styling accounts and micro-influencers have picked up the brooch as a layering device — pinned to blazers, draped on necklines, used as a finishing touch where a statement ring might have sat twelve months ago. Google data puts pendant necklaces at around 6,600 monthly searches as a stable baseline — the brooch isn’t there yet in search volume terms, but it’s clearly gaining real cultural momentum on Instagram right now. That’s the window. Before Google follows Instagram.
The Takeaway
This week’s platform data sends one clear and genuinely encouraging message: jewellery has never been more talkable, and TikTok and Instagram are rewarding the brands that understand why people wear pieces, not just what those pieces look like. Google confirms silver and mixed metals are where consumer appetite is growing. TikTok confirms that story-led content — charms, tours, meaning — is the dominant engagement format right now. And Instagram is telling you the brooch moment is real and still early enough to make your own.
Pick one of those signals. Build content around it this week. The brands winning right now aren’t doing anything complicated — they’re just paying attention to the same data you just read, and moving before everyone does.
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