Using seasonal colour analysis to find the perfect jewellery for you
Posted on: 11/11/2022Your jewellery, be it flashy or subdued, should complement you. Just as the clothes in your wardrobe have been curated over years to bring out the best in your natural tones and not wash you out, so should your rings, earrings, necklaces, and bracelets – these are accessories that really bring an outfit to life.
But matching our jewellery to our natural colour palette is easily overlooked – you may steer clear of red in your wardrobe, but who doesn’t love a ruby?
Colour analysis guides have been racking up views on TikTok, with videos using the hashtag #seasonalcoloranalysis totalling almost 37 million views as of the time of writing, while videos using the hashtag #coloranalysis have been viewed more than 450 million times.
With the majority of these videos geared towards clothing, we thought we’d work up a guide for jewellery to help determine the metals and gemstones that will bring out the best of your natural colour palette (and work dazzlingly with your seasonal palette friendly wardrobe. And we thought we’d go one better than a TikTok filter by asking House of Colour Managing Director Claire Bannister for some colour advice.
What is seasonal colour analysis?
Put simply, your ‘colour season’ identifies a palette of colours that harmonise with the naturally present hues of yourself – your skin, hair, and eye colour for instance.
The goal of seasonal colour analysis is to determine your natural palette and match it to a colour season that complements your individual tones and hues.
‘Seasons’ are the four you know – Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter. These correspond to possible variations of a person’s natural colour palette: whether your undertones are warm and golden, or cool and ashy, and the depth of your overall colouring.
“Winters and Spring need bright colours whilst Summer and Autumns are more muted in their hue and tone,” explains Bannister. “The first two are people who look better in cool, blue based colours, the latter two need warmer, yellow based colours to complement their skin tone.”
Determining your colour season
A colour expert can help determine your colour season, and provide a palette of harmonising colours which you can use to inform your clothing and accessory choices. And while methods and definitions may vary from expert to expert, there are some uniform considerations you can use to determine what works for you.
Generally, you’ll fall into Spring or Summer categories if your natural hair colour is lighter than a medium brown, and Autumn or Winter if your hair is darker. Determining which side of the coin you sit there allows you to determine the next step using your natural undertones.
If your skin and hair are warmer, or you have natural red hair, you’ll find yourself categorised as either a Spring or an Autumn depending on the aforementioned hair colour. Blueish, cool undertones and ashy hair will place you in Summer or Winter.
Finding the right jewellery for your colour season
So, you know which of the four seasons your natural palette falls into. Knowing your colour season should help you nail down the wardrobe colours that harmonise perfectly with your palette – now it’s time to accentuate those tones with jewellery to make sure you look positively dazzling.
Bannister’s advice on jewellery is to ensure it lines up with your colour palette: “Because often a jewellery purchase is a more investment piece, we recommend people choosing the best metal to suit their skin tone and season, especially if that piece of jewellery is going to be by their face or ‘communication zone’.”
“We often see that certain colour metals look more expensive on particular skin tones, while looking cheaper on others.”
Of course, gemstones are another consideration, and with stones in countless colours it can be hard to know which will work best on you.
The good news? Diamonds are neutral and work on everyone. House of Colour’s advice when wearing diamonds is to ensure they’re paired with the correct metal to best show off the diamond against your skin.
The best jewellery for a Spring colour palette
If you’re a Spring, you’ll be looking to pack your wardrobe with bright colours and cool tones.
When it comes to your jewellery box, Bannister says Springs look “fabulous” in gold, and some Springs may even have the luxury of being able to mix silver and gold metals together in the same item.
When it comes to cooler toned gemstones you have a range of options. Many Springs will find that pastel coloured clothing works well for them – and this can be quite easily replicated in gemstones.
Blue topaz, aquamarine, and morganite are all gemstones that fit the cool-toned, bright aesthetic Springs can enjoy. Something like this oval blue topaz on a gold band would work to accentuate the natural tones of a spring.
If you’re looking at pearl jewellery, House of Colour advise a Spring to opt for pearls in warm yellow tones.
The best jewellery for a Summer palette
In keeping with the Summer sunshine, the features of a Summer palette are cool, light, and muted – in jewellery terms, this means staying away from yellow gold and opting for white gold instead.
Some Summers will look great in rose gold, but as a general rule, Bannister advises that those looking to accentuate Summer tones opt for platinum, silver, or white gold in their jewellery.
Summers may find that a stylist advises purple and blue shades, and depending on the specifics of your palette, deep reds.
For a Summer, an amethyst piece may be a jewellery box essential – with the depth of colour offered by amethyst jewellery ranging from cool and light to deep and bold. If you’re a Summer with more contrasting tones, deeper reds may work well, and this is where garnets or even rubies could work wonders.
The best jewellery for an Autumn palette
Autumnal colours are warm, dark, and rich - and it’s these burgundy, mustard, olive tones that will make an Autumn pop.
When it comes to the metal for your jewellery then, silver and white gold can look too cool and will clash with your skin. Bannister’s advice is that an Autumn is better suited to gold or copper, as these warmer colours harmonise well with Autumn colour palettes.
Warm yellows are a staple of an Autumn’s wardrobe, and you can easily utilise this in a gemstone by opting for a citrine stone – paired with a gold band this would perfectly accentuate the autumnal colours of your wardrobe.
The best jewellery for a Winter palette
Winters are the season of contrast – typical Winter tones will have hair and eye colours at a high contrast to skin tones, and this focus on contrast subsequently makes its way into style advice for this season.
According to the experts at House of Colour, the metals that will work best to highlight this contrast are platinum, silver, white gold, and gunmetal.
Being blessed with the ability to maximise contrast in your clothes and accessories means you can go for the bright and bold gemstones without fear of the colour washing you out
Those looking for a cooler, wintery look might opt for emerald and white gold, or if you want to go big on contrast, sapphire jewellery will enhance your natural colour palette.
Winters also need not stray from classic white pearls in necklaces and other jewellery, Bannister says.
