2022 Oscar jewelry: we pick the winning looks

The Oscars returned to the Dolby Theater on March 27, and people are still trying to puzzle them out. The powers that be presented a bunch of awards off-air, but the telecast was longer than ever. Megan Thee Stallion rapped a verse of “We Don’t Talk About Bruno,” from the Disney (!) animated movie Encanto. And the Best Actor winner assaulted a presenter/former Oscar host onstage.

As for the fashion, it was a night of red dresses and mostly white diamonds. Props to the stars (and stylists) who managed to put their own twists on some timeless looks, or come out with something really daring. And, of course, to the men who brought plenty of their own bling.

Best red dress/white diamond combo: Ariana DeBose in De Beers

Okay, technically this isn’t a dress, but go with us here: Ariana DeBose—who’d won every major award leading up to the Oscars for her performance as Anita in Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story remake—looked every inch a winner in a hybrid tuxedo-gown look by Pierpaolo Piccioli for Valentino. And what goes better with red than white diamonds? Upping the classic quotient: the De Beers layered diamond tennis necklaces.

Best red dress/colored stone combo: Marlee Matlin in Briony Raymond

We love a red dress on a red carpet as much as anyone, but we love someone who mixes it up even more. Oscar winner Marlee Matlin—one of the stars of CODA, which won three Oscars, including Best Picture—made a bold and blue choice, and it paid off big-time: an early ’80s Harry Winston lapis lazuli and diamond necklace and earring suite, plus a 1950s Van Cleef & Arpels sapphire and diamond ring, all from Briony Raymond New York. Would that more actresses followed her lead when it came to jewelry selection.

Best watch (and more): Kodi Smit-McPhee in Cartier

You couldn’t miss it peeking out from underneath the sleeves of Smit-McPhee’s baby blue Bottega Veneta suit: a diamond, diamond, and more diamond Cartier Révélation d’Une Panthère watch. (Plus a diamond necklace, and a couple of rings for good measure.) The Power of the Dog supporting actor nominee may not have landed an Oscar, but he definitely landed on best-dressed lists worldwide.