The Story Behind Ruth Negga’s Princess-Worthy Oscar Jewels
What is the most magical thing you can wear when you step onto the Oscars red carpet—okay, besides your scarlet Valentino gown and, of course, your sky blue ACLU ribbon?
If you are Ruth Negga, nominated for Best Actress for Loving, you flaunt not just a spectacular diamond and ruby ring and accompanying dazzling earrings, but an incredible handmade headpiece, a cross between a headband and a tiara, to serve as your crowning glory.
Though innumerable celebrities rocked serious rocks last night, Negga stood out with her ruby coronet, an unconventional choice created by an unconventional jewelry designer for an unconventional actor.
Irene Neuwirth, who designed this suite of dreams, worked with Negga’s stylist, Karla Welch, to bring the stones to life, and it was quite the serious, if joyful, undertaking—the headpiece alone features more than 146 carats of Gemfields Mozambican rubies set in blackened white gold.
Neuwirth confided that the project was perhaps slightly outside her comfort zone—her pieces are typically known for their delicacy and the wild rainbow of gems they employ. For Negga, she wanted something “maybe a little cooler. The prongs are extra long, and I don’t normally oxidize metal.” The result, she said, smiling, is “a little Kate Bush.”
For her part, Negga said the jewels reminded her of another Oscar nominee, Judy Garland, who received a special Juvenile award for her performance in 1939’s’ The Wizard of Oz: “Dorothy’s ruby slippers, always. The flashing beauty of those shoes is indelible in the memory.”
Yes, yes, but Dorothy Gale was just a little girl! And Negga, as her stylist Welch pointed out, is a very strong woman. “My inspiration behind Ruth’s Oscar look was sort of a pagan goddess,” she explained. “We were looking for really strong femininity in this day and age . . . I wanted to reflect that spirit, and I always knew that I wanted it to be red, because red is the perfect ending point and it’s a very strong female color.”