Christmas Jewelry Gifts

These Christmas gifts are built around two shapes: stud and drop earrings, and pendants on a fine chain. Both wear well under a sweater or a scarf, and both come in gold or diamonds at sizes suited to a stocking or a small box under the tree. Neither one needs a ring size, which is what makes them safe to wrap without a conversation first.

For her, a pair of diamond studs or a pendant with one clean stone reads as a considered gift without needing a ring size or a long conversation about style. It is a piece she can wear to work the next morning and keep wearing after the holiday is over. See the wider range on Gifts for Her if you want more than earrings and pendants to choose from.

For him, the Christmas list is shorter and the pieces plainer: a simple stud or a pendant on a heavier chain reads as jewelry rather than an accessory. Gold or silver both work under a collar or a crew neck, and neither draws attention the way a larger piece would. Gifts for Him carries the chains, rings and bracelets that sit outside this page’s earrings and pendants.

Giving a necklace for Christmas, in practice, means giving a pendant on its own chain: a small stone or motif that sits at the collarbone under a coat or a sweater. It is one of the easiest Christmas pieces to get right without knowing someone’s ring size or daily style, and it layers with whatever she already wears. The chain comes with the pendant, so there is nothing else to choose.

Heart and love-motif pendants are a classic Christmas pick and sit inside our romantic gifts for her, alongside simpler solitaire and bar styles for someone who wears less jewelry day to day. Every pendant is engraved free at purchase, so a name, date or initial can go on the back of the piece before it is wrapped.

Pendants sit across a wide range of prices, from a simple gold chain to a diamond-set piece. Start with Gifts Under $100 if you want to see the smallest, most stocking-friendly pieces first, or move up a tier for a more considered gift under the tree.